changing girl

I cannot believe how much Ellie has changed over the past three months--her face has thinned out so much and she just looks taller to me.  Sweet but also makes me sad that she has lost the baby look.

 Had to take some pictures of her in blue when we got back home from church last week!

Maine

Thursday morning we made our way up the coast, taking 1A to make some scenic pit stops along the way.  We actually visited Lexington and Concord for Banks--I am no history buff so it held little interest to me but we obliged his one wish of the trip.

 We saw many light houses on our way--beautiful!

 We stopped in this adorable town on our way and ate dinner and did some window shopping.  

 We made it to Bar Harbor Friday night and enjoyed shopping at the little eclectic shops--here mom is trying on a moose hat and she is for sure going to kill me when she sees that I betrayed her and put this on the blog :)

 and Josh with the lobster

 We visited Acadia National Park on Saturday--unfortunately it was very foggy and we didn't get the greatest views like we had hoped.

 the last lighthouse view in Cape Elizabeth

Thanks for a wonderful trip, Mom!!!  and thanks to the Vickerys for taking care of our sweet girl who we could not wait to get back home to--we missed her like crazy!

Boston and Martha's Vineyard

This is mine and Josh's third time in Boston and it just never gets old.  I adore this city--hands down, my most favorite one that I have visited.  It was fun to experience it with mom and Banks this go round.

 Make Way for Ducklings--we didn't ride the swan boats but it was fun to see them in action.  The past two times Josh and I have visited it has been in late October and they are already put away for the winter by then.

 We took the Duck Tour this time--and it was worth the ticket price for sure.  Josh and I have walked past this building so many times but have never noticed the frog jutting out of it--smart architect!

 Wednesday we took an all day trip to Martha's Vineyard--it was absolutely nothing as I had envisioned and I was glad to see it.  Next on my bucket list is to see Nantucket!

 We had many, many lighthouse stops on this trip--each one unique and beautiful in its own way.

 (taken from a tinted bus window--but the bay was so picturesque.)

 Martha's Vineyard has over 100 of these gingerbread houses--we toured one and the price per square inch is outrageous.  They are tee tiny--the owners take great pride though in their houses and they are adorable.  

 We took a tour of the museum house and the stairs are ridiculously narrow and steep.  My slippery sandal didn't agree with the hardwood stairs and I fell down several of the steps coming down.  I was officially over MV by that point.

Other things that we did in Boston that I only documented on Instagram...Red Sox game vs Rangers, shopping on Newbury and Charles Streets, walking a portion of the Freedom Trail, Harvard to eat at Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage (of course!), touring the Liberty hotel, exploring Quincy Market and the surrounding areas, and eating a delicious meal in Little Italy!

We hope to be back soon, Boston!!

Blogging Hiatus

Today was back to school for me--which means a routine, which means I'm much more organized with life and I will get better with blogging again! 

I do have lots of pictures from our New England trip to share but in the meantime here are some of Ellie enjoying summer!

Greenville Zoo

We made our first trip to the Greenville zoo last Saturday.  I had heard not to expect anything special, compared to Riverbanks, but it was better than what I thought and she enjoyed riding in her coupe and seeing the animals!

 Luckily the zoo is fairly shady so while it was hot, it could've been worse.  We paid 2 dollars for a pack of crackers to feed the animals and there was one measly goat to feed throughout the entire zoo.  

 A typical Ellie face is cheeks puffed out and her lips turned under.

 The giraffes not interested in our crackers--I can't blame them...they had lettuce in their feed baskets.

We will be back soon!