New Hampshire in the Summertime

Once again it's been almost 2 weeks since the events I need to record took place. The wonderful week we spent in New Hampshire went so fast and the weeks since have just flown. The real reason for our summertime excursion was to be in attendance at the burial of Glenn's Grandpa Dan. It was a very nice little ceremony. One I wish I had been able to take more pictures of, but our little boy required some attention to keep very quiet. Glenn gave the dedicatory prayer, we had some time chatting with family I've only met once or twice, and a seafood dinner right next to the ocean, Tate got some love from his cousins. It was a full day. The rest of our trip we had had very few commitments at all. All Glenn wanted to do was go to one of the few lakes by his house every day. We didn't quite make it to a lake every day, but almost.
Tate has been enamored with the idea of fishing for quite some time but the poor kid had never been fishing. You see, while the lakes near our house do hold fish, they also hold snakes, turtles, and gators so Glenn told Tate that they were going to do some real fishing in a lake in New Hampshire. For weeks before our trip Tate was telling everyone from the check-out lady at the store, to my visiting teacher, that he was going to go fishing in a lake! He was in heaven. We took almost all the cousins to Elbow Pond one day and did some fishing off the dock. Tate's idea of fishing was smacking the end of the pole in the water over and over and over and saying loudly, "I'm fishing in a lake". Not the most conducive atmosphere for fish catching, but he was in heaven. When he didn't have a pole in hand he followed his cousins around saying, "Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I?" until it was his turn again. Patience was really hard to come by when fishing in a lake! We did manage to catch just one fish. The time spent at these beautiful ponds and lakes was so therapeutic. So green. So quiet and still. Cousin Chloe was a favorite on this trip. Tate just adored her. When Brendaen's family arrived at the house to visit he saw her and ran up to give her a hug yelling, "Chloe! Chloe! Chloe!" Another time she was crying for some reason and Tate hopped out of my lap and ran across the room saying, "I want to make her happy!" and gave her a big hug.

Then of course he had a sweet connection with Nelson, currently his only boy cousin. And lucky for Tate, Nelson is a great cousin. He's so patient and plays so sweetly with Tate. They were buddies. Tate just lit up when Nelson would give him a little attention. It was darling. He would follow Nelson around saying, "Nelthon. Nelthon. Hey Nelthon." One day the kids were watching a bit of super man and then they went outside to play. Nelson put on a cape and Tate followed him around saying, "Nelthon is thuperman! Mommy, Nelthon is thuperman!"Of course Glenn couldn't let the kids have all the fun.

Watching Tate play with his cousins and just adore them was probably my favorite part of this trip. He was in heaven with so many friends to play with. Everywhere we went he would tell people, "These are my friends! These are my cousins!" One afternoon I kept Tate home to take a nap, while the rest of the fam went on what was supposed to be a shortish hike. It ended up being over 4 hours of climbing and bushwacking through the woods. With a couple of very little kids in tow, it was...memorable for the group and I'm glad we stayed home and didn't add another toddler to the group. Here are the kiddos, exhausted at the top of the mountain.

"Green Eggs and Ham" was a favorite bed time story that week and Tate would follow cousins around all day asking, "Could you? Could you...?"

We played at lakes, went for gorgeous morning jogs in the misty woods, spent a bit of time picking berries at Gramma Heather's.

After a week of wide open, dark green, 80 degree weather, cool evenings, delicious food, and great company, Glenn and I got off the plane pretty unsatisfied with our surroundings here in Texas, in the middle of a terrible drought. I mean seriously, look at this Eden where we stayed for a week.This is Gregor and Amy's house. They were so sweet to host us again. We love staying with them and getting in late night talks, letting our kids play all day in their huge yard. It was just perfect. Every time I drive through Glenn's home town, the lyrics to Camelot just come into my mind. They have every time since I first went to visit before we were married. And as cheesy as it sounds, they really describe the feel of the place. It just seems so idylic, peaceful and perfect.

"A law was made a distant moon ago here.

July and August cannot be too hot.

And there's a legal limit to the snow here (well that part may not be true) in Camelot.

The winter is forbidden til December (also, I'm sure, a stretch).

And exits March the 2nd on the dot.

By order summer lingers through September in Camelot.

Camelot. I know it sounds a bit bizarre. But in Camelot, that's how conditions are.

The rain may never fall til after sundown.

By 8 the morning fog must disappear.

In short there's simply not a more congenial spot for happy ever aftering than here in Camelot."

Making our way home was less than perfect. There was a lost wallet, a mad dash to the airport and a missed flight. We got VERY lucky and had to wait in line so long at the airport to check in that they changed our flights to the next day for us and we didn't have to pay extra. That gave us time to spend another day with family and locate the missing wallet. It was crazy hectic but all worked out in the end.

Glenn has said several times since we got back how much he prefers visiting his home state in the summertime as opposed to the winter. We usually make it back for Thanksgiving but this was a great visit and we may need to make the summertime trip a tradition. Thanks for hosting us Makechnies. It got up to 108 this week in Houston. Wish we were still there!!!