Is it Fall Already?

Fall has arrived! It seems to have snuck up on us this year. I guess we were expecting it to feel like summer through September, but it feels like it went from 90 degree summer days to crisp, cool fall overnight. I really hope that doesn't mean winter is coming early this year!!! Regardless, we are not going to let the season slip away from us! Last weekend we were driving through Lexington and decided to stop at Wilson Farm. We visited this fabulous place last October and loved it. This year they have an amazing pumpkin display and I just couldn't pass by without seeing it up close!

 

 

Photo cred goes to Jeff (on the iphone, I might add). I was too busy gawking at all the fall splendor and enjoying cider donuts : ) Cheers to the best season of the year! 

Chamber of Secrets Meeting

This really is just the best time of year to be part of a Harry Potter book club. I always associate Harry Potter with Halloween and the Holiday season. Our second HP Boston Book Club meeting was on September 11 and we had a great turnout! So glad to have found some fellow Potter loving muggles here on the east coast. I realize now that I didn't even take a picture of the whole gang; major oversight. Next time I'll do better. Mary and Michelle brought some every flavor beans (jelly bellies this time, much tastier) and I tried my hand at cauldron cakes! I've always loved the details of the Harry Potter stories and reading about all of the magical sweets. Cauldron cakes have always sounded delicious to me and they were so fun to make!

Cauldron cakes full of polyjuice potion & homemade wands!

We made our own wands out of paper, hot glue, and acrylic paint. They turned out even cooler than I expected!

Mary and Dean had to test their new wands out.

Too much fun. I love it!

Now it's on to Prisoner of Azkaban and I cannot wait. It was and may still be my favorite book of the series. I'm taking the train to work this week so I'll have plenty of time to read!

The Green Mountain State

A few weeks ago a couple from our church asked us if we would be interested in spending a weekend at their family cabin in Grafton, Vermont. They described how beautiful it is in October and all the fun things we could do there and I replied, "you had me at Vermont!". All those years of watching the movie White Christmas made me desperately want to visit the green mountain state, and it was just as charming as I always dreamed it to be.

The cabin in the woods that we stayed at!

The family cabin sits on 300 acres in the green mountain national forest. It was so pretty!

Such a cute rustic cabin!

Driveway leaving the cabin. Gorgeous!

The cabin was just up the road from the village, so we spent part of the day touring some of the local attractions.

They had the most delicious samples of cheese, jams, and salsa here.

Seriously, everything about the weekend was picturesque.

Vermont is the leading producer of maple syrup in the United States. It was everywhere we went!

While strolling around the village of Grafton we visited the Jud Hartmann Sculpture Gallery. He is a famous native american sculptor on the east coast and his works were amazing. 

This piece was my favorite. You can see that the two figures only touch at two small points and the whole statue is balanced on one foot. There is a much larger version of this statue in front of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

This piece is called "The Creator's Game"

There were so many cute, quaint buildings and homes in the area.

After spending some time in Grafton we drove about 45 minutes to the larger town of Manchester Vermont where we found a great little fall festival taking place.

Enjoying a fresh hot cider donut.

The Thompson's (the couple who invited us on this wonderful weekend getaway) had some friends who drove up to Vermont on saturday and spent the rest of the weekend with us. It's been fun meeting new people since we've moved and it was great getting to know Matt and Betsy Hemphill!

There was even a little corn maze!  Left to right: Matt, Betsy, Adam, Tory, Jeff

I love the fall colors!

We also stopped to see the Lincoln Family Home which is also in Manchester. No wonder they chose to vacation in Vermont; such a lovely place.

I'd like to go back and take the tour some time.

Adam & Tory Thompson and their new baby Logan

We stopped by the Vermont country store and sampled lots of yummy fall treats.

Before leaving this beautiful place we drove into Jamaica State park and hiked down Hamilton Falls.

Top part of the falls

bottom of the falls

We had a lovely time and are so glad we had the chance to go. Thanks for inviting us Thompsons!