Day 3 and 4 of our Mini Vacation

Happy Hump Day!  Day 3 was the day we headed to Mt. Snow for a fun filled day of snow skiing.  However, this is a picture of the outside of our hotel when we were leaving on Saturday morning heading to the slopes.   We had gotten quite a bit of snow over night and it was still coming down.  Maine had actually gotten 17 inches of snow the day we left there heading to Vermont. Had we stayed another night there, we may have been stuck there for a while longer due to all of the snow that accumulated. 

I didn't get any pictures of us snow skiing or anything due to the continuing snowfall and very HIGH and SWIFT winds that we had to deal with all.day.long.  The wind was brutal and made skiing very very difficult.  It was one of the toughest days we have ever had skiing and we only lasted about 5 hours total instead of the full 8 that we normally go for.  We had a great time overall, but were all so tired and worn out and ready to get out of our ski boots and back into our warm Uggs and drink some hot chocolate and hot apple cider on the way out of town.  After we got back to the hotel for the evening, we ordered dinner and laid around waiting for the Razorback/Pirates Liberty Bowl game to begin.  All I can say is - WHEW - they pulled it out but it was a close one that went into overtime and truth be known, one they did NOT deserve to win at all - but whatever - a win is a win and we'll take it! HA!

On our final day of our mini-vacation, we left VT early morning and headed to Mass to seek out the Yankee Candle Factory.  We had been there twice before and loved it so we decided to go there again to check it out and see if they were having any great deals on their candles. 

Outside of the Yankee Candle Factory from the street view:

Inside photos of Yankee Candle:

It began with Crayons and Wax - if you don't know how Yankee Candle was founded and got started - please check it out - it is a very heartwarming and touching story.  This is the guy who started it all - and it all was due to him wanting to make money to buy his mom a gift - awwwwww.....

Walls and walls of yummy smelling scents:

Different rooms throughout the factory:

I loved this little fairy ornament - it says:  "sometimes all she wants to do is eat cake" - I thought it fitting - especially since it was chocolate and she is a girl - duh - chocolate is what we girls live for - right ladies?! :o)

Santa's Workshop with Mrs. Clause sitting inside (yes, she was a real person)

Letters to Santa:

I thought this one was very very cute:

This one broke my heart and made me cry - if you can't read it, it says: "Dear Santa" All I want for Christmas is to be loved. Cecil. P.S.  I want a family that loves me.

Nutcracker:

My handsome son and one of the knights

More rooms inside the candle factory - it is not just a store with nothing but candles, as you can see:

I LOVED all of these sparkly pinecone ornaments:

This was snow coming down inside the Christmas tree area:

Alliye and her boyfriend F:

I thought this was really cool also - the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz:

Signs to lead you down the right paths - this place is literally a MAZE!

Outside of the stores as we were leaving:

Well, that concludes the pictures from our mini-vacation.  Thanks for stopping by to say hello and check it out.  Hope you are all having a wonderful and blessed week!

Lots of love and kisses,

Trac~ ;o)

Day 2 of our New Year's Trip

Happy Tuesday, my peeps!  How the heck are ya?! :o)  How was your Monday?  Good, I hope!  My Monday was good since I was still on vacation - I was able to get a lot done, which was nice for a change! This isn't going to be my typical Tuesday post it since I have more pictures to show you and tell you more about our mini-vacation.  Now, I have to finish up the laundry, walk on the treadmill, shower, cook dinner and get ready for the work week ahead.  Sooo... it's Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work I go - vacations never last long enough - the time just flies by and then it's back to work before we know it.  YUCK!  Oh well... on a much happier note - here is how we spent New Year's Day: 

First, we drove around the City of Wilmington, VT to check out the sights and see what hotels might have vacancies - we did this for about an hour or so before we found the Holiday Inn Express - which was 30 miles away back in Brattleboro, VT as no one in Wilmington, which is close to the ski resort had any availability at the time.

This is an old cemetery on the way to Vermont somewhere between Maine and Vermont: (Did I ever mention how much I L.O.V.E. old cemeteries?!)

This is the main road on the way to the ski resort:

This is a neat looking church that is actually an art museum in the middle of downtown Wilmington VT:

This is a ski shop that sells hats, skis, etc. in downtown Wilmington:

This is one of my favorite views - it's in the middle of downtown Wilmington, VT and is so pretty all year round:

After we spent the afternoon walking around town and hanging out - we decided to head to dinner.  We were told that this place had awesome BBQ and was REAL Memphis BBQ - BUT these people were SADLY mistaken and had NO clue what REAL Memphis BBQ even is!   The food was okay but definitely not what we were expecting that's for sure:

While we were waiting for our food (which took a good 45 minutes to an hour for no apparent reason) the kids and Steven decided to play a few games of pool:

There was even an Elvis sighting:

And one of the waitresses was raised in Eureka Springs, Arkansas and had a painting on the wall that her mother, who is a local Artist in Eureka Springs, had painted:

After our sad BBQ dinner, we headed back to the hotel for the night to get some rest before leaving VT and heading to the Yankee Candle Factory in South Deerfield, MA.  Here are a couple of pictures from our room before we actually had gotten all unloaded.  It was a VERY NICE Holiday Inn Express with a free hot and cold continental breakfast and swimming pool and hot tub - though the hot tub was out of commission at the time - and it was bad timing since we really needed the hot tub after a long day of skiing.  We stayed here for 2 nights - these were the only pictures I was able to get of the inside of our hotel and room:

Well, that concludes our tour of day 2 - I hope you are enjoying the photos and will be back to check out the 3rd and final day of our trip.  Have a great Tuesday, my peeps!  Can't wait to catch up on all of your blogs - I'm not trying to be a bad bloggy friend, but I just have not had the chance to get caught up with all of yours yet - but I promise I will do so soon so please don't leave me and think I deserted you - I promise that is NOT the case!

Lots of love and kisses,

Trac~ :o)

Day 2 of our New Year's Trip

Happy Tuesday, my peeps!  How the heck are ya?! :o)  How was your Monday?  Good, I hope!  My Monday was good since I was still on vacation - I was able to get a lot done, which was nice for a change! This isn't going to be my typical Tuesday post it since I have more pictures to show you and tell you more about our mini-vacation.  Now, I have to finish up the laundry, walk on the treadmill, shower, cook dinner and get ready for the work week ahead.  Sooo... it's Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work I go - vacations never last long enough - the time just flies by and then it's back to work before we know it.  YUCK!  Oh well... on a much happier note - here is how we spent New Year's Day: 

First, we drove around the City of Wilmington, VT to check out the sights and see what hotels might have vacancies - we did this for about an hour or so before we found the Holiday Inn Express - which was 30 miles away back in Brattleboro, VT as no one in Wilmington, which is close to the ski resort had any availability at the time.

This is an old cemetery on the way to Vermont somewhere between Maine and Vermont: (Did I ever mention how much I L.O.V.E. old cemeteries?!)

This is the main road on the way to the ski resort:

This is a neat looking church that is actually an art museum in the middle of downtown Wilmington VT:

This is a ski shop that sells hats, skis, etc. in downtown Wilmington:

This is one of my favorite views - it's in the middle of downtown Wilmington, VT and is so pretty all year round:

After we spent the afternoon walking around town and hanging out - we decided to head to dinner.  We were told that this place had awesome BBQ and was REAL Memphis BBQ - BUT these people were SADLY mistaken and had NO clue what REAL Memphis BBQ even is!   The food was okay but definitely not what we were expecting that's for sure:

While we were waiting for our food (which took a good 45 minutes to an hour for no apparent reason) the kids and Steven decided to play a few games of pool:

There was even an Elvis sighting:

And one of the waitresses was raised in Eureka Springs, Arkansas and had a painting on the wall that her mother, who is a local Artist in Eureka Springs, had painted:

After our sad BBQ dinner, we headed back to the hotel for the night to get some rest before leaving VT and heading to the Yankee Candle Factory in South Deerfield, MA.  Here are a couple of pictures from our room before we actually had gotten all unloaded.  It was a VERY NICE Holiday Inn Express with a free hot and cold continental breakfast and swimming pool and hot tub - though the hot tub was out of commission at the time - and it was bad timing since we really needed the hot tub after a long day of skiing.  We stayed here for 2 nights - these were the only pictures I was able to get of the inside of our hotel and room:

Well, that concludes our tour of day 2 - I hope you are enjoying the photos and will be back to check out the 3rd and final day of our trip.  Have a great Tuesday, my peeps!  Can't wait to catch up on all of your blogs - I'm not trying to be a bad bloggy friend, but I just have not had the chance to get caught up with all of yours yet - but I promise I will do so soon so please don't leave me and think I deserted you - I promise that is NOT the case!

Lots of love and kisses,

Trac~ :o)

We're Home - Day 1 of our Trip

Hello there my friends!  Happy 2010! I hope that all of you had a wonderful and safe New Year's Eve and New Year's weekend.  We are finally back from our trip to the far Northeast and it felt SO good to get home and in our own beds!  We had such a great time but are worn out from all of the traveling along with the quick trip out of town.  We took my daughter's boyfriend with us on the trip and he had a wonderful time as well.  Because I have so many pictures to share, I am going to do a different post each day with pictures from that day instead of here all at once - I dont want to burn you out on the photos. 

Day 1, Thursday, New Year's Eve, began with us leaving home by 6:30 in the morning and making our way to Freeport, Maine.  Since it is a 6 hour drive from our house here in NJ, we made several stops along the way for food, stretching our legs, etc. 

Our first stop was once we reached New Hampshire where we stopped at the Visitors Center.  They really didn't have anything neat in there to speak of but we were able to get a few cute pictures at least.  The fire was very nice and warm and made for a great backdrop:

We have a built in DVD player in our Explorer so we were able to be entertained by watching movies and such to pass the time.  Our next stop was the Visitor's Center in Maine.  It had some cute decorations but the kids really loved the Fisherman and Lobster:

Then it was time to head to Freeport, Maine where we got a hotel for the night at the Comfort Inn Suites.  As soon as we got there and checked into our room and unloaded the truck, we all put on our heavy coats and hats, etc., and headed out to LL Bean for the fireworks, hot cocoa and some shopping:

After all the fun we had, we then headed out to find some dinner - however, the place we wanted to go to was shut down for the next hour or so as apparently the entire town shut down for the LL Bean concert and fireworks show.  We were really tired, so we stopped by the liquor store, grabbed some beer and champagne and headed back to the room and decided to order pizza from Dominos - BIG mistake.  It took them over 2 hours to deliver to our room and we had ordered it very early to say the least.  Anyway, neither Steven nor myself were able to stay up the entire time for New Year's Eve to see the ball drop - so we slept off and on throughout the night while the kids stayed up playing cards and watching tv and hanging out.  We did manage to wake up about 5 minutes to midnight and was able to see the ball drop after all and get a New Year's kiss right at the stroke of midnight.  But, we never did drink that Champagne - guess we will save it for another time.

Well that is the end of day 1 of our quick weekend trip.  I hope you enjoyed the pictures and I can't wait to catch up on everyone's blogs.  We actually took the day off today and are home relaxing together while the kiddos are back in school - ahhh... enjoying the nice sounds of *peace and quiet*.  :o)

Have a great day my lovies!

Lots of love and kisses,

Trac~ :o)