David and I are the proud uncle and aunt of a baby girl named
Bailey! Born September 5th, Bailey is a
happy, healthy infant. My sister, her
boyfriend, and Bailey are living in Connecticut. So before heading to San Diego for Cristy’s
wedding last week, I spent a few days on the East coast with our new niece.
Great shirt! Too bad she looks so sad in it! :(
I flew in Saturday afternoon, and got picked up by Emily,
Kendal, and Bailey. When they asked what
I wanted for lunch, I didn’t miss a beat.
“5 Guys!”
Molly introduced David and me to YouTube sensation DaymDrops a couple of weeks ago. I’d never had
5 Guys and Fries before but Daym Drop’s review made my mouth water. If you haven’t watched one of his fast food reviews,
do it! Do it now!
5 Guys was everything I imagined. The fries bit back, the bacon was crispy, and
the meat was juicy but not greasy. It was
“Dayum” good!
I have to admit though, the Doritos Locos Taco that I had
for dinner that night was even better. I
will never go back to a normal taco again.
The Doritos shell just adds so much more flavor.
But enough about fast food and onto the real reason I was in
New England – Bailey!
She is a tiny, precious girl. She’s not yet sleeping through the night, so
she’d sleep a lot during the day. As the
aunt, I just got to enjoy Bailey while her parents changed all the dirty
diapers and woke up in the middle of the night with her. Thanks guys!
Hanging out with my sister and niece on Saturday afternoon
On Sunday, we went to a corn maze in the heart of
Connecticut.
Bailey slept the whole time,
but still got a sticker when we crossed the finish line.
On Monday, we woke up early (at least Emily and I did –
Kendal is used to getting up at 5:30 every day) and packed up the car for a
road trip through New England.
Quick break at a nearby reservoir
In my opinion, this time of year is the best time to visit New
England because of all the colors. The leaves
are changing and the weather is cool, but not yet cold.
Our first stop was the Yankee Candle Factory in
Massachusetts. Recently featured on
Undercover Boss, this place is huge! It took
a couple of hours to get through all of the different areas. Bailey made it about 30 minutes before she
started screaming for her second breakfast.
Once she ate, she was happy. Plus
we spoiled her by carrying her around everywhere. Lucky baby!
Halloween section of Yankee Candle
Cute family photo in "Bavaria"
When we started to get headaches from all of the
candle-sniffing, it was time to go.
Next stop – Vermont!
We went to a suger house to sample some real maple syrup and
learn how syrup is “harvested” in Vermont. It was interesting to see that a lot of the
sugar families still use horses to trek through the snow-covered woods to get
to the maple trees.
After stocking up on
some authentic maple syrup, we took the scenic route to Ben n Jerry’s.
We stopped to take some family photos.
This year's Christmas card?
At Ben n Jerry’s, we took the factory tour and visited the
flavor graveyard. Some of those flavors
definitely should have died, but a lot of them sounded good. Whoopie Pie? Who doesn't love a Whoopie Pie?
At the end of the tour, we got a couple of scoops of the
Milk n Cookies ice cream. It was sooo
good. I also learned that Ben n Jerry’s
makes a Crème Brulee flavor and Cake Batter pint. What?!
I LOVE cake Batter and couldn’t wait to try the Crème Brulee but they
didn’t sell either at Ben n Jerry’s!
Shouldn’t the Vermont factory have EVERYTHING?
Guess not...
We were sooo excited to be there!
I am also sad to say that I turned down the chance to devour
the Vermonster. Conquering the
Vermonster has been a dream of mine for many years (much like my Texas-sized donut dream) but there were only three of us there (plus a baby) and I knew we
couldn’t finish. I didn’t want to waste
any ice cream, and my stomach was still aching from all the fast food I consumed
earlier in the weekend.
After declining the Vermonster, we drove down the road to a
Cabot cheese store and did more sampling, and then we headed to the apple
orchard for some fresh apple cider, apple cider donut holes, and caramel apple
cake. Yum!
Stomach ache? What stomach
ache?
We drove back down to Connecticut and called it a night
because Kendal and I had to wake up at 4:00 the next morning to get to the
airport for my flight to Cali.
My New Enlgand trip was short but sweet. I loved spending time with my gracious hosts
and bonding with Bailey. She is definitely
being spoiled by her Auntie Sarah and Uncle David. I can’t wait for David to meet her next
summer! She’ll be 9 months during our
family vacation to celebrate Elizabeth’s high school graduation. What a fun age! She’ll be starting to develop her
personality, and probably be mobile. We can’t
wait to teach you how to swim and play in the sand and just spend time together,
Bailey.
I miss you already!
Such a sweet post! It is always fun to visit family, especially if there is a new baby!
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah! Nice blog, I miss Bailey and Emily and Kendal, might have to retire early to come and see all of you all the time...:( That is a unique name for a syrup farm, Suger House. Is that some type of New England slang? Keep up the blogs, I love them all.
ReplyDeleteYAY! Welcome to the world Bailey. It sounds like you are smitten Sarah! Does it make you want your own baby yet? :) hehe
ReplyDeleteI love the fall photos...I've always wanted to go to the NE in the fall. One day!
Congrats on your sweet new niece!