New England Welcomes You!

Jackson and I have just spent the past week experiencing New England. When we moved to North Carolina we decided that we needed to take advantage of our proximity to the East and see all that we could. With a few weeks before school starts, we took off on our last adventure for the summer.

I woke up on my birthday to a wonderful breakfast and a nice spread of gifts from my adoring husband. Afterwards we picked up our suitcases and headed out the door off to Boston, a fun, historical town close (enough) to family and the beautiful New England coastline.

In Boston we walked around Boston Common, went to the JFK library and went to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. It's always nice to visit a new city and to learn the history and culture of it that makes the town come alive.

In front of the Massachusetts Capital Building

Jackson at the JFK Library

The Red Sox lost 1-9 to the Cleveland Indians... Ouch!

We then drove to Highland NY to visit my wonderful Aunt Jeanne and Uncle Dan and their family. It had been a while since we've been able to be with the Coopers, and it was so great to see them!

Jackson and I with the Coopers - Dan, Jeanne and Nate over the Hudson River

While in Highland I thought that I was going to die. Seriously. Dan showed me how to drive an old Ford tractor. I had the gears and stearing down fine... but he forgot to show me where the brakes were (an easy thing to do because they are obviously placed right under the right leg, but I guess I needed him to point them out to me). I went down the driveway (and a hill) and got a little out of control. I was going way too fast and the driveway was curving. I was overcorrecting at every turn and was not slowing down. I started yelling for help (maybe it was more like screaming) and Jackson and Dan came running after me. Luckily I got the tractor under control and brought it to a standstill. Needless to say I was a little shaken, for a few seconds there I thought that I would for sure be trapped between a tractor and a tree!

Dan teaching me how to run the tractor

Leaving NY was hard (I always have a tough time saying goodbye to family), but we were back on the road to spend our anniversary in Maine. We spent the night in Portland and spent the next day exploring the port town and traveling down the coast to New Hampshire. It was so beautiful!

The Portland Head Light

Jackson enjoying some fresh Haddock

Yesterday we arrived back home. Now it's really time to get back to business. Teacher work days begin in just a few short days and the students won't be far behind.