Highlights from Our 2 Years at Dartmouth

Our two years at Dartmouth were wonderful - both for the education that Josh received at Tuck but also because of all the fun things we fit into those two years. We tried really hard (with a limited budget) to fit in as many fun things as we could because we thought for sure those two years at Dartmouth would be our only two years living back east. It turns out we only moved 5 hours south and we'll be back east for a while now, but I'm still glad we fit in lots of fun New England activities while Josh had a flexible schedule. Below are a few (ok, more than few) fun highlights from our time at Dartmouth. 

The Tunbridge World's Fair in Vermont was one of our first adventures.  

See the original blog post HERE

 You can't live in New England without taking advantage of the fruit farms.

Raspberry and blueberry picking HERE

Peach picking in Springfield, VT HERE

Apple picking as a family HERE

 Hiking to Boston Lot Lake

Our first time hiking it was with friends HERE

We hiked to Boston Lake about once a week in the warm seasons- sometimes with kids, sometimes without; sometimes taking the trail straight from our neighborhood, sometimes taking the main trailhead; sometimes catching newts, frogs, toads, snakes, sometimes opting to keep our hands clean and just watch the ducks. 

More Boston Lot posts HERE HERE HERE HERE  HERE

 The Newmans came for a visit and we checked out Sugar Bush Maple Syrup Farm in Vermont.

HERE

 Supporting Dartmouth Football. We went once in 2012 and once in 2013

2012 HERE

 Thanksgiving weekend in New Jersey with Josh's parents, the Fillmores and the Jake Hawkins fam.

The Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade HERE

NJ park date with my cousins Diana and Cara HERE
Bronx Zoo HERE

 Christmas Lights at the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial in Sharon, VT

2012 HERE

2013 HERE

Successful Craft Fairs at Christmas time
Craft fair with friends 2012 HERE
Tuck craft fair 2013 HERE

Josh went on a Dartmouth-sponsered trip to Peru for a school project - one of the perks of grad school!
HERE

 Baking courses at the King Arthur Flour headquarters in Norwich, VT

Lasagna date night with the Laytons HERE

Pie class with my girlfriends HERE

 Getting all fancy for Tuck's Spring Formal

HERE

 Ben and Jerry's Factory in Waterbury, VT

2013 HERE
2014 HERE

 Day trip to Lake Champlain in Burlington, VT

HERE

A fun week visiting Josh's sister Jess in Virginia

HERE HERE HERE

 Lots of fun at Washington D.C.

Monuments HERE

Museums HERE HERE and HERE

Mt. Vernon HERE
National Zoo HERE
Washington DC Temple HERE

 Josh spent the summer of 2013 interning at Google, but he came home for the 4th of July weekend and we had fun at Lake Sunapee

HERE

 A dreamy, child-free weekend in Portland, Maine. Best time ever.

Day 1 HERE
Day 2 HERE

A few beautiful trips to Quechee Gorge

Our first time in 2013 HERE  

Our last time with my family HERE

 Such a fun weekend in Boston with our good friends the McKenzies

Day 1 HERE and HERE

Day 2 HERE

 Lots of good times with good friends

Our Halloween party HERE

Our Ugly Sweater Christmas party HERE

 Great hikes with my girlfriends. A few favorites were

Mt. Cardigan and Mt. Ascutney HERE

Mt. Tom HERE

 Three fun family hikes to Mt. Gile

Fall 2013 HERE 

Spring 2014 HERE 

With my family HERE

 An awesome day trip to Shelburne, VT

 Shelburne Farms HERE

Shelburne Museum and Stowe, VT HERE

 Two fun days in Montreal, Canada to visit our friends the Gillespies

Day 1 HERE

Day 2 HERE

 A great Thanksgiving trip to New Jersey for the second year in a row. Lots of fun things, but the best was the full day Josh and I had in NYC without the kids

NYC day HERE
Date night with Jake and Ty to the NYC temple HERE

The rest of our New Jersey trip HERE and HERE

Dartmouth Tree Lighting Ceremony

2012 HERE

2013 HERE

Sledding at Occum Pond in Hanover

HERE

 Supporting Dartmouth Hockey - the big sport at Dartmouth

HERE

 Playing in the forest behind our house, trying to survive the polar vortex of last winter

HERE

 A day trip to Boston's Museum of Fine Art with my friend Ashley

HERE

Rauner Special Collections Library to see a first edition copy of the Book of Mormon
HERE

Trip to Maine during Josh's spring break from Tuck

Day 1 HERE

Day 2 HERE

 Easter in Boston with lots of our Tuck friends from the year before

HERE

 A day in Vermont checking out the VINS wildlife museum, the famous Quechee Antique Mall, and the quirky Toy Museum of Vermont

HERE

 Nathan's Garden in Hanover

HERE

Monthly date nights to the temple in Boston. Thanks to the Kolstes for doing a babysitting swap with us again and again!
Our last time HERE

Canoeing on the Connecticut River

In 2013 HERE

With Jake and Tyra's family HERE

With my family HERE

 A weekend trip to the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire

HERE

A day trip up the Maine coast, stopping off in York, Perkin's Cove, Ogunquit, and Wells

HERE

A fun week-long visit from my family and Josh's MBA graduation

HERE

What a great two years it has been! It was fun to walk down memory lane and look back on our pictures from the past two years. 

(Of course, most of our days at Dartmouth were mundane and filled with dirty diapers and lots of studying, but those simple days aren't pictured :) ).

Maine

 On Monday we spent the day in Maine with my family and it was a perfect day! We started out in York with the Cape Neddick "Nubble" Lighthouse.

After playing on the rocks and enjoying the scenery for a while we took the Shore Road and drove up the coast to Perkins Cove in Ogunquit. 

 We walked around Perkins Cove and had lunch at the Lobster Shack.

 We all got lobster rolls and clam chowder and it was great!

Those are "lobster hands" if you couldn't tell :)

We joked with my mom that she was wearing the perfect red pants for a day in Maine eating lobster!

 After lunch Mya napped in the stroller while we walked along the coast on the Marginal Way trail. It was really beautiful!

Afterwards, we headed to Ogunquit Beach for the rest of the afternoon. It was a perfect sunny day for some time at the beach.

 Bryn had the time of her life, just like her beach days in California!

Mya was really nervous about the water and the sand so she wouldn't even let us take her shoes off. She loved walking along the shore with my dad and watching Bryn splash around in the ocean.

 Jordan had some bad allergies/cold while we were in Maine so he napped on the beach. My mom and I just lounged around and chatted.

 Mya had fun with the sand toys but was quite concerned when the buckets and shovels got too sandy. "Bucket dirty, Mom! Hands dirty, Mom!"

 Logan and Josh braved the cold ocean water and swam for a while, then spent the rest of the time doing sprint races on little courses they marked out in the sand.

 After the beach we headed further up the coast to Wells. My Dad's co-worker had told him about an awesome ice cream place called the Scoop Deck, so he wanted to check it out. Sure enough, it was great! I had mascarpone ice cream with a fresh berry swirl and it was amazing. My best ice cream experiences are always in Maine - I'm convinced they make the freshest, most delicious ice cream. 

Such a fun day!