Vermont Attractions

So after getting a great nights sleep back in our cabin we woke up to do a few touristy things for our last day in Vermont. We headed out to the famous Cold Hollow Cider Mill to try some apple cider and World Famous apple cider donuts! Actually we had an amazing breakfast at a local Irish place called McCarthy's, so yummy! Even Elsie went to town on the food, and if you know my daughter this was huge.

This was just after breakfast waiting for the bill and she looked too cute organizing the jams.

So after our tummy's were happy we drove down the street to the Cider Mill. Elsie loved it here. This was hands down the most excited we saw her all trip. We don't understand why it's not like there was kid stuff to do but for some reason she was so excited to be there and kept squealing and smiling.

When you first walk in it is like an old general store with tons of homemade apple cider & maple products for sale. To the left was the bakery and then a sign that read "Follow the apples to see how our fresh cider is made"

I showed Elsie the big apple sticker on the floor and told her to find them and follow them. She did just that and kept looking back at us and saying c'mon mama! Then we got into the room where it showed how they pressed the apples and how the juice was dispensed. Super simple nothing grand but Elsie flipped out and thought it was awesome. Keep in mind my daughter has never had juice, yet she kept saying "Apple Juice" really loud with excitement.

In that same room was a big barrel and tap with fresh samples of the juice. Micah got the first cup and gave Elsie a taste and she LOVED it! She went crazy and kept saying, "Mama's juice" and would have me take a drink and then "Daddy's juice" and have Micah take a sip and of course "mmm, more juice" then she'd have some. We had quite a few samples because we couldn't get over her reaction every time! It was priceless.

In the cider making room. And then the reaction of Elsie tasting the juice for the first time! Her smile is so big.

Outside enjoying our warm apple cider and apple cider donuts. Well just Micah and I were. Of course Elsie didn't want anything to do with the donuts but picked her own apple out of the apple bin instead.

While Elsie was selecting her healthy apple I was cowing down one of those delicious donuts. HAHA!

After we bought some more cider products and other souvenirs we drove down the street a little further to Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream factory! We took a tour of the facility and got samples at the end. Probably the best tour I've ever done in my life. I mean samples of ice cream, come on!! Elsie loved it here too and she even shared some of the samples with us and actually wanted more. We had a lot of fun here at Ben & Jerry's.

I took four pics of Elsie & Micah. Elsie came out precious in every single one, I can't say the same about Micah. This was his best shot.

umm, of course I was first in line for samples!

Afterward we went back to the cabin and took some naps and then sadly packed up our things to drive out to Burlington for our 6:00am flight. We decided against staying our last night at the cabin and waking up at 3:00 am and just getting a hotel near the airport and waking up at 4:40 instead. That worked out much better in the end.

As depressed as were to head home there was a glimmer of excitement for the arrival at LAX because we had coordinated our arrival time with Jenn & Matty's layover to their trip to Hawaii. So we were just praying all flights were on schedule and that we would get to have lunch with them. It worked out better than planned. When we arrived at the airport our flight was oversold and so they asked if we would volunteer to be rerouted through JFK and that would put us in LA by noon. Since that would still put us there before Jenn & Matty landed we agreed to change flights. For doing so we received $800 travel vouchers from Delta and we were able to see Lady Liberty and Manhattan from a distance while we waited for our next flight. Oh and we DID get to have lunch with Jenn & Matty. It was so awesome! Elsie was so excited to see them. She didn't remember Uncle Mo but she did remember Aunt Jenn and when she saw her exit the plane she ran all the way up to her and into her arms. It was PRECIOUS and even made Jenn tear up! If you know Jenn that is hard to do. We enjoyed some burgers together and caught up before they headed off on their vacation and we headed home.

We had such a wonderful family vacation. Now it is time to go celebrate Micah's 30th birthday today!