Thimble Islands

Our last day in Connecticut was Bruce's birthday! It was fun to be there with himon his special day :). We didn't fly out until later in the afternoon... so we got to go on a little boat tour of Thimble Islands (off the shore of Branford, CT) in the morning.

The Thimble Islands are a group of small little islands that are in Long Island Sound and are part of Stony Creek Harbor. They are made of pink granite so are very sturdy... 23 of them are actually inhabited! Only six of them have electrical power. Some of them are too small to build on and one actually had just a pavilion  (and had been for sale for many years). Historically they were a spot for pirates to hide out (Captain Kidd!) and buildings on them have been built and rebuilt following tropical storms and hurricanes.

We were on Captain Bob's tour boat and he gave us a great guided tour. Some of the homes on these islands were crazy big and some were very, very rustic. It was interesting to hear about some of the stories with the various islands.

We stopped (again) at Rita's on the way back home.. It was a great way to wrap up our fun-filled trip!

Lyman Farms

We spent our last full day at a wonderful orchard called Lyman Farms. They have a store where they sell all of their harvest (and other delicious things) and a fun pond with ducks.

We loved the apple cider donuts to start off our day... and a little later on came back to try out a few other tasty things. Coleman's eyes got as big as the cookie when he saw the Black & White cookie... which again, wasn't as good as the ones from Costco, but still yummy. Liv got a croissant and Sophia, Ryan, and I enjoyed some freshly picked blueberries. Yum! Everyone loved feeding the ducks!

Lyman farms is also home to a beautiful sunflower field that they cut a maze into... much like the corn mazes we have here in the west. They had clues and check points to get us through the maze with a pirate theme. We only got lost a few times :). The sunflowers were beautiful. I don't know if I have ever seen a red sunflower before, but they were beautiful too!

After Lyman Farms Olivia and Terri and I did a little shopping and drove to a lovely and charming little town that had fun shops and neat old buildings. I love the architecture in the East. Homes and office buildings and stores (although likely much older than most buildings here) look so new and well taken care of. I especially love the white homes and buildings with black shutters... they are beautiful!

In the evening Bruce and Terri treated us to the best seafood in the area and I hoped and hoped that I would like it. I just have never, ever liked seafood...even tuna is a stretch for me... Captain Scott's was highly recommended to them and they loved it when they first tried it. I was willing to taste... but was grateful for the landlubber's menu that included chicken fingers and fries. Ryan likes seafood much more than I do and enjoyed the sampler platter with his parents. He also ate "lobster roll" which is sort of like a hot dog bun with lobster meat and melted butter. I couldn't do it... although I did taste a little bite :).  The kids seem to have inherited my (dis)taste for seafood and they ate the chicken and fries with me. This place had so many people there! It was tucked behind some buildings and not at all easy to find... but it was obvious that it is very well known and was super busy.

It was fun to see some of the places that Bruce and Terri have grown to love. Driving through so many little towns and through beautiful back roads gave us an opportunity to see a whole lot of the countryside. We loved it!

Mini Golf and Hammonasset Beach

Have I mentioned that there are so many fun things to do in Connecticut? Thursday, August 2nd was our 13th anniversary! It is amazing in some ways that we have been married for that many years... in other ways it seems like we have always been together. That is a happy thing.

We spent a fun (hot and humid) morning playing miniature golf close to the dock where Bruce catches his ferry to and from work each day. I have decided that living in the humidity would be hard for me because I would always have bad hair (judged only on my experience with my hair, not any of the hairstyles of the lovely people that we were with or saw). The kids loved mini golfing and they loved even more that my lack of talent made them feel very gifted with their abilities.

We spent the afternoon at Hammonasset Beach State Park. In the park is Meigs Point Nature Center where they have all sorts of sea life that have "come" to the center for rehabilitation from injuries. The kids got to hold so many crabs (hermit and otherwise) and learned that clear jelly fish are okay to catch and hold... the colored ones are the ones that sting (although I am not really willing to take the chance...). Sophia kept moving over to the rubber animal area--definitely my kind of petting zoo :). Ryan got some great photos of some of the creatures the kids caught (and later released) at the beach.

The beach at Hammonasset was so nice... the "sand" is really a rough mixture of tiny seashells and doesn't feel too great on bare feet... next time around we will for sure bring water shoes. The water is different than what we are most accustomed to (SoCal beaches) because there aren't big waves to ride on... it makes it nice for younger kids though that you don't have to worry so much about them getting clobbered with frothy crashes of waves every 10 to 15 seconds. The kids found some friends Massachusetts to catch ocean life with and brought many creatures to shore to show them off. Sophia and I entertained ourselves by "washing her hair" and playing "In and Out" where we name a body part and put it in the water, then bring it out, then back in, then back out... Elbows were the body part of the moment in the bottom right photo. The bottom left photos should be picked up by Dasani for a little promo, no?

The kids and I LOVE the beach and could spend endless hours there. This time around Ryan loved it too since there was so much animal activity to photograph and video.

Ryan and I ended our anniversary with a lovely dinner at a Brazilian grill that Bruce and Terri gave us a gift certificate to. They stayed with the kids (again!) so we could have a quiet night out. We spent a few minutes at the local beach (once we found it!) chatting and enjoying the sound of the water. Why don't I live closer to an ocean?

All in all it was a lovely day and we all went to sleep tired and happy.

Devil's Hopyard and Chapman Falls

Our next stop (only a few miles away) was to Devil's Hopyard State park which is home to Chapman Falls. The falls were lovely and it was so peaceful there. I loved seeing Sophia walking with her Grandma and Grandpa... she loved being with them! Olivia and Coleman liked exploring on all of the big rocks and Grandpa helped them cross over the water to get closer to the falls. This was one of those hidden gems... I don't think we would have even known to look for it if our favorite local tour guides hadn't taken us there.

Close to Bruce and Terri's house is a really cool bridge that lowers for trains to cross. We stopped and walked along a pier where many people were fishing and crabbing. Throughout the week we saw a few birds native to the area and only got photos from pretty far away :).

We ate dinner that night at Pizza Works in Old Saybrook... which had some very fun trains that kept the kids busy until our yummy gourmet pizza arrived. I love Sophia's expression while she is talking to Terri... she very clearly adores her Grandma and loved all of the attention she gets from her.

Gillette Castle

Our biggest challenge during our week long stay in Connecticut was deciding what to do... there were so many options! Bruce and Terri have been there long enough that they have seen quite a bit and made great suggestions. We loved everything that we did and know that we could have easily spent several more days checking out all the Connecticut (and all of the surrounding states) have to offer.

After a fun few hours at the local beach (which I neglected to take any pictures of!) we took a drive to Gillette Castle State Park, which is home to Gillette Castle, commissioned by William Gillette. He was a famous actor in his day (the early 1900's) who is most well known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. He was kind of a quirky, eccentric guy and his personality came through in the home that he built. From the outside it looks like a medieval fortress, but on the inside had all of the modern conveniences of the day. He designed secret passageways and a state of the art water system to put out fires if necessary. He also positioned mirrors so that he could observe his guests' arrivals and actions without them noticing. It was really interesting to see how he lived and got me wondering about which of today's famous people might someday have their homes preserved for tours and such. We have plenty of movie stars and athletes that (to put it kindly) are "eccentric" in their own right.

I loved all of the rock that was used around the castle. It was great for some photos of the kiddos... I especially love the one Ryan got of Sophia hanging from the rail... those blue eyes just pop!