Fun Weekends!

fI guess we never blogged about it, but last weekend we went to Vermont to go camping by the Joseph Smith Birthplace. Jason and Kristine's ward in Boston was having a camp out, so we joined in on the fun. We had a blast! After getting settled (we cheated and stayed in a cabin because I'm pregnant...and we had to buy sleeping bags already and didn't want to add in a tent on top of it) and eating lunch, we played some Frisbee, stuck our feet in the pond, and then saw that dinner preparations were being made by a woman about as pregnant as me, including starting and tending a fire, and cooking potatoes and dutch oven pot pies. Matthias saw a need and jumped in to help out with the fire and coals. He's pretty much awesome and everyone was impressed! Especially when it started raining and he was still helping out.

On Sunday morning we had a short Sacrament Meeting, a good breakfast, and then helped clean up until we were ready to go. I wrote it all down so bluntly that it doesn't sound like a ton of fun...but we had a blast! It was fun seeing a more student-like ward again, and also seeing how different the dynamics are. I have never seen so much organic cooking, with coconut oil, whole wheat, etc. That whole ward seems so healthy that maybe I should take a lesson from them! They were all so nice and we had a great time! I didn't take any pictures, but it was definitely beautiful!

This weekend we decided to stay a little closer to home. Matthias heard about the Londonderry Flea Market, so we made the trip down there to check it out. My first impression as we were finding a place to park was that it would be like Art in the Park, where everyone had a booth with their arts, crafts, and food for sale. However, this was more like a HUGE extended garage sale, with lots of people's junk for sale...dust and all! We definitely had fun though!

There was a place that had all sorts of jewelry for sale for $1. It was all still packaged from stores like Wal-mart and Target, but only $1. I got a blue necklace. Seriously, I love cheap jewelry! My favorite earrings ever, which unfortunately one is missing, were only $0.50.

We looked at a bunch of knock-off purses too. I almost got one, but didn't want to spend $15 on it. The purse I currently wear (and have been wearing for far too long) I fell in love with right away, waited, and then got it on sale for $5. I love good deals and can justify buying things then.

We also looked at lots of old books and movies. Matthias and I picked up a couple of Disney favorites on VHS for $0.50 or $1.00. Great deal if you ask me! And our baby won't notice that they're not HD! I also got 4 bath sponges for $1 (they are new, no worries). In the 4 weeks that we have been here I have been watching the string on my bath sponge get bluer and bluer and it's been grossing me out. I never had that problem in Arizona, so I don't know what to do except buy new ones. Any suggestions?

One of my favorite parts of the flea market was where we had lunch. There was this Greek couple that was there and we got to watch them make our Gyro and everything. It was so good, and I loved it because they are Greek, so the food was authentic. If the Baklava wasn't so much I would have loved to try it, but we spent more on food than at anything else at the flea market.

After the market we went to a local farm and picked strawberries. I'd had some store-bought strawberries for breakfast and was amazed at how good they were, but they were NOTHING compared to the fresh-picked berries! They are smaller, but oh so delicious! Here are our findings:


On our way back to town we got a little bit lost, and ended up seeing a lot of southern New Hampshire. Not that we were really lost, we just wanted to drive around, and then eventually had to find our way back. We drove through Nashua, which I had wanted to live in originally. I'm glad we chose Bedford though, since the towns are so different and Bedford is the wonderland I'd been dreaming of.

Before heading home we decided to hit up the dump and see what was happening. Kathleen had been wanting to get the books off of her booklist for school, and since no one had them at the flea market, we decided to try the dump. She was able to get a couple of them at least, and then we all went a little book crazy. I mean, 3 for $1 is hard to beat! You can't even find canned vegetables for that little anymore!


Matthias and I also found some end tables and got the pair for $10.


It was an awesome day! We finished it off by taking a nap (well, I did at least), then going for a swim, and watching Kate & Leopold, and then the Simpson's episode with Sting in it (because of the song during the credits of Kate & Leopold).

Today has been really good too. I helped out in nursery today, so church was super busy for me at least. Then we came home and had some good Velveeta mac & cheese for Father's Day (although Matthias made it...but he makes it the best!). Then the rest of the day has been baking!

I saw these about a week ago, and after going back to look at them and drool for a couple of days in a row, I decided to actually make them! Once everything is baked, the rest is really quick and easy to assemble, but the baking takes quite awhile because there's so much.

I made french vanilla cupcakes, fudge brownies, and Kathleen made sugar cookies. Then after coloring some frosting, we ended up with these:





mmm....so good! Kind of makes up for being so far from In and Out! --Matthias

Matthias had put some corn chowder in the crock pot for dinner (I guess since I cook all week he was taking advantage of the weekend to cook?), and I almost forgot that I promised him some Italian hard rolls like his Mom makes. However, luckily the kitchen was warm enough, and Matthias napped long enough, that the rolls rose quickly and were able to be done for dinner! mmmm.....


See how much fun we had making hamburgers!

Happy Father's Day!