4th of july in vermont

This year for the 4th we were lucky enough to share the holiday with our wonderful friends in Vermont.  The Walker's got the house and invited friends to come up.  This was our first time in Vermont and it was beautiful.  The drive getting to VT; however, was not so beautiful.  It is amazing when there is a holiday how almost every New Yorker tries to leave the city, causing traffic chaos.  Luckily we made it out fairly early in the weekend and avoided the worst of it.

We had no idea what to expect with the house and got a little nervous when Vicky (our GPS) took us down a few dirt roads to get to there.  We were pleasantly surprised with the house once we got there and had so much fun with everyone during our stay.

We quickly learned that nothing is close together in VT, and you have to drive 30 minutes to get anywhere.    We enjoyed staying up late and visiting with friends and playing games.  It is amazing some of the topics that come up when you get this group together, they definitely like to keep it interesting:)

While we were in VT we decided to take advantage of being out in nature and one day hiked to a waterfall; where we saw a little more of one VT man then we would have liked.  Another day the boys golfed while the girls shopped, but the highlight of the weekend was the VT style 4th of July celebration.  Laurel heard about some of the festivities at a local ski resort so we decided to check it out.  There was a huge BBQ with amazing brisket and chicken and then afterward was followed by an amazing firework show.  We were all pleasantly surprised with the display that lasted over 20 minutes.  There is just something about celebrating the 4th in small town America that I love.  

Sadly the last night of our stay we grilled and had a special dinner for our dear friends the Granum's.  We were all so excited and had a wonderful weekend but hated knowing that it would end with a goodbye.  They have been some of our closest friends since moving to the city 5 years ago and NY just won't be the same without them.  Their girls are our favorite and it has been so hard not seeing them each week.  We know they are moving on to amazing opportunities for the their family in CA, but we are so sad to see them go.

After partying in VT we made it home just in time to see the NYC fireworks from the Granum's balcony, so we got a little bit of country and a little bit of city.

We are so grateful for the wonderful friends we have made in the city and love when we are able to get together with them when we are unable to spend the holidays with our families.  They are truly our NY family!!!

The cute kids

The waterfall