Fall Break 2014- Rhode Island

We went to Rhode Island!

One of the things we are REALLY loving about being back in school is all of the breaks!

We LOVE traveling, friends and especially our family so when we get to put all those things together we are pretty happy.

We actually spent the nights in Swansea Massachusetts but spent most of the time in Providence and Newport Rhode Island.

We toured several mansions including the Vanderbilt Mansion.

We saw over 5,000 amazingly decorated pumpkins at the Roger Williams Zoo in Providence.

We ate great food, swam and made some great memories.

For the 1 hr plus tour of the Vanderbilt Mansion Ace and Garret looked a lot like the above picture.

This is one of my very favorite memories!

Garret was so engaged and I loved hearing him repeat things he had heard from the audio tour.

The kids audio tour was set up as if the house were talking to you, telling you all about his secrets and stories. Those two boys, and that above picture just melt me!

Reid did pretty great as well. He wasn't interested in the headphones and kept asking to go outside, but I got to do the entire tour...just at a little faster pace.

We were quiet and well behaved for far too long!

The sweet husbands took the kiddos so the wives could do a servants mansion tour. We kept comparing everything to Downton Abbey. Thank goodness BBC is keeping us educated:-)

My sweet little Lobster Boys!

Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular!

Garret was psyched to see Yoda there! Ace has trained him well; I didn't stand a chance.

Pretty great gang!

I just can't handle how much I love this family!

Niagara, New York-September 2014 Trip

Our trip to Niagara was so much fun!

Because Ace had a say in planning this trip, our very first stop was dinner and it had to be epic since we were vacationing. So what would be more epic than the birthplace of the original buffalo wings! I think my sweet husband had 17 wings! This man loves his wings and will kiss anything that brings them to him...anything (example below)

Next stop: Niagara Falls! 

                                                                                                                                                                 

Love how Garret is tucked underneath Ace's poncho.

Mr. Smooth!

Then there was the Niagara Aquarium. Pretty small as far as aquariums go; but it worked great for the little Stryker boys and me because it was our very first one.

 The Mighty Niagara 1/2 Marathon

I would love to be able to do a race for every vacation I go on! It is fun to see different parts of a city that you wouldn't see along the normal paths of a tourist, and with all the eating out the exercise in there kinda balances things out. This was probably my very favorite race yet! Here are a few reasons why:

1. Both Laura and I got our best time! We hadn't trained very hard, consistent yes but hard no. So when it came to the race we weren't really sure where we were. It was nice to see that the consistent running paid off and we were able to come in around 1:42 (Laura) and 1:48 (Me).

2. The pacers! I love running a race with pacers and the pacer for the 1:50 time was so entertaining. He was 59 years old and he told story after story of his son and their running careers. It was nice to listen to for close to 2 hours.

3. The spectators were amazing! Usually you have a pretty good crowd for the first few miles and then again for the last couple. But this race had a crowd all throughout the course. It was nice to have people cheering you on at mile 8 and 9 as well as the start and finish. 

4. There were not only spectators scattered throughout the course but there were also BANDS! Some seemed like legit performers while others seemed like they just pulled an instrument out and sat in their driveway playing while runners went by. So funny, and so entertaining. My favorite band was what looked like a dad and son standing out in their drive-way with a keyboard and an electric guitar playing some type of strange techno music. It wasn't necessarily my kind of music but it was interesting, and it warmed my heart to think of Ace jamming out with our boys in the future.

5. The course was beautiful! For most of the race the Niagara River was on the left and then these cute neighborhoods, and towns were on the right. Very peaceful and picturesque.

Then to end the race I got to ride home with his comedian. Great day and a great trip!