Farmer's Market

Check out the goods

The backdrop for the market - the Marble Works Falls. So beautiful.

When we knew we were coming back to Vermont this summer we couldn't wait to go the farmer's market in downtown Middlebury. The vendors are wonderful with a wide array of items to buy - Vermont wine, cheese, meats, veggies, syrup, flowers, baked goods, etc. There is always music playing and it's a lot of fun. We went on Saturday, bought several goodies, and enjoyed a picnic of bread and cheese. Sophia ate bread for the first time and loved it!

Our Lake Dunmore walk about

Beautiful Lake Dunmore

Enjoying a great walk

Daddy stops to pick Sophia a flower

We walked to the little beach about 2 minutes from our house.

Putting toes in the sand looking at the lake - what a life!

For more information about Lake Dunmore - http://www.lakedunmorevt.com/

Daddy reading Sophia her favorite book

Raph's Study Buddy

Sophia reading a little William Faulkner with Daddy.

Our little crouton catching up on her own reading.

Waiting for Raph after his first day of classes outside the Barn at Bread Loaf.

Raph is in his third summer at Bread Loaf working towards his masters in English. Yes, Raph is a Spanish teacher but once upon a time he did teach English and still truly loves literature and learning. This summer at Bread Loaf Raph is taking two courses - Faulkner and Hitchcock. Raph's Faulkner class meets everyday for an hour and Hitchcock meets twice a week for 2 1/2 hours. It has been fun for me to watch the Hitchcock movies and read a little Faulkner with Raph. Bread Loaf is a wonderful community that encourages families to be as much a part of the campus as the students.

To read more about Bread Loaf - http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/blse/

Our Vermont adventure begins...

Our (sleepy) little traveler. Sophia was amazing on her first road trip.

Sophia and Daddy outside of the Bread Loaf Inn before registration.

Our home for the next 6 weeks on Lake Dunmore

Sophia exploring our new place - she loves the stairs!

Relaxing after the long trip in our backyard.

Playing in the pool.

Sophia stretching her legs - look at that sweet smile!

So our adventure started on Monday afternoon after much help from Mom and Dad with packing and Raph's return from Central America Sunday night - whoo! We left WFS around 2 p.m. and drove to the New York state line to spend the night. Sophia was such a trooper on her first long road trip. She played and napped all the way up the road. We stopped once to stretch our legs and to give Sophia her dinner. The highlight of the day was seeing Sophia in the hotel! She loved checking everything out and playing on our big bed. Unfortunately my camera was packed so I didn't get any pictures. :(

The next morning we had an early wake up call - Miss Sophia. So we hit the road and made it to Vermont in record time. We arrived at our house on Lake Dunmore around lunchtime and we unpacked the car and had some lunch. We went to Bread Loaf campus to register Raph for his classes and to tour around campus. Everything is so beautiful here and we are so excited to spend the summer in this amazing place.

Happy Father's Day!

Posing with Pop, the best Dad ever!

Granddaddy with his daughter, grand daughter, and great-grand daughter

Our little crawler hard at work.

My sweet girl

Finally, Raph is home from is 3 week trip to Central America. Sophia is showing him his present - a pink Hibicus tree!

Sophia and I couldn't wait for Father's Day this year because it's a great day to celebrate all the wonderful men in our lives and also Raph was coming home from Central America that evening! Father's Day was fun and we enjoyed spending time with Dad and Granddaddy and then Raph made it home from the airport at 11:30 p.m. that evening. We missed having Raph home so much! Now onto Vermont...

7 months, baby!

Sophia, our happy girl, loving her indoor swing!

On her offical 7 month birthday, Sophia playing with her sunglasses

Yep, that's a bikini!

My sweet girl

Sophia's baby pool.

Since Sophia turned 7 months so much has happened! She can pull up on most anything and she is now crawling. Life as we know it has already started to change! Another milestone, her first fever due to what I think is teething.

When I checked on her sleeping in her crib a few minutes ago she looked so big. Where has the time gone? She is able to do so many things now and I am amazed by her ability to bring so much joy to those around her. I am anxious for Raph to return from Central America on Sunday so he can see Sophia and all of her new tricks!

Sophia at the pool

Loving the Swing!

Mom and Dad took this video while I was with my college friends in D.C. this weekend. Last night was the first night I was away from Sophia and I missed her so much! It was great seeing the Sweet Briar girls though and we had a perfect weekend of catching up, site seeing, shopping, and yes, karaoke! Clearly Sophia is loving the swing and she made out great with Grammy and Pop this weekend. I appreciate Mom and Dad babysitting - I knew she was in wonderful hands.

This is an experiment...

I took this video for Raph and I am trying to load it on my blog. Please forgive the camerawoman...I will get better!

Any day now...

Everyday is something new with Sophia and since she turned 6 months I am even more amazed with our girl! She can now pull herself up to a sitting position from laying down and then she can pull up to her feet. Any day now she is going to start crawling - she gets on all fours, rocks a couple of times, moves her hands but then sits back down. Part of me is so excited about this next step but the other part of me is wondering where the time has gone. Also I want Raph to be here when she starts crawling - clearly Sophia has her own schedule and we will just wait and see.

Sophia is such a happy, playful baby! She smiles and giggles all the time and I love watching her. She is fascinated by her toys and all that is surrounds her. She moves constantly and sometimes I feel like I'm wrestling a tiger!

The photos are from the Portrait Innovations photo shoot the other night.