First family vacation

We took a short trip to New Hampshire this week and stayed at a friend's family cottage. It was our first time away with Katie and short at that, but we had a great time. Here are the snapshots of our experience. A "family album," if you will.

It's amazing how much more stuff you have to bring when you have an infant.

On the road!

Katie was having a great old time in her car seat. The cold weather was a bit of a surprise to us, but thankfully we had brought some warmer clothes for Kaitlin.

I took this photo of the lake right after we arrived. This is the view of the lake from the front of the house.

Making ourselves at home.

We weren't sure if there were any restaurants around, so we just ate some frozen pizza for dinner on the first night. I certainly didn't want to cook on vacation.

The word "cottage" means something new to me now. While this particular cottage has a substantial addition (new living and family rooms), I can see that this type of home was not designed to be spacious. The staircase was no wider than Matt, and its entrance was no taller than 6ft. This is many inches too short for my husband, the gentle giant!

Playing with Katie on the first night.

The next morning, there was fog coming off of the lake. If I had taken these shots about 1/2 hour earlier, you would not be able to see the lake. Nature is the most beautiful thing.

Katie just woke up...

...then she ate.

Together she and I watched her first episode of Saved By The Bell was while Matt continued to sleep.

Vacation in an unknown venue requires one to come prepared with their own coffee, in case there is no way to get caffeine in the mornings (I've been a bit sleep deprived lately). Perfect opportunity to try out the new Starbucks VIA instant coffee. It wasn't bad!

Pancakes and turkey keilbasa for breakfast.

We spent the day in Conway, NH, located in the White Mountain National Forest.

Outside of the cottage again, just as we were getting into the car.

Here are a few snapshots of the drive on the way there.

We ate at a restaurant called "The Up Country."

They make their own soda.

Kaitlin fell asleep at the restaurant while hugging her toy. Awww.

We went shopping at the outlet mall, but we have no pictures of that. Just mommy and daughter on the shopping excursion.

On the drive back to the cottage.

More family time on the second night.

One last photo of the inside before we go...

And one last photo of the outside...

On the drive home there was a family-owned DRIVE THRU ESPRESSO stand!!! I got a soy mocha and it was delicious! Too bad I didn't think to photograph the stand while we were there.

We stopped at Ihop for breakfast.

And made it home in time for Matt to get to work. Short, sweet, and our first family vacation.