Mohegan Bluffs on Block Island

When Jon and I decided to take a trip to Block Island to spend the day together celebrating our 3 year anniversary, everyone around us had advice on what to do and what to see while we were there.

The number one attraction recommended by almost every person who's been there?  Mohegan Bluffs.

Mohegan Bluffs drops 150 feet to a rocky beach below, which leads to some pretty impressive views.

A long wooden stairwell leads the way down to the beach, providing its tourists with a challenge.

Obviously, we rarely say "no" to a challenge (and neither does Peanut).
ps- Gotta love the pedometers! Go Sightlines Walking Challenge!

Jon and I walked the 2.5 miles from the ferry to the South end of the Island and greeted our challenge head on.

But really, who can resist these views?

What we didn't know is that once you reach the "almost" bottom, you are greeted with this:

Umm, okay.  People who told us about the awesome views failed to mention the cliffs we had to climb up and down.

But we're no wimps.

We got down to the beach, played in the water for bit, looked at the stacked rocks, and headed back up the 144 stairs.

Totally worth it!

So if you're ever find yourself looking for a day-trip or a weekend getaway in CT, NY, or RI, take a trip over to Block Island and don't forget to walk, bike or scooter over to the South end of the island and check out Mohegan Bluffs.

Butterfly Bushes

When Jon and I first moved in to our house, we decided we needed to give the yard a boost since the previous owners didn't seem to enjoy doing any yard work.  One of our first purchases was a tiny butterfly bush.  Well, today, just 3 years later, the tiny butterfly bush is now humongous and taking over my back yard.

You would not believe how many freakin' butterflies we get though!

They're everywhere! I love it!

They're gorgeous and a little creepy.  I love having them around.

By the way, I was messing around with some of the Pioneer Woman Actions - this picture used to look like that:

Isn't she impressive?

The coolest thing ever

The coolest thing happened to us last Monday night.

Jon and I were sitting around after dinner, watching some Arrested Development, when the dogs started barking their heads off.

Usually, I'd swat at them and tell them to shut it since they bark at the most random things like bikers, trucks, squirrels.  This time though there was a car pulling into our drive way and an older couple got out and started making their way up our walk way.  I jumped up to find out what was up since random people stop by our house rather often to ask for directions, etc.  (I have no idea what it is about our house that is so attractive to people.)  I greeted them at the front steps and asked them if there was something we could do for them, and get this!

They were the original owners of the house!

That's right, some 50-60 years ago this couple found a contractor and paid him to build them a house.

Okay- how freakin' cool is that?  Jon and I literally are sitting here, excited as heck because we both have always wanted something like that to happen!  It's like straight out of a really cool movie!

Anyways, they stopped by on the way to their kids' house who still live in Madison to give us a piece that attached to the fireplace (which is no longer working the way it used to, but we totally want to rebuild).  While here, they walked around inside and outside the house, telling us stories from their past and showing us how different the place used to be.  It was their first house as well and they were happy to hear that we'd made it our first home.

Anything like that happen to you?  If not, would you want it to?

Belly pic update - 16 weeks

16 weeks

I am pretty sure that Peanut is growing at the speed of light.

16 weeks

So far - no stretch marks.

16 weeks

16 weeks

On a slight side note, one of my blog readers sent me a link to this totally awesome onesie! Which I obviously bought.

Weekend in Review

I just realized as I started writing this blog that I could never make one of those "wordless" posts because I simply have too much to say.  This time I have about a gazillion pictures to show you to sum up our weekend, so I'll try to keep my comments to a minimum.  But we all know me, so no promises.


This week I celebrated being married for 3 years to this guy.

We decided to take a trip to Block Island since we've never been.  We took this boat from New London.

It was big and really fast.  On the way back it actually ran over one of them lobster traps, getting it stuck in one of the motors and we had to wait until they freed the motor to keep going.  I'm not going to lie, I thought we would have to swim back.

While on the island, we ended up walking around (apparently pregnant women and scooters on the island don't mix).  We went to a big hotel and restaurant (where we couldn't make a dinner reservation since they were all booked up!) where they also have a farm.  We saw this big guy here.

And this guy.

That guy there is half zebra, half donkey.  Apparently this is quiet a sight.  But we only saw his butt.

We also saw an Emu.

That guy - not so friendly. 

Then we hiked 2.5 miles to the South lighthouse.

I realized that I have about 5 million pictures of useless things like ducks or waves, but I forgot to take a picture of the actual light house.  What's wrong with me?

We also walked a bit further to these here stairs.

I heard some kids counting them and they said there were 144 of them.  That is - 144 stairs down and 144 stairs back up.  They're steep.  I was out of breath.  I think I'm getting old.

They did lead to some purty beaches with purty rocks.

Then we hiked our butts back 2.5 miles and grabbed some lunch.

Followed by a walk to another nice beach.

Lots of people were enjoying the warm weather and water.  We forgot to bring suits.  We're really smart.  Just as well - Peanut is awfully cute to me but probably doesn't look so good in a 2-piece.

Then we had some ice cream and treats.

The gelatto was amazing.

Then we had a (virgin) drink at the beach bar and headed back to the main land.  Where we pretty much passed out in bed almost as soon as we got home.

Sunday we woke up and thought that it would be a good idea to go to New Jersey in traffic because my grandparents had just flown in from Moscow, Russia.  They passed all their interviews and jumped through all the hoops and moved here!  We were pretty excited.

My granpa already went to bed (the time difference is a killer), so we didn't get a picture with him.  They were pretty excited to see us and meet little Peanut.

We had a wonderful time looking through old pictures, reading some Russian baby books that my grandparents brought over with my request, and generally catching up.  (And yes, to all your stereotypical peeps - there was Vodka involved.  Although none for me.  Or Peanut.  Or Jon since he was driving us).

I also learned that my dad reads my blog.  And he does not appreciate being made fun of for taking apart our lawn mower.  Sorry dad - we do love you.  Also - we bought a brand new lawn mower.  It works great and has no need to be taken apart.