Unlike most people, I absolutely love Labor Day weekend. Most people associate it with the end of summer, but for me, it’s the beginning of my absolute favorite time of year. I LOVE the fall! The cool crisp air, the gorgeous New England foliage, apple and pumpkin picking, yummy smelling candles, hot creamy homemade soups, the holiday festivities and the list goes on. When my husband and I were choosing a time of year and date to get married, we both immediately agreed we wanted either a fall or winter. Labor Day is always the “kickoff” to the time of year I look forward to the most.
On Friday afternoon my husband and I ventured off for another weekend getaway to our home away from home in Stowe, Vermont. We visit various different parts of Vermont often, but Stowe is by far our favorite plus my husbands brother lives up there with his wife and daughter. Sometimes we stay with his family and other times we simply want our own space and privacy and stay in a hotel. This is the second year in a row that we spent Labor Day weekend in Stowe at the Golden Eagle Resort. We stay at the resort often as we really like their rooms (we had a mini suite this weekend) and they have a fabulous breakfast that we always get included in our room. This was also the second year in a row that my husband and brother in law did the Darn Tough Ride, cycling 100 miles followed by an after party of a BBQ, friends and music. It was a fairly simple weekend of relaxing, a short hike, lots of walking, hanging out by the resort pool, shopping, eating out at some of our favorite local restaurants in town, spending time with our family and spending time with each other.
I spent a lot of time reflecting on how far my husband and I have come since this weekend last year. I truly cannot believe that last year at this time we were only a few weeks away from our long awaited wedding day and two week honeymoon. It literally feels like yesterday to me. In one sense I feel a little sad realizing that almost a year has already gone by since our big day and in another sense, I feel really blessed and overjoyed. At one point during the weekend I said to my husband, “Can you believe that in less than one year we got married, rented out our loft, bought a new house and we have a baby on the way?!” He just looked at me and smiled. I also admitted that I felt a little sad that we’re already coming up on our one year anniversary and that I remember all the excitement I had last year at this time gearing up for our wedding day. He eased my mind by saying, “Yes, but this year we have new and bigger things to be excited about.” My husband often assures me that I look great, that I’m doing great being pregnant and most importantly, that he’s really excited to become parents together. Sometimes it feels like I’m going through this pregnancy alone because I’m the one experiencing all the many physical changes, but my husband is always right there to remind me that we’re going through this together.
Weekend getaways are pretty frequent for us, especially when there’s an extra day involved. Somehow, this Labor Day weekend getaway felt different. Perhaps because it’s our last Labor Day weekend before we’re officially parents. We’re planning to do a first anniversary and babymoon vacation sometime this fall. My husband has thrown out so many ideas of places to go…Paris, Quebec City and Montreal, Wine Country, taking a cruise. Oddly enough, the place I keep coming back to is Stowe. It’s a place I truly love to getaway and vacation to, a place that’s comforting and familiar and a place that I truly love spending time. My husband and I talked a lot about where to move before buying our house. There was a big part of us that debated on moving to Stowe. But, we factored in several things, the big ones being we wanted to be close to our family when we have children and we really love Stowe being a vacation destination for us. We were worried that over time it would “lose its luster” if we moved there.
A lot of friends keep telling me we “better take advantage now” because you “can’t travel with a baby and kids”, but we both agree that it’s completely absurd. We both went away on weekends and on vacations all the time as kids. I wonder why other couples stop traveling once they have children? Sure, there’s more to pack and it’s not as easy or romantic. But isn’t that part of what having a family is about? Doing many of the things you enjoy doing as a couple with your children? We fully intend on taking our kids skiing in Vermont and swimming in Cape Cod and experiencing Disney World. Sure we want to enjoy a few last minute weekends getaways and vacations alone before our little lovebug arrives, but traveling is something we’re really looking forward to enjoying with our kids, and we fully intend on taking them on weekend getaways and vacations. So while this Labor Day weekend getaway was one where we didn’t have any responsibilities other than each other, we’re truly looking forward to next year when we’ll have a six month old baby to join in our jet setting fun with us!
Silly faces! My niece loves using the camera on my phone!
Playing chess at the Stowe Mountain Lodge. Another one of our favorite places to stay in Stowe!