Vanderbilt Mansions: The Breakers In Newport!

On our way home from our trip to Nantucket we decided to take the kids to see the Vanderbilt mansions and walk along the cliff walk in Newport. The last time we came here was when we had all four kids and that was in 2013! Chelsea was nearly eight years and my oldest was a senior in high school! It doesn't seem that long ago, but looking at these photos from this post and the ones we took of the kids now is proof that time does fly! And fast! It was a beautiful sunny day and wish I could have spent the night on the lawn outside The Breakers mansion! I only took a few photos of the rooms that caught my eye and because I wanted to just re-read and re-learn everything about this mansion focused on just that and so did the kids. We love history and old mansions and this is a perfect place to come as a family. All the rooms were interesting to read about. Noah's favorite place was the piano room. Chelseas was the bedroom with the pink floral wallpaper. Mine was the library room and you can see a little snippet of that room here on my TikTok. And of course- Jon's was the kitchen that was filled with copper pots! More photos below!

our adventures in New England.

This is how much we love New England. 

Although we spent most of our days in Newport we also drove to Maine, ate at this magnificent Mexican restaurant in Kittery, explored the outlet stores, saw two lighthouses, and also stopped by the Boston temple on the way home.

A lot of driving was done, but when you have three wonderful states of New England huddled within a 180 mile radius it's worth the driving time. Luckily we are a singing, license plate, i spying game playing kind of family while traveling on the road. I'm pretty archaic when it comes to road trips without the movie watching, always sleeping (unless your really tired, and have been lacking sleep all week like Sierra), and nonstop radio playing. Okay...so I may have given in a little with Noah by handing him my phone to play a game, but he was such a good little traveler I couldn't say no.

There was so much that I wanted to record, and vine but I was appreciating every moment spent with these kids. They all knew that this would be the last long traveling trip with Sierra...at least for a while.

Enjoying this time without documenting their every move actually felt good. Sometimes it feels so nice to just walk along the ocean without a camera in hand, pick up rocks with your kid without creaking your neck trying to take a selfie (which I hardly ever do), and sit on the rocks off of the Cliff Walk with your little one to hear the waves crashing.

Okay...so I do take a lot of photos, but we do need memories for our posterity right?

So here are some moments of our trip to New England, and I hope that everyone has a wonderful long Labor Day weekend!

Jamestown-Verrazano bridge

 Point Judith lighthouse & rock towers.

Cliff Walk at Narragansett, RI

 Mansions at the cliff walk.

^^ Nubble lighthouse, in Cape Neddick, Maine ^^

^^ woke up to a foggy morning in Maine but still had smiles on our faces ^^

Special thanks to my husband who was my photographer throughout this trip.

And to the tripod that helped in taking this family photo of us! 

**The stars were definitely aligned in giving us these wonderful moments!**

an ode to a new school year.

I know many of your children have gone back to school already & I hope that they all had a great start to a new school year.

By the looks of it via Facebook it seems like many of your kids enjoyed their first day. I saw how lovely they all looked dressed up carrying their backpacks, & oh how they treasure those!

All your children looked so happy & excited, and lets hope that they'll carry those smiles all year round! 

Sending our kids back to school sure is bittersweet because they grow up way too fast!

Enjoy your children while they're little because before you know it they'll be off to college, hence our last major summer trip.

Let their hearts carry that inner child with them whether it's building rock towers or 

playing with balloons, & save the pictures that they color even if its filled with scribbles. 

Listen to them as they come home & tell you about their day. Better yet, ask them how their day went first. 

Let's not be in a hurry to rush this school year or hurry our kids into becoming small grown ups. 

Enjoy their youth, cherish it, enjoy even the small little things that they say or do.

Most importantly...listen. 

Nowadays that's all a child wants is for us as parents to listen & be there for them. 

This is an attribute that I have learned to improve throughout my years of motherhood & have done better at not always being in a hurry or rushing my life away with my family. 

Time is precious & so are the lives of our children. 

Luckily for us school doesn't begin until the day after Labor Day. We love New England and are enjoying the adventures of Newport in Rhode Island. 

We are making every memory count! 

Happy Tuesday to you!