If you agree to share a rental car with Grandma J, you are agreeing to a National Park tour! If there is a possibility for a NP Stamp in a 200 mile radius of your current location...hold on tight!! Grandma is very passionate about her NP Stamps and goes to great lengths to get them. Grandpa has happily driven 100's of 1000's of miles for these stamps and has enjoyed the little treasures they find along the way. New Hampshire was no exception so were jumped in the car and drove across that little state to the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site. We had until 5pm when the wedding started. Here's two little blurbs from Google:

-- Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, New Hampshire, preserves the home, gardens, and studios of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, one of America's foremost sculptors.

Step into the world of one of America’s greatest artists

-- Discover the home, studios and gardens of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, one of America’s greatest sculptors. See over 100 of his artworks in the galleries and on the grounds, from heroic public monuments to expressive portrait reliefs, and the gold coins which changed the look of American coinage. Enjoy summer concerts, explore nature trails, or indulge your hidden talents during a sculpture class.

It took a few hours to drive but we were already headed to North Conway. We just took the scenic route and we are glad we did. This estate was beautiful!

His home.

His studio. They had a concert performing the day we visited.

Immaculate gardens.

Pretty lilly.

The property also included rustic studio which is still used today by local artist. It sits near a ravine the boys were excited to explore. I made them go inside before hiking down to the river.

It was pretty cool to see how these sculptures are started.

This is all out of clay! Very talented peeps!

Here's the hill and the boys ran down the entire thing.

They were so happy to be out of the city and back in their own element. They were also pretty happy to have a break from the car. It would be awesome property to own.

I couldn't pick so you get two similar photos.

Abe Lincoln. Augustas Saint Gauden's was a talented man for sure!

I explained to Lucas that this was artwork and he was amazed.

So, that was our pre-wedding NP adventure. The post wedding adventure would take place in North Conway where 12+ family members agreed to be on their best behavior. :) They rented this beautiful and it was perfect for a big ol'happy family reunion.

The "little" cabin in the woods.

We were surrounded by lush hills and you wouldn't guess we were just minutes from North Conway.

We only had a couple night before heading back to Boston but we made the most of it. Despite the rainy weather, we talked a few hardy ones into a 3 mile roundtrip hike up this cute little hill...Mt. Willey. It was a short hike perfect for beginners and experts alike. Our crew: Rachael, Josh, Laura, Elias, Lucas, Axel and Mommy.

View of Mt. Willey from the highway.

Axel & Lucas really enjoyed getting some alone time with Rachael.

It's pretty much up hill the whole way to the top. The tree canopies protected us from the rain but made for some slippery rocks. Here you can see Rachael and Lucas hiking away.

The rest of the crew was not far behind.

It's a very unique summit. The trail takes you along this tree tunnel before it opens up overlooking Crawford Notch. It looked very mysterious from this point of view...almost like it was the end of the world. We had fun guessing what it would look like when we reached the opening.

Lucas our brave hiker wasted no time to get the answer.

It's pretty stunning. Rachael said we would like it and she was right!

At the summit of Mt. Willey at 4285ft!

Silly faces are a must!

We were very proud of Elias and his Mom. This was their first big hike together and the did awesome!!!!

Josh, Lucas and Rachael.

Lucas was in love...

It poured rain on the way down but that didn't stop the boys from sprinting back to the car. They did stop a few times to point out a pretty orange mushroom or a cool water hole.

Rachael treated us to ice cream and there just so happened to be a cool play area for the boys. It was perfect ending to a great hike!

This place was cheap and the ice cream cones and sundae's were huge!! This was the brownie sundae and it was tasty!

The rest of the time was spent in and around the house. Cooking, eating, catching up with the family!

After North Conway, we had a day to get back to Boston before flying home early the next morning. Mommy wanted to stop in Kennebunkport, ME for some tasty lobster rolls!

I discovered THE CLAM SHACK on Food Network months before and the lobster roll looked too good to pass up.

I was too busy eating lobster rolls and fried clams to take any photos...maybe Grandpa did?! Anyways, here are some photos courtesy of Google.

Fried Clams...AMAZING! Should have ordered more...sorry Grandpa! - Photo Courtesy of Google

The lobster roll! - Photo Courtesy of Google

2013 - 2013 America's Best Lobster Roll!

I showed the boys what a real lobster looked like. They could not figure out why anyone in their right mind would want to eat such a thing!?!? I like it that way...I don't have to share!! :)

We drove down the coast of Maine to Salem to get another NP stamp. We also checked out a few Harry Potter stores and noted all the witchy-witch craft around the town.

G&G J were happy as clams!

That night, we met some of my old friends from Montrose High School. Keely and Matt now live in Boston so we had dinner with them up in the north end of town. The boys gravitated to Matt and were so happy he rescued them from all that boring adult dinner talk.

So cute...what a happy family?! Say what?! Okay, they don't have kids yet but I'm sure this would be a funny Christmas card for all their family members bugging them about starting a family!

We had a great time catching up. Thanks for joining us Keely & Matt!

Here's a cute family too!

We hit up the bakery one last time. The boys got suckered into "free" balloons...okay, it was Mommy who got suckered out of her $5 bill when I got no change back for my tip! O'well, live and learn.

Well, that just about sums up our six weeks of summer adventures. The next morning we were up at 3:30am to catch the airport shuttle and off to Atlanta we flew. Daddy met us there and after some rock climbing at Stone Mt. Summit, we were finally home.