Castles, dinos, and birdhouses on the shores of Lake Champlain

I haven’t been taking too many actual pictures during our Vermont vacation this year, choosing instead to take mental photographs. In some ways these are better because I record them with all my senses: The sweet honey scent of freshly mowed grass, the warmth of sun on skin, the small burst of sour-sweetness on my tongue from the wild raspberry Teddy has placed there, the rustling of wind in pine branches, and of course the shades of saffron, pale pink, cream, and purple that are goldenrod, joe pye weed, wild phlox, Queen Anne’s lace, and loosestrife swaying in the breeze.

But I have snapped a few photos of course, most recently on our bike ride in South Hero, a quiet town on the southernmost tip of the Lake Champlain Islands. In addition to the ample natural beauty to be found there, there are some human-made features that are really fun for kids. One is a number of different of stone castles built in the early twentieth century by a local gardener (for more information on the castles see here and here). This one was our favorite:

And apparently a stray brachiosaurus has made its home where it can gaze across the lake to the Adirondacks.

We also came upon what we referred to as the “birdhouse forest” – a large piece of property where brightly colored boxes decorate every tree as far as the eyes can see.

I’ll definitely be storing these and other memories up and pulling them out on cold winter afternoons.

I share these pictures as part of Photo Friday at Delicious Baby. Have a great late-summer weekend and please come back next week for more about our trip to England.