Update on the SMC Bucket List

Though I look forward to every weekend at Saint Mike's, I had been looking forward to this one in particular for a while.  The girls I nanny for at home in New Hampshire during the summer and their mom had been planning a trip to come visit me at school, and this weekend it finally happened.  In addition to having fun just spending time with them, I got to do some things that are unique to Vermont.  On Friday, I met them at the Ben & Jerry's Factory in Waterbury.

 We took a tour of the factory and of course received free samples at the end - Sweet Cream and Cookies was the flavor of the day.  It tasted just like cookies & cream (one of my favorite flavors) and was absolutely delicious.  Since it was Ben & Jerry's, I would expect nothing less!

After the tour, we went to the scoop shop and got a few more samples.  I tried one of the new Saturday Night Live flavors called Gilly's Catastrophic Crunch.  It was absolutely delicious!  Once we finished our ice cream, we had some fun exploring, including playing on the playground and walking through the Flavor Graveyard.

It looks even better with the fall decorations and mountains in the background!

Genevieve, me, and Grace, all smiles :)

Next, we headed to Burlington to have dinner at American Flatbread.  I was especially excited for this part of the weekend because I make frozen American Flatbread pizza for the girls quite often when I'm taking care of them, and because it has been on my Saint Mike's Bucket List for a while now.  Sure enough, the pizza was absolutely delicious, and so were their salads!  It was really cool to be able to see the oven where the pizza is made - it contributed to the overall fun, cozy, Vermont atmosphere.  We even made room for some dessert.  I have to say though, the ice cream didn't compare to what we had at Ben & Jerry's earlier!

The next morning, we went to Sneakers for breakfast in the Winooski circle - just down the street from Saint Mike's.  I had heard of it before but never gone.  Some of my friends from my Practicum class strongly encouraged me to check it out.  Unfortunately we had to wait a while before we were seated, but the food was totally worth the wait!

Once we were full of delicious breakfast, I took the girls back to Saint Mike's to show them my townhouse and some of my favorite parts of campus.  It was really cool to be able to show them what I've been talking to them about for four years now.  We spent a lot of time hanging out in the word garden - I think that might have been the girls' favorite part of campus!

Me (holding "Believe"), Grace (holding "Glad"), Genevieve (holding "Thankful")

One of my creations - inspired by the many hugs I received
this weekend as well as in general - SMC is a very huggy place!

 Once we were done exploring campus, it was time for the girls to head back home.  I was sad to see them leave, but I'll be able to see them in a few weeks when I go home for Thanksgiving break.

Though I know I could've gotten more homework done this weekend, I'm really happy that I gave myself a break (I had to hand in a partial draft of my senior thesis last week!) to have fun AND check off a few things on my Saint Mike's Bucket List.  To be honest, finding a balance between work and relaxation is always a challenge, but hopefully it'll all be worth it in the end!

Thanks for taking the time to read my post!  If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me or contact me via Twitter.  Have a great week everyone!

Merrill