Summer Vacation 2026

Summer vacation 2026 looked a little bit different this year - much more low key, melancholy and reflective. Considering all that was going on in our lives, it was nice to be in Rye and away from it all. 

Lee and I got in a long walk every morning, exploring new areas each day.

Emily joined us for three days and was able to get in some long (for her) runs. Pretty certain she would be a marathoner if she lived at the beach full time.

There were jellyfish everywhere on the beaches this year. And they were huge.

Brown's did not disappoint.

After all these years, I finally learned that the key to getting Lee to go out for breakfast is to walk there!

Family Vacation 2026 - France

Our big family adventure for 2026 was a trip to France - Normany, Brittany, the Loire Valley and Paris. This trip has been a dream of mine for several years and I was finally able to convince Lee that we should go. While I'm starting to think that nothing will top our Alaska trip, we had a pretty incredible time on this trip. Over 14 days, we visited four different regions of France, saw countless historical monuments and churches, ate incredible food, and walked - a lot! Some of our favorite memories are below but if you want to see our entire trip, click here for our travel blog to see each and every adventure. 

Palace of Versailles

Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles.

Gardens of Versailles

Honfleur

Deauville

Normandy American Cemetery

Omaha Beach

The Headlands

Pointe-du-Hoc

Le Mont-St-Michel

Chateau d'Angers

Apocalypse Tapestry

Hunting dog demonstration

Chateau d'Azay-de-Rideau

Loire River

Le Clos de la Mesierie

Eiffel Tower

Notre Dame Cathedral

Arc de Triomphe

Musee d'Orsay

Rocky Mountain High

For their final fall break as students, Elizabeth and her friend Sophia decided to travel to Colorado. They spent five days in Denver and the surrounding area, visiting Rocky Mountain National Park, touring the hotel from The Shining, visiting the state capital and taking in a Colorado Avalanche game. They took the train from New Haven to LaGuardia, which was impressive from my perspective, as they had to take a few different trains. Elizabeth really loved Rocky Mountain National Park and all of its glory. 

The hotel from The Shining.

Bruins v. Avalanche