Newport Mansions

Good Morning Everyone! Sorry I didn't get a chance to post anything yesterday.  We had a really busy day and after Ethan went to sleep I started a post but had such horrible sinus pain that I had to just put it away. I'm feeling much better today though!

What a wonderful day we had!  Ethan woke up very early yesterday (around 6). He always seems to get up earlier when we are on vacation for some reason. This morning he slept until his normal 7:15 though which was nice.  Once we were up and ready yesterday we decided to brave the cold morning and walk to town rather than drive.  When I say we bundled Ethan up its an understatement. He looked like Ralphie's brother in the Christmas Story.  He had on a long sleeved shirt, a Patagonia fleeece, LL Bean winter coat, mittens, hat, and for most of the trip a blanket!  That's him in the stroller if you can't tell! hehehe We kept checking him to see if he minded the cold ocean air and for the first five minutes he was just smiling and enjoying it all.  After the first five minutes....he was sound asleep!  Who's child is this?  We are SUMMER people!  He actually enjoyed the cold air! We walked to a place called the Aloha Cafe where he proceeded to sleep through breakfast.  

Ethan's nap gave us the courage to try the mansions one more time.  This try was a lot more successful than the day before when we had to leave.  Our first visit was to the Elms.  The pictures at the top of the post show how beautiful it was.  It was a self guided tour which was perfect and afterwards Ethan was able to run on the huge lawn out back.  Once we finished up at the Elms we took a drive to the Green Animals which is a sculpted garden outside of Newport.  Unfortunately no one told us that it closed for the season! The good news however is that we found a great Brewery for lunch!  

After lunch we tried one more Mansion...The Marble House.  It was literally full of solid marble walls.  Crazy! It was so interesting to be inside these homes and think about the lives that were led inside of them.  I have to say that I can't imagine living in a home with 70 rooms, I don't think I would like it!  

Ethan, John, and I were able to get some swimming in at the pool once we returned to the hotel. Although we were planning on going out for a big Italian dinner, we settled on room service since we were all so sleepy!  

We are sad to see our vacation come to an end but we have a great morning planned.  First we will complete the Cliff Walk (no worries we won't go over any!) and then tour one last mansion before heading home.  I'll post some more pics tonight!