SNOW!

The "Artic Blast" the news is calling the unusual amount of snow we're getting. It's been fun having it around but now I'm ready for it to start raining again.

When it first started sticking

It stopped snowing for a bit.

It didn't snow all day today so Doug finished scraping the snow off the driveway and about an hour later it started snowing again.

Liv wanted to play so she came out dressed like this: skirt and crocs. She didn't stay outside very long.

Playing on our driveway.

We woke up Sunday morning and we had had freezing rain during the night. Church was canceled. Here's our tree in the front yard.

That's ice, not snow.

Later Sunday it started snowing again so Monday we went out to my parents and played.

Doug and Papa making trails for us to play tag.

We didn't last very long, the yard was too big so we tired quickly.

Angel Food Cake anyone? This was their table out on the back porch.

The news just said we're expected to have another 3" or so of snow tonight, then freezing rain tomorrow and a bit more snow on Christmas. By Friday it's back to normal with regular rain.

"I'm not feeling so well"

I'm so glad she goes to the bathroom on her own now instead of getting sick all over the place. She wasn't feeling too great the other day.

Vermont

Two weeks ago my sister called and said she had an all expense paid vacation to Vermont for Doug and I. All we needed to do was find someone to watch the kids for us. The only time we have been away from our kids in the 11 1/2 years we've been married was when the twins were 2 or 3 and my friend watched them overnight. We so desperately needed a break. We were able to get childcare (thank you mom and Rachael) and by that Sunday we were on a plane to Philadelphia where my sister and her husband picked us up and we headed on up to Smugglers Notch, Vermont. *We had to fly standby and the best flights getting out there were in to Penn.

Sunday we were up bright and early to catch a 6am flight. We had what was suppose to be a 20-30 min rest in Denver that turned into 1 1/2 hour delay. We learned later that there was an inoperable plane stuck on the runway in Philly. As we were arriving at our destination, the pilot announces that we needed to make a 50 mile loop due to high traffic. After a big wide turn and many 'S' shaped patterns in the sky, we FINALLY land. So instead of arriving around 4pm, it is now 6pm, puting our arrival time in Vermont at roughly 1:30am. After a while of driving, we get on the New Jersey turnpike and if anyone has been on there, the exits are few and far between. Somehow (and by somehow I mean the driver was distracted) we missed the exit we needed. After a few illegal maneuvers from one freeway to the next we end up stuck in bumper to bumper traffic heading across the George Washington Bridge into New York. For the record, GPS doesn't work that great when all the roads are crammed together and on top of each other. After that little side trip we are now looking at a 2am arrival.

We get to our destination just after 2am, quickly survey our home for the next couple of days, and crash.

(The kitchen, dining room, living room and view from the back porch.)

The morning comes all too quickly with a 10am "welcome and information presentation". The rest of the day we spend planning and shopping for our meals, deciding on our activities for the next few days, swimming in the indoor pool and watching movies. We go to bed with it snowing outside.

(The view from the front in the morning)

Tuesday we are awake more refreshed and headed on out for sightseeing in the town of Stowe. Our first stop, the Van Trapp Family Lodge. Unbeknownst to us, the lodge is a resort/hotel, so no tour for us, just a quick picture.

Next stop, the Cold Hollow Cider Mill. Again, expecting a tour we find it's a self guided tour with not much to look at, just the apple press but that's the most important part I suppose. The free samples of cider were yummy! The workers there were very nice and let us into the room to take pictures since the big glass separating the viewers from the work room was very dirty. They even let my sister and I take a turn with the apple dispenser.

(Sorry I cut some of the words off. It was hard to get all of it but there's enough to get the idea)

(The actual press)

After the Cider Mill we went to the Cabot Cheese Outlet and tasted all the yummy cheeses. The actual factory was in another town with no other tourist attractions to see so we settled for the outlet and were pleasantly satisfied.

We then headed down the street to Ben & Jerry's. The tour was simple, just the way I like it, and we got yet another sample. I love their ice cream.

We were told we needed to see/drive over one of Vermont's many covered bridges. Emily's Bridge is the one we went to which happens to be one of the oldest ones and suposedly it's haunted. You can go to this link to read more about it. http://www.hauntedhamilton.com/gotw_emilysbridge.html

We headed back into town to get something substantial to eat and you think we could find a restaraunt open? No. Every place we tried were closed and there were no fast food joints around so we ended up heading back to our "apartment" 45 minutes away, to make dinner. When you're in a little town and during the off season, not much is available.

The next morning we were off to Burlington, Vermont. First stop, indoor rock climbing. Before we got there we made a quick pit stop at a childrens learning store and picked up a few things for the kids for Christmas. It had been a long time since I had last been rock climbing, like before I had children, so I'll admit I was a little nervous. After a quick refresher, we were left to climb....climb on. By the time we left, we had sore fingertips and shakey arms. Ahhh, what fun.

Next stop, The Vermont Bear Factory (a lot like Build-a-Bear). We planned on going on a tour but when we got there, it wasn't quite what we expected and since the prices of everything were so expensive, we decided not to stay but we got a few fun pictures.

It was getting late when we left the factory so we decided to forgo the Echo Center (a hands-on science type museum). Instead, we made a quick stop to the Lake Champlain Chocolate Factory. It was too late to take a tour so we just looked and drooled and bought some yummy hot chocolate.

Thursday came all too quickly. We loaded our goods and ourselves into the car and headed to Manchester, New Hampshire to fly home. When we got there we had some time to kill before we needed to be at the airport so we went to the mall and had a yummy lunch. It was sad to say goodbye but I was also excited to see the kids. We got home late but it was wonderful to see all the kids tucked into bed asleep.

Thank you so much Nichole and Bryce for the wonderful time! Doug and I definitely needed that.

Gum

Last night just before bed Olivia comes in and makes a comment about her eye while rubbing it. This is what we found.

It took about45 minutes to get it out. I tried mayo, ice and finally peanut butter. I still don't know how gum ended up in her eyelashes. That was a pain.

A few days ago she had gotten into some gum that Shannon had thrown in the garbage and had managed to get it all over her pj's and in her hair. No more gum for Liv for a while.

Texas

Before all this nonsense happened with Doug's work, he had scheduled vacation time in October. We decided to go and see our friends who live in San Antonio and whom we hadn't seen in years. So we bought and paid for the plane tickets and rental car months ago. I'm so glad we couldn't get a refund because we had so much fun on our visit.

Our flight left at 6am. It was still dark outside but the kids were able to still see the men working down by the airplane.

The first flight was to Denver and went pretty well. Then we went on to San Antonio and when we were descending, Shannon started having pressure in her head (she was a little stuffed up) and was crying a bit. Five minutes before we landed, Olivia and Aiden thought it was time for naps so they tried to go to sleep but I wouldn't let them. I know, mean mommy.

It took a while to get our rental. They told us a few times that we wouldn't fit in the crossover that we had chosen and kept trying to get us to take a minivan but after much assurance that we would be alright, we finally got our Buick Enclave. That was a fun car to drive, and we all fit just nicely, thank you very much. (For those of you who don't know, we've had a minivan for the past 8 years and we wanted to try something different.)

We arrived at Leslie and Josh's in the late afternoon. It was nice to relax and catch up on old times. Next day was Sunday and Shannon wasn't feeling too great. We went to church and then lounged around the rest of the day. Monday we woke up to rain! I thought we were going to be leaving it behind for a while. Our plans for Monday were canceled so we worked on getting Shannon better. She had an awful headache that wasn't going away and was all stuffed up.

Tuesday morning it wasn't raining and Shannon was feeling better so we decided to go to a friend of Leslie's and play. The pool had gotten yucky from the rain so we could only go in the hot tub, which had been cooled down. It was nice and refreshing and the kids had lots of fun playing on the swing set.

Wednesday we woke up to more rain! That's okay because we were off to Pump It Up, an indoor blow-up play area. On the way there, we came across several areas of flooding. This was just down the street from the house. I just found it interesting how different states handle the rain.



Here are the kids having fun.

Shannon trying to put a flag on the velcro. Olivia starting through the obstacle course.

And the winner is......Josh! Nice try Doug.

We did not plan the matching shirts, honest!

That night, the kids were out playing in the backyard and Aiden ended up standing on a fire ant hill. I couldn't understand why he was just standing there, crying. I felt so bad for him. They didn't like him and he wasn't too thrilled about them either.

Thursday morning was beautiful outside but it was Olivia's turn to be sick. She ended up throwing up in the morning and Aiden wasn't feeling that good either. By the afternoon, the kids were feeling better so we went to a place where the kids get to do all different types of art. And the best part is I don't have to clean up afterwards.

Bryson and Joshua.

Friday was another beautiful day and we headed to downtown San Antonio to see the Riverwalk and the Alamo. We first saw the Riverwalk. We took the boat tour and it was very nice.

Lunchtime at one of the Mexican restaurants on the Riverwalk. Yum.


Then on to the Alamo.

The Walker Family: Aurelia, Josh, Hatty, Leslie, Grant and Joshua

Cute Girls

Handsome Boys

Our final day came around all too quickly. We headed on out to the home of a co-worker of Josh's. She has 150 acres, dogs, cats, chickens, rooster, goose, horses, donkeys, goat, a pet deer and three pet squirrels (I think that was all). Oh, and cows.

Aiden wasn't too fond of the deer.

Everyone lined up looking at the horses.

The whole gang (plus one who had to be a part of the fun, between Olivia and Jami's heads)

We were able to take all the kids out for rides on the horses. (Sorry I didn't get any pictures with my camera. I'll get some from Leslie.)

That night we had a waterballoon fight and just relaxed.

It was sad to leave, lots of tears, but we had so much fun and look forward to the next time we get to see them.

Our flight left at 6:35am so we're all tuckered out. I forgot to add that both Hatty and Grant were sick as well. I'm so glad that none of it lasted very long.