vermont, in a snow storm

I forgot to mention our great winter adventure. During spring break (that would be March), while normal New Englanders took themselves some place warm , we wandered north to ski country. Our timing could not have been better, apparently. We made it to Stowe, Vermont, just before they shut down the state for the fifth largest snow storm in the state's history. Snow storm or no, there was skiing to be done, well, by the crazy people. I am not a skier, so when Seal Pup 1.0 begged us to let him go back to the hotel room because skiing in a blizzard was no fun, I was willing to bring him in. Papa Seal, weighing the economics of the situation (the class was already paid for, so....) decided, that it would be a good opportunity to build up his moxy (or whatever skiing in snowstorms builds up).
The second day of skiing went much better than the first because the storm blew over and Vermont was left with a foot and a half (maybe more) of fresh snow for the skiers to go crazy on. And go crazy they did. Seal Pup 1.0 finished he second day of lessons by skiing down a green triangle run with his class, and then he did it all over again with his dad. Good times.

(Pretend there is a video here. There was supposed to be, but, well, nevermind).

You might be wondering what Seal Pup 2.0 and I did. Let me tell you! We ate, slept, went shopping and watched other people exert energy performing the fine art of skiing. I can't speak for the masses, but that's my idea of a good vacation.We also stopped at Ben and Jerry's on the way back home. As one does.

we got yer olympics right here

We spent President's Weekend (and Valentine's Day) in Vermont. The person who had the most fun was probably Seal Pup 1.0. He spent a day in ski school for 3 and 4 year olds.
He had a really great time. So great, in fact, that we acquired a pair of skis for him for the next ski season. Not being one who spends time on the slopes, I can't find the joy in all of this, but Papa is excited at the prospect of having someone to ski with. But SP1.0 needs to get a little better first, lest he knock Papa down, unapologetically.

We had fun watching the kid have fun. SP2.0 is already strategizing ways to convince us to let him ski next season, which would work out best if he would actually learn to talk, but there you are.

SP1.0 can't wait to go back to Smuggler's Notch (or anywhere, really), to ski again.


And for those who don't ski, Vermont is also home to something else. Ben and Jerry's.
We took a ton of pictures, the fun ones are up in flickr!

the snow in vermont

We have fallen asleep on the job (actually, I misplaced our little camera, but describing it thusly has allowed me to use the cute picture above). But now, we're back, with more flavor!

So Presidents' Weekend happened a while ago. I figure since the Presidents' Day sales are still being advertised on TV, I felt like it was okay to post our Presidents' Weekend happenings.

It all started with dinner from our favorite CMF missionary, CDR P! It was nice to see him and catch up while he was in town for a very quick trip.

Then we drove to Vermont to join the CGA cadets attending a ski retreat sponsored by OCF. On the way to our final destinations in Barre and Orange, we made some fun stops. First was a pit stop in Putney, the home of Green Mountain Spinnery (they have yarn, they spin yarn, this is an interest of mine, in case you didn't know).

It was a really interesting visit. And I showed a considerable amount of restraint with Papa Seal's wallet.

The shop was really small, but very well stocked.

Then, proceeding north, we stopped at the Farmer's Diner in Quechee.

I figured if it was good enough for Barbara Kingsolver and her family, it was good enough for us.

It was very good. And the philosophy behind the food was something we liked the idea of supporting (go local!).



It was really good, actually.


We also stopped to visit Ben and Jerry, don't they look so familiar?

Because everyone wants ice cream when there is 30 inches of snow on the ground.
The pup really enjoyed his visit to the place of so much ice cream.

But, seriously, if you need to eat ice cream with outerwear on, maybe it's too cold for ice cream... Just a thought for the future.

It was a good trip. And in case you were unaware of this fact, there is a great deal of snow in Vermont during the winter.

As is our standard operating procedure, more pictures can be seen and downloaded from the flickr site.