It has been a rather wet winter break. The snow is always North and West of us, all we ever get is rain. As a result a fair amount of time has been spent indoors. Fortunately the kids get along fairly well and the house is big enough that we are not all piled up on each other.
The older two boys are finishing up homework. my goal is to avoid the classic Saturday afternoon freak out when a child realizes that school starts up again on Monday. I think they are in decent ship. I'll have to ask a few pointed questions tomorrow. Either way, playtime is coming to an end.
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Thursday, January 02, 2014
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Cathedral of Trees
I can't believe it, we got an actual sunny day. An event that has been far too infrequent this summer.
I took this picture of Max up at my cousins on another of those rare dry days. We had climbed the hill behind the house and found a short track in the woods. It was at most 50 yards, but the effect was almost cathedral like.
The tall trees reaching up and arching overhead enclosed an open area within the woods. It was cool and inviting after the hot and open field. I would have lingered longer, but Max had other places to go off to.
I took this picture of Max up at my cousins on another of those rare dry days. We had climbed the hill behind the house and found a short track in the woods. It was at most 50 yards, but the effect was almost cathedral like.
The tall trees reaching up and arching overhead enclosed an open area within the woods. It was cool and inviting after the hot and open field. I would have lingered longer, but Max had other places to go off to.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Summer in Vermont
Since today was such a wet and dreary day I thought this would a nice bright and cheerful way to end the week.
I really like this picture, I took it last week in Vermont. It was a spur of the moment idea to put the dandelion in the foreground with the the mountains fading into background.
We were all tromping down the hill when I saw the dandelion towering over the other plants. I did a quick shot and immediately liked what I saw. All I did was straighten out the picture and crop it just a bit.
I really like this picture, I took it last week in Vermont. It was a spur of the moment idea to put the dandelion in the foreground with the the mountains fading into background.
We were all tromping down the hill when I saw the dandelion towering over the other plants. I did a quick shot and immediately liked what I saw. All I did was straighten out the picture and crop it just a bit.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Rain, Rain, Go Away
I am so sick of rain.
It has rained almost every day this summer with the added bonus of some sort of thunderstorm rolling in every couple of days. Last night's storm was particularly notable. The thunderclaps shook the house numerous times and at one point is was almost like the fourth of July.
It even rained during our grand tour of up north. The rivers were running high and fast with no hope of their going down in the near future. Once again we missed out on fireworks.
On the upside we have seen plenty of rainbows. I caught this one up at my cousin's house in VT. It stretched all across the sky and lingered for quite some time. The only other benefit is that I have yet to turn on our sprinkler system. With all the rain we are getting the lawn is just fine, thank you very much.
It has rained almost every day this summer with the added bonus of some sort of thunderstorm rolling in every couple of days. Last night's storm was particularly notable. The thunderclaps shook the house numerous times and at one point is was almost like the fourth of July.
It even rained during our grand tour of up north. The rivers were running high and fast with no hope of their going down in the near future. Once again we missed out on fireworks.
On the upside we have seen plenty of rainbows. I caught this one up at my cousin's house in VT. It stretched all across the sky and lingered for quite some time. The only other benefit is that I have yet to turn on our sprinkler system. With all the rain we are getting the lawn is just fine, thank you very much.
Tuesday, July 09, 2013
En Vacances
As my tiny handful of readers guessed, we were away last week. It was a whirlwind tour of two grandmothers and an old friend spanning four states,not counting the ones we drove through. It was exhausting, but quite fun.
We ate far too much good food, drank too much good beer, and didn't get enough exercise (stupid never ending rain). I think we all wished we could have stayed longer with each of our hosts, but it felt very good to finally come back home.
We ate far too much good food, drank too much good beer, and didn't get enough exercise (stupid never ending rain). I think we all wished we could have stayed longer with each of our hosts, but it felt very good to finally come back home.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
White Mountains
It has been rather beachy here lately so I thought I would share some nice cool greens and blues from our trip up north.
It is the view from my cousin's house of New Hampshire's White Mountains. It really was an idyllic spot to spend our vacation time. I look forward to going there again.
It is the view from my cousin's house of New Hampshire's White Mountains. It really was an idyllic spot to spend our vacation time. I look forward to going there again.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Artist of the Week: Sand Castle
The artist, or rather artists, of the week are Jake, Nate, Max, and Rebecca. It was a real pleasure watching all four of them working so well together during our entire time on the beach. They were very happy to help each other build various structures in the resulting sprawling complexes they created.
In the top picture you can see all four working away with the Lost Pearl in the background. I couldn't resist taking this picture of the pirate party boat in the background. It gives the fortification a little more meaning.
In the next picture, featuring Miss Rebecca, there is a close up picture of one of the many bridges. The kids found the sand to be ideal for building all sorts of ambitious structures. No internal drift wood supports were needed. The sand was just wet enough to hold together and form almost any shape. They didn't need buckets of water to keep the structure from crumbling away. The biggest threat was stray toddlers (of which there were mercifully few with the notable except of two cuties that were well corralled by their doting father) and the advancing surf.
The kids were careful to erect the main body of their fort high enough on the wash to lessened the danger of advancing waves, but not where the sand was too dry to stick together.
In the third picture you can see Nate and Rebecca working on the details of the fort. They discovered that the sand could hold a squared edge and as a result they made small houses throughout the structure. Near Nate you can also see a few more of the bridges. Nate was the main bridge builder and was in fact the one to request documentation of their efforts.
Anyhoodle as you can see the whole thing did sprawl out over a large area. The beach wasn't terribly crowded, which may have been been due to the fact it was early in the day and rain clouds were sweeping in. Either way the kids could build to their hearts content until it was time to go.
Now at the water's edge Jake made a sturdy structure with dribble castles on top. He had help from his siblings to create what was initially a thick wall to repel the waves. Then it evolved into a squat tower. It got washed over a few times,but that didn't deter Jake. He would repair and replace as needed. Max was more than happy to help out with the connecting wall.
Max, in fact, was happy to help out wherever he was needed. His siblings would remain working in one area, while he bounced about.
Here is one final view. Again it is looking out towards the ocean, but as opposed to the top picture it is down by the tower. I like how the breaking wave gives a note of impending mayhem.
It was a good weekend at the beach.
I am particularly proud of how well the kids got along and even went so far as to invite others to join in on the fun. On Saturday (these pictures were all taken on Sunday) two boys roughly the age of Jake and Nate helped work on the day's sand castle. For a brief moment I had six children and all was good in the world.
In the top picture you can see all four working away with the Lost Pearl in the background. I couldn't resist taking this picture of the pirate party boat in the background. It gives the fortification a little more meaning.
In the next picture, featuring Miss Rebecca, there is a close up picture of one of the many bridges. The kids found the sand to be ideal for building all sorts of ambitious structures. No internal drift wood supports were needed. The sand was just wet enough to hold together and form almost any shape. They didn't need buckets of water to keep the structure from crumbling away. The biggest threat was stray toddlers (of which there were mercifully few with the notable except of two cuties that were well corralled by their doting father) and the advancing surf.
The kids were careful to erect the main body of their fort high enough on the wash to lessened the danger of advancing waves, but not where the sand was too dry to stick together.
In the third picture you can see Nate and Rebecca working on the details of the fort. They discovered that the sand could hold a squared edge and as a result they made small houses throughout the structure. Near Nate you can also see a few more of the bridges. Nate was the main bridge builder and was in fact the one to request documentation of their efforts.
Anyhoodle as you can see the whole thing did sprawl out over a large area. The beach wasn't terribly crowded, which may have been been due to the fact it was early in the day and rain clouds were sweeping in. Either way the kids could build to their hearts content until it was time to go.
Now at the water's edge Jake made a sturdy structure with dribble castles on top. He had help from his siblings to create what was initially a thick wall to repel the waves. Then it evolved into a squat tower. It got washed over a few times,but that didn't deter Jake. He would repair and replace as needed. Max was more than happy to help out with the connecting wall.
Max, in fact, was happy to help out wherever he was needed. His siblings would remain working in one area, while he bounced about.
Here is one final view. Again it is looking out towards the ocean, but as opposed to the top picture it is down by the tower. I like how the breaking wave gives a note of impending mayhem.
It was a good weekend at the beach.
I am particularly proud of how well the kids got along and even went so far as to invite others to join in on the fun. On Saturday (these pictures were all taken on Sunday) two boys roughly the age of Jake and Nate helped work on the day's sand castle. For a brief moment I had six children and all was good in the world.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Beach!
On the heels of our trip up north we had a quick weekend on the beach at Virginia Beach. The beaches aren't as pristine nor as empty as those found on on the Outer Banks in North Carolina, but Virginia Beach is a darn site closer and better suited for weekend getaways.
That said we had a very nice time.
The sand there is great for building castles and the kids did all three days we were there. They would make large fortifications with bridges, towers, and moats. Max would often do his own thing, but ultimately it would link up with the other structures. Nate and Rebecca would flit about adding touches here in there while Jake directed his siblings at one point to make a huge wall to protect his city from the pounding surf.
Speaking of pounding surf, on Friday it wasn't too bad. We broke out some of our boogie boards and had fun with the waves. That evening a storm rolled in and the surf was quite violent Saturday morning. The flags were flying at the lifeguard stations and as a result there was no body boarding and we had to keep close in. But that didn't stop us from playing in the water. As you can see Max was having a good old time flopping about in the waves.
Sunday morning the surf was just as strong, though the lifeguards were being a bit more lenient. We could us the boogie boards, but again we couldn't go very far out. Here you can see how impressive the waves could be. That is Larry's head peeking out of the wave.
We were sad to go on Sunday, but the rain did help chase us off the beach. It was a fun trip and even though hotel rooms were small (literally bedrooms) they were just fine since our main interest was being at the beach.
Oh and if you ever go to Virginia Beach I highly recommend Big Sam's Inlet Cafe and Raw Bar. Great food and service at a very good price. The place is tiny and you often have to wait, but we ere glad we dined there.
That said we had a very nice time.
The sand there is great for building castles and the kids did all three days we were there. They would make large fortifications with bridges, towers, and moats. Max would often do his own thing, but ultimately it would link up with the other structures. Nate and Rebecca would flit about adding touches here in there while Jake directed his siblings at one point to make a huge wall to protect his city from the pounding surf.
Speaking of pounding surf, on Friday it wasn't too bad. We broke out some of our boogie boards and had fun with the waves. That evening a storm rolled in and the surf was quite violent Saturday morning. The flags were flying at the lifeguard stations and as a result there was no body boarding and we had to keep close in. But that didn't stop us from playing in the water. As you can see Max was having a good old time flopping about in the waves.
Sunday morning the surf was just as strong, though the lifeguards were being a bit more lenient. We could us the boogie boards, but again we couldn't go very far out. Here you can see how impressive the waves could be. That is Larry's head peeking out of the wave.
We were sad to go on Sunday, but the rain did help chase us off the beach. It was a fun trip and even though hotel rooms were small (literally bedrooms) they were just fine since our main interest was being at the beach.
Oh and if you ever go to Virginia Beach I highly recommend Big Sam's Inlet Cafe and Raw Bar. Great food and service at a very good price. The place is tiny and you often have to wait, but we ere glad we dined there.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
My Little Mermaid
While her brothers were busy building forts, Rebecca and I decided to make a mermaid instead.
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
Winter Album
I have a lot of pictures to share so this post is going to be more of a photo album of a few of my favorite pictures from our trip up north.
Every year we slog up north during the school system's winter break. It usually runs about two weeks which gives us more than enough time to travel, visit family, and recover. My mom thinks we are a bit crazy to do all that traveling during the winter time. However, winter in Virginia is for the most part lame and this gives our children a taste of what real winter is like.
This year there wasn't much snow on the ground when we first showed up at my mother's house in VT, but that night we got a dusting of snow. I love the clean white of the snow contrasting with the dark trees and their shadows.
I also like this little statue of a bunny that is on my mother's deck. I thought it looked so cute partially surrounded with the little patches of drifted snow. As I recall I wasn't wearing proper footwear (slippers perhaps?) and I didn't want to step down into the snow. So I squatted down and stuck my camera in front of the bunny and snapped a picture. I think it came out rather well! I did not do a thing to the picture except titling it and that really doesn't count.
Of course we didn't spend all our time at my mom's house. She did have some snow, but it wasn't enough to go sledding on.
Instead of going to the park down the street with it's snowless hill, we went to my cousin's house. His house is about 20 minutes north of my mother's home and he got a bit more snow. He also has a rather epic sledding hill in the fields adjacent to the house. We wee invited up to go sledding and we gladly accepted the offer.
The drive was a bit more exciting than I would have liked. I did a half-assed job tying the toboggan down and guess what happened. The dang thing flipped off the van and skidded across the road. Fortunately no other cars were behind us and the the oncoming traffic was sparse enough that they avoided the sled. I quickly pulled over and hustled down the road to collect our wayward toboggan.
Remarkably it was unharmed by it's misadventure. I was able to stuff the other sleds in the rocket box on top of the van, but the toboggan was too long. In the end we stuffed it inside the van with us. It was a tight fit, particularly for Nate (he was such a trooper), but we made it work. The rest of the drive was far less exciting and we finished it in due time.
The view from the hill was spectacular and I got some great shots of the mountains to the east. It was a crisp bright day and the snow was loose powder. The sledding wasn't perfect, but we all had a great time.
We never made quite to the tippy top of the hill. The field wasn't as well mown up there and as a result there was a fair amount of dried out plants poking through the snow cover. You can see it in this picture. Larry and Max ventured up into it on the broad path where the snow was a bit smoother. I think it was about 4/5ths the way up the hill. plenty far enough for a good long run.
Another of my cousins showed up to visit and she expressed a little concern about how far up were going. I told her that the kids were fairly experienced and had enough sense to know when to bail. There were a few fence posts to avoid, but not roads to worry about. I was perfectly happy to send them up the hill.
And speaking of fence posts, they are featured in one of my favorite shots. This particular line ran parallel to where we were sledding. I noticed them as I was trudging along and loved how the fence line mirrored the slope of the distant hills. I had a lot of fun composing the shot in the viewfinder and I proud to say it, along with the rest of the pictures in this post, is straight out of the camera. No tweaking of adjusting was necessary. Just download to my computer and post.
Every year we slog up north during the school system's winter break. It usually runs about two weeks which gives us more than enough time to travel, visit family, and recover. My mom thinks we are a bit crazy to do all that traveling during the winter time. However, winter in Virginia is for the most part lame and this gives our children a taste of what real winter is like.
This year there wasn't much snow on the ground when we first showed up at my mother's house in VT, but that night we got a dusting of snow. I love the clean white of the snow contrasting with the dark trees and their shadows.
I also like this little statue of a bunny that is on my mother's deck. I thought it looked so cute partially surrounded with the little patches of drifted snow. As I recall I wasn't wearing proper footwear (slippers perhaps?) and I didn't want to step down into the snow. So I squatted down and stuck my camera in front of the bunny and snapped a picture. I think it came out rather well! I did not do a thing to the picture except titling it and that really doesn't count.
Of course we didn't spend all our time at my mom's house. She did have some snow, but it wasn't enough to go sledding on.
Instead of going to the park down the street with it's snowless hill, we went to my cousin's house. His house is about 20 minutes north of my mother's home and he got a bit more snow. He also has a rather epic sledding hill in the fields adjacent to the house. We wee invited up to go sledding and we gladly accepted the offer.
The drive was a bit more exciting than I would have liked. I did a half-assed job tying the toboggan down and guess what happened. The dang thing flipped off the van and skidded across the road. Fortunately no other cars were behind us and the the oncoming traffic was sparse enough that they avoided the sled. I quickly pulled over and hustled down the road to collect our wayward toboggan.
Remarkably it was unharmed by it's misadventure. I was able to stuff the other sleds in the rocket box on top of the van, but the toboggan was too long. In the end we stuffed it inside the van with us. It was a tight fit, particularly for Nate (he was such a trooper), but we made it work. The rest of the drive was far less exciting and we finished it in due time.
The view from the hill was spectacular and I got some great shots of the mountains to the east. It was a crisp bright day and the snow was loose powder. The sledding wasn't perfect, but we all had a great time.
We never made quite to the tippy top of the hill. The field wasn't as well mown up there and as a result there was a fair amount of dried out plants poking through the snow cover. You can see it in this picture. Larry and Max ventured up into it on the broad path where the snow was a bit smoother. I think it was about 4/5ths the way up the hill. plenty far enough for a good long run.
Another of my cousins showed up to visit and she expressed a little concern about how far up were going. I told her that the kids were fairly experienced and had enough sense to know when to bail. There were a few fence posts to avoid, but not roads to worry about. I was perfectly happy to send them up the hill.
And speaking of fence posts, they are featured in one of my favorite shots. This particular line ran parallel to where we were sledding. I noticed them as I was trudging along and loved how the fence line mirrored the slope of the distant hills. I had a lot of fun composing the shot in the viewfinder and I proud to say it, along with the rest of the pictures in this post, is straight out of the camera. No tweaking of adjusting was necessary. Just download to my computer and post.
Sunday, January 01, 2012
Sledding into the New Year
Happy New Year!
I figure I'll make a return with the New Year. We had a wonderful vacation, visiting friends and family.
It was a bittersweet trip this year as my mom will be moving and it will be the last Christmas/winter break at her house. The new place will be smaller and much easier for her to manage. We will be able to still visit, my cousin has a house not too far away. There is an epic sledding hill there that enabled us to have one good afternoon of sledding before we headed south. The snow was pretty much nonexistent at my mother's home, just a dusting across here yard and nothing on the hill down the street at the park.
As for New Year's eve, we spent it at home with some good friends that came down from DC for the evening. We ate far too much food- flank steak, roasted potatoes, cheese, more cheese, and two desserts (one after dinner and one before midnight) and drank lots of lovely wine. We never did get to the bubbly, we had switched to coffee so our guests could drive home safely. It was a perfect way to spend the evening.
I hope all are well and that you all had a good winter's break!
I figure I'll make a return with the New Year. We had a wonderful vacation, visiting friends and family.
It was a bittersweet trip this year as my mom will be moving and it will be the last Christmas/winter break at her house. The new place will be smaller and much easier for her to manage. We will be able to still visit, my cousin has a house not too far away. There is an epic sledding hill there that enabled us to have one good afternoon of sledding before we headed south. The snow was pretty much nonexistent at my mother's home, just a dusting across here yard and nothing on the hill down the street at the park.
As for New Year's eve, we spent it at home with some good friends that came down from DC for the evening. We ate far too much food- flank steak, roasted potatoes, cheese, more cheese, and two desserts (one after dinner and one before midnight) and drank lots of lovely wine. We never did get to the bubbly, we had switched to coffee so our guests could drive home safely. It was a perfect way to spend the evening.
I hope all are well and that you all had a good winter's break!
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