Seasons In Vermont

I have to admit, while I love traveling, there is no other place I would rather be then in northern New England.  When people ask where we are going during February break each year, I proudly admit, that we are going to enjoy the snow.  We have had a great week hanging out in the snow, despite the warmer temperatures this week and I have been grateful for the time to play and enjoy Vermont and all it has to offer.  With the exception of Spring, this tends to be true of all the seasons in Vermont.  In the Summer, I miss my garden, swimming in the river and hiking when I am gone.  In the Winter, I miss the snow.  In the Fall I miss all the wonderful colors.  Spring, however, I tend to leave northern New England, for other then enjoying maple syrup, there is nothing but mud in this fine state.  So for now, I will enjoy the snow while it lasts and pray for a short mud season.

Is it Spring Yet?

I was a little worried when it warmed up this past Saturday and Little Man brought out all of the baseball stuff.  That, however, was nothing compared to this afternoon.  When I asked if he wanted to go skating when we got home, I was met with a flat out "No"! Upon arriving at home, Little Man found the hoe and began to dig in his garden.  I think we may be a little anxious about the arrival of Spring. 

Farmers Market with Grandma

This weekend we took my mom with us to the Farmers Market. While Little Man was more than trilled to show Grandma all of his favorite stops (two were missing this week, bummer), I was thrilled to have someone along that would do a wine tasting with me while Little Man snacked on his samosa. There are several local wineries in the area, my favorites are the ones that sell iced wine, if you have never tried it, I would highly recommend it.  After we had finished trying some wine, we introduced Grandma to a new vegetable; celeriac. Actually, Andy introduced her to the new vegetable while I debated with Little Man about getting the bag with mixed vegetables or mixed carrots; we got both. Once we had picked up a few things needed for this week's meals, we tried out a new warm ginger drink table, since our typical vendor was not there this week.  Little Man - as always - turned up his nose at the ginger-pear cider and then stole mine, which he drank happily in the back seat all the way home while chatting with Grandma. 

 

Playing in the Snow

Little Man decided to introduce one of his friends to the fine world of snowshoeing; his version of snowshoeing.  One of Little Man's friends has owned snowshoes for over a year and never used them, so this past weekend, we went with the friend and his mom to one of the local parks.  The friend loved it and the boys blazed several of their own trails-independent of the moms (who were happy to have the time to chat).  They had a blast and his friend asked his mother if they could go again the next day.  Mission accomplished!

 

Snow Day

This past Friday we had a snow day due to a winter storm that was supposed to be big.  While we did get enough snow to make the roads slick, we did not get nearly as much as the rest of New England.  Thankfully we had about a million things to entertain us and keep us amused while Daddy was at work, braving the snow.   



While Mommy shovels the rink, Little Man makes
himself an obstacle course.
 

The ice is of course the favorite part of the day.
 

 What better way to warm up the cold feet than with a pedicure?

 Drums found on Pinterest for the Chinese New Year. 

A Little Behind

I have to admit, I have been a little behind on my blogging.  Life has been a bit busy lately, so I decided I needed to do a little updating the next few days.  First off, the rink has been a huge part of the reason we have not been spending a whole lot of time inside.  It is nice to just walk outside and go skating and we have been able to share the fun with friends as well. 

 

 Andy, of course, always seems to be the one being beat up by the kids. 

 My favorite part, of course, is still the fire pit.