Stowe, Vermont

We took this trip at the beginning of December, so this post isn't long overdue or anything... oops!  I actually had typed out the trip summary right after we got home (thank goodness or I wouldn't remember many of the details) but I just finally got around to going through the pictures thanks to my Project Life scrapbook.  Better late then never!!

Brian had a four day weekend back in December and we decided to spend two nights of that vacation in Stowe, VT.  We left home in good time Saturday morning and had just entered NH when Brian spotted a billboard for this favorite restaurant:

It was a bit early for lunch, but that wasn't stopping us!  The kids were excited because in the parking lot there was some fresh snow on the ground that they played with  briefly (our first of the season - oh, how long ago that feels!) and we parked in front of a frozen-over lake (all the lakes are frozen over around here now, which I still can't get used to!)

We got back on the road, and after watching Veggie Tail's Jonah and two Elmo DVDs we made it to our resort in Stowe.  Back when we were excited about snow, we had hoped there would be enough on the ground for us to play in, but unfortunately there was only scattered patches of snow that were iced over.  No matter - as soon as we had unpacked the car the kids were eager to get bundled up and play in the snow.  And what was the first thing Nathan did?  Yes, EAT SOME SNOW!

We ended up walking down the hill from our condo and playing in the largest icy patch we could find near the resort office.

Nathan started this activity - he would kick a hole in the icy crust of the snow and then lie down to dig in the powder underneath. 

Sarah, of course, followed her brother's example exactly. 

After a while the kids had enough and we were getting chilled, so we decided to do the next logical activity - go for a swim!  We put on our swimsuits and then bundled up in jackets and hats on top and strolled over to the pool building.  Thankfully it was warm when we stepped inside but the water was slightly cooler then we would have liked, especially given that the temperature outside was in the teens!  The kids still had a great time playing in the water and even when Sarah's lips were blue and she was shivering uncontrollably, she still wanted to jump off the side of the pool and paddle around in her float.  It was at that point I realized this would have been the perfect trip to get a life jacket for her, oh well!

Nathan loves his life jacket, but after lots of wheedling we convinced him to take it off in the shallow end where the water came up to his chest and he could easily touch the bottom.  But even then he was SO NERVOUS about walking around without it.  It made us realize that we need to think about swim lessons stat after we get to Knoxville.

We finally pried the kids out of the pool and took them into the sauna to warm up.  Fortunately it was empty so we dried the kids off and changed them in there. After a pizza dinner out, we went back to the condo and put the kids immediately to bed.  Brian made it his mission for the evening to build a nice fire for the two of us to enjoy - which turned out great even with sparse supplies!

The kids were awake before 7am even with the long day we had had on Saturday.  We all lazed around the condo for part of the morning but then we convinced the kids that we had to go out do to some exploring, also known as "looking for better snow" which we didn't find.  The first stop on our scenic drive was a covered bridge that I wanted to photograph.  It turns out that we were there probably during the most un-picturesque part of the year - the fall leaves were long gone but not enough snow yet to beautify the bleak landscape. 

Our next stop was the Little River State Park to see the view from the Waterbury Dam.

It was only 11am, but the kids were already showing their exhaustion, with Sarah even falling asleep in the car on the way to the dam.  When we got there Nathan refused to get out of the car (didn't want to be in the cold again?) and although Sarah did get out, she then proceed to cry the whole time.  Everyone cheered up once we got back in the car and offered around some snacks (orange and red pepper strips were the consumable of choice) but Sarah was drooping again in the 15 minutes it took us to drive back to our next stop, Cold Hollow Cider Mill.

We started with a pretty yummy brunch buffet at the restaurant with cider doughnuts to finish off our meal (unfortunately these didn't hold a candle to the ones at the apple orchard!).  Then we walked over to the mill to see cider being pressed (the big machine behind the glass), which was very anti-climatic - we could see some liquid dripping slowly into a container. 

But cider press was inside a large country store and we let the kids each pick out a piece of maple sugar candy.  For the adults, I picked out some tiny jars of Strawberry Rhubarb and Cinnamon Pear jams and then we taste-tested and decided to buy a big jar of Maple Horseradish Mustard.  Foreseeing long naps for the kids, and knowing that they would want to swim again after waking up, we made a final stop by a grocery store and picked up shrimp and garlic bread for a "home-cooked" dinner, as well as more peppers to satisfy this horde.  Brian also bought a fire log so that we could have another fire.  The best part, though, was that we grabbed supplies for making s'mores.  The rest of the day went just as planned - long naps for the kids, more swimming, delicious shrimp boil for dinner and fabulous s'mores for dessert.

Monday morning we woke up and were greeted with a new layer of snow on the ground plus the promise of more to come.  This was the view from our balcony down towards town. 

Brian and I though it would be fun to pack quickly then run up to the pool for one more swim before we left the hotel.  Unfortunately our oldest was exceedingly uncooperative and ill tempered, and after threatening many times that if he did not obey we wouldn't go swimming (the most motivating consequence we could think of) we had to follow through and not swim.  Sarah got the short end of the stick since she was really looking forward to swimming one more time (however this did reaffirm our requirement for a heated indoor pool as the ultimate vacation trump card).

The rest of our plans for the morning included driving up to the ski resort to hopefully find some better snow for the kids to play in, but when we got there it was bitterly cold.  Once again Sarah was game to go play in the snow, while Nathan was just interested in waiting it out in the car.  Then the 180 degree shift came: Sarah started crying after about 5 minutes out of the car, and while she and I snuggled in the front seat Nathan climbed a snow mountain and slid down on his bottom/belly a few times then proceeded to - any guesses? -  stuff his mouth with snow.

I had one other activity that we though about doing - a short hike to a waterfall, which I thought might be pretty, but Brian and I nixed the idea due to Sarah's extreme fussyness and the blizzard-like conditions outside.  We instead stopped for what we had hoped to be lunch at a restaurant I was really looking forward to trying (really good reviews on Yelp, excellent looking menu), but as it was only 10:30 we had to order breakfast instead.  Brian and I were looking longingly at the sandwich offerings, so we will definitely be stopping here if we make it back to Stowe in the spring/summer.

The drive home was pretty nerve-wracking: our windshield washer solution froze in the dispenser (hadn't switched over to winter formula - neither of us had even thought about it!) so the windshield was super dirty from all the salt spray and we couldn't clean it, then the snow turned to freezing rain and we had to fight ice buildup on the windshield, and the road conditions on the interstate were pretty treacherous in places (only one lane plowed through much of VT).

We finally made it to about 5 minutes away from our place when Sarah throws up her snack of goldfish/pepper sticks/milk all over herself and the car seat! Yuck! I bathed her while Brian unloaded the car, then we put both kids down for a late nap and Brian and I crashed ourselves.  Thankfully we had given ourselves an extra day of vacation at the tail end of the trip to recover from it, because we needed it!