A long weekend, mostly indoors

I have to say there is nothing quite so disheartening than looking at the weather forecast just before your three day weekend in February and discovering that it's going to be below 20 degrees with 20+ mph winds each of the three days you have off. Too cold and raw to spend much time outdoors, and being cooped up in the house with a baby and a 4-year old for 3 days is a recipe for disaster. Time to hop in the car and find something interesting to do! On Saturday we went to the library and then headed out to lunch at a Japanese hibachi restaurant. Aiden is generally a reluctant participant whenever we go out to eat... he'd much prefer to have a grilled cheese at home and spend the time playing with some toys instead of being chained to his seat waiting for an entree to arrive. We had a good chuckle when we didn't tell him anything about the hibachi place and he was all sulky until the hibachi guy showed up and started juggling knives, tossing eggs into the air, making flaming volcanoes out of onion slices, and flicking little pieces of veggie at us to catch in our mouths. At one point Aiden looked at Andy and said, "Dad, this is the BEST LUNCH EVER!" Ha ha. I wish we had captured a photo of his face but I didn't have my camera. Then after lunch, splash park... to digest while swimming (isn't that responsible of us?) Splash park was packed (totally expected on a frigid day on Presidents Day weekend, which is also school break for most towns around here) but we had a good time still. Haley kick-kick-kicked until her lips turned blue and Aiden went around the floating river about 2 million times.

Who has the better yoga form?

On Sunday we had the wonderful distraction of having friends come to visit. Jason and Julie (from Vermont Law) and their two boys Colin and Bryce drove up from CT to spend the day with us. We gave it the old law school try to get out and play in the snow but it was seriously misguided. Absolutely miserably cold with a bone-chilling wind. Bryce was the only smart one- he screamed from the minute he got out of the car to the time he got back into the car...which was only about 5 minutes, but it took the rest of us that long to realize what Bryce did immediately: THIS SUCKS! I guess the "closed" sign stuck in the sled hill should have clued us into the fact that it was sheer ice with exposed rocks... no thanks even if it was balmy out. Which it was not. So we decided to get cozy on the couch in the basement and watch a movie together instead... much better plan.

Colin and Aiden... the sledding was wishful thinking

And the third weekend day? Well, it was only 10 degrees in the morning, still with a howling wind, so we headed to Montshire Museum to meet a few of Aiden's buddies and soak in some science. Everyone else under the sun had the same idea, so it was a madhouse in there, but still so much better than going crazy at home. The kids explored space, sound waves, weather (specifically fog), bubbles, leaf-cutter ants, and many other cool subjects. Even Haley got to try a few experiments. In the afternoon it was finally "nice" enough out to do something outside, so we headed to Mt. Sunapee to let Aiden have a few runs on the bunny hills. He's getting better every time he goes skiing, and is turning and stopping like a champ now. Thanks to the frigid temps and lack of new snow, the conditions were pretty icy this time and the skiing was fast and furious. But he did really well still, and definitely earned his hot chocolate and cookie in the lodge after completing about 20 runs.

Love is in the Air

It's the weekend before Valentines Day, and for two people who have never been big on Valentines Day we were surprised to find ourselves with two relatively topical activities lined up. We spent Saturday morning at the NH Orchid Show in Nashua (flowers...love...you know), and then traveled a bit further south into MA to the Camerons for our annual gingerbread house decorating party. How is the construction and decoration of gingerbread houses even slightly related to Valentines Day? Well, we've actually never pulled of a gingerbread party before or at xmas... it started out on New Years Eve several years ago and has been migrating later and later in the season each year. So we just buy whatever candy is on sale in the seasonal aisle and adapt the event to fit. This year: love shacks. Next year? If we hit President's Day, we'll build "Lincoln" log cabins and if we wander into March they'll be Leprechaun Hideaways. I expect we'll swing back around to xmas sometime around 2020.

Haley rocking back and forth; Ciara with the famous squirting toilet

We almost didn't make the Love Shack party this year because Aiden wasn't feeling very well at the Orchid Show, but he rallied (we think it might have been carsickness) and we moved on from flowers to candies. It was great to see Jeni, Glen, Micah & Becky and get all of the kids together. Phoebe is almost crawling and spent much of her time rubbing Haley's bald (and admittedly very soft) head. Both girls got tagged multiple times by Jake's big tongue, and Ciara and Aiden played all sorts of games in addition to decorating some spectacular love shacks. One thing about gingerbread house construction though- it's not tidy. When we're done it always looks like Willy Wonka ate one too many tootsie rolls and exploded all over the table. Jeni and Glen must find smarties and nerds on the floor for months to follow, but every year they invite us back again. Gluttons for punishment, i guess :)

The explosion!

Check out the big kiss in the background!

Wait for it, Haley....

Ears or Teeth?

Ears or Teeth? Teeth or ears? This is the hottest question around our house this week. Haley's got ear infection number four (a double, which reared its ugly head just two days after we met with the otologist and decided to wait on the whole tubes thing. of course.)... so, anyhow, we know her ears are bothering her. But eight doses into the antibiotic and she's still Cranky the Crab. Teeth? She's running her tongue over her lower gums constantly, mouthing everything she can grab, and drooling like a maniac, so maybe in a few days she'll have a brand new smile. I hope so! All we know for sure is that she's not a very happy camper. Anyone wanna babysit?

Winter Rules...

Winter does seem to be ruling everything these days... monster snowstorm after snowstorm keep hitting the northeast and the snowdrifts just keep getting bigger and bigger. But although it's ruling what we can and can't do outside, it isn't beating us this year. We're going with the philosophy that its better to embrace the season than bellyache about it (for the most part - minor bellyaching still allowed). Besides, it could be a whole lot worse than just a stupendous amount of snow - it's not freezing rain, or negative twenty below, or even very windy. So we've been enjoying it in every way we can think of - skiing (both kinds), sledding, snowball fights, skating, snow fort creation, even roasting marshmallows over a snowy bonfire. Got snow? Come see us if you're lacking!

Sonya & Finn

Little Doo