March is for Maples

Finally, March has arrived! And the only reason we look forward to a cold and raw month like March (besides some important family birthdays and one Guinness-saturated holiday) is the maple sugaring! We had a bit of a soggy start to the sugaring season this year, but no grumpy faces were seen anywhere. In truth, though soaking rain was forecast all weekend, we lucked out on Saturday and got the bulk of the work done in nothing worse than a little spit and fog. It was warm too, so the sap was running!







As usual there was something for everyone to do on tapping weekend; Paulette, Haley, Munson and I were in the bucket shed lining buckets; Grandpa Dada was counting and loading buckets on the sleigh; HaPa running the buckets out to the woods on the snowmobile; Dan, Andy and Aiden were in the woods tapping; and Grandma Sally was making a deliciously hearty venison stew in the kitchen. For the most part, it went like clockwork. The snow was still over 2 feet deep in the woods though, with a "sort-of" crust on it... 60% of the time, you stayed on the top after transfering all your weight to the next foot... but 40% you sunk in past your knees, even on the snowmachine track. Snowshoes would have been a brilliant idea, but for some reason we were all too lazy or stubborn to use them. So several boots were temporarily lost, and there was a lot of keeling over and cursing under the breath going on. But we got it all done.

On the open top of the hill, the sap was gushing out before we could even get the taps hammered in, and in no time we had a good pitcher of sap to toast to the start of the season with. Of course that toast quickly led to similar toasts with something of much higher alcolhol content. But that's all part of the fun. After we finished work for the day, it was time for the sauna for some of us. Paulette and Aiden and I bravely ran out through the snow clad in only our towels and boots and had our 45 mintues of steamy heaven. It was heaven too, especially for muscles sore from punching through snow and ending up unexpectedly twisted in strange orientations. I had to run inside at one point to get us all a round of gatorade since I was worried we were exceeding the recommended heat exposure for a 4-year old. Aiden loved it though, and today we left him up there in VT for a week of grandparent fun while Windy Hill School is closed for spring break. I'm sure he'll have more fun with the sugaring and sauna-ing before we can get back to pick him up next weekend!

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

The Last Ani

Our longest-standing birding "white whale" was slain last week in the Everglades. After more than a decade of earnest searching in any known hide-out or reported location, Andy and I finally saw a Smooth-Billed Ani. Mind you, this is a small, plain black bird, about the same size as a blackbird or a grackle, with its only outstanding feature being a rather heavy black beak... so you're probably wondering what the fuss was about. I don't know that I can explain it either. It's just that it had eluded us for so many years, and we deliberately went out of our way so many times in hopes of finding it, after so-and-so birder geek reported one here or such-and-such guide book said there was good habitat there. Even this time, we had to go to the same spot on the Anhinga Trail on 3 separate days before it showed itself. And then all of a sudden, there it was, calmly preening like it was no big thing after all.

The Ani

The sad part is that Anis really are declining rapidly in Florida. They are a very gregarious and social bird, and in the caribbean where they are common, they travel around in large nomadic flocks. Ten years ago my mom saw a fairly large flock in Coral Gables (Miami) but nothing like that has been reported on the birding listservs for years. This particular Ani we saw has been at Anhinga Trail pretty regularly for the last year, and he's always been alone. Not a happy life for a social species. So although I will say he looked rather content the morning we saw him, he's likely one of the last of his kind in Florida.

On a happier note, we also saw many other cool birds in the Everglades and Keys on our trip- enjoy these photos Andy took!

Purple Gallinule

Anhinga drying its wings

A fritillary of some sort

Brown Pelicans

Pelican in mangroves

American Bittern

Great Egret

Heron on Cypress Tree


Limpkin


Great Egret

Great Egret fishing