Winter Break in New England

 In New England, the kids get an entire week off of school in February for Winter Break. Mike also was off from class for President's Day, so we decided to check out Plymouth, MA.  We found a fun hotel, called the John Carver Inn, that had a small water park inside that mimiced the Mayflower and Plymouth Rock.

 The weather was not ideal for outside adventure, but we did go out to seek the Mayflower, which we then discovered had been brought away during the winter months.  We found the actual 

Plymouth Rock and the kids were very disappointed that it was just a regular rock.

 Plymouth Rock

 Out for Mexican.................

 The rest of the week we had lots of time for some play dates with friends from church and school!

 Our family was then invited to our very first Bat Mitzvah.  In the Jewish faith, when a girl turns 12, there is a grand celebration when she accepts her faith as her own.  Ariella lives in the house connected to ours and we were invited to her celebration.  The event included a speech by Ariella, her father, a slide show, dinner, and dancing.  The kids had a grand time and Carter's moves on the dance floor were quite popular.

Carter and Daniella

 I didn't attend the Bat Mitzvah because on Saturday, I left Mike and the kids to fly to South Dakota to meet my new little niece Harper Ann.

 It was so fun to cuddle and spoil them while I was there!

 I found the perfect shirt for her to wear.

I think my sister, Ginnie, has her hands full with these two little princesses.

Piano Recital--Wellesley Library, MA

 Hailey had her piano recital today out at the Wellesley Library.  Above she is pictured with her instructer, Ms Zena.  Hailey played three pieces: Dance Song by Bach,  Premier Boogie by Alfred, and Over the Rainbow duet with Ms. Zena

Carter was exhausted by listening to everyone perform.

A very exciting Valentine's Day!

 This year Valentine's Day was especially exciting as my sister Ginnie, Wil, and little Kensington welcomed baby Harper Ann weighing in at 6lb 6oz.

We are thrilled to have a new niece and cousin to spoil. It is so very hard to be so far from them.  We have been able to meet her with Facetime and talked several times each day since her arrival.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We celebrate at home as a family with homemade Alfredo, steaks, salad, and jiggler hearts.

Winter Storm NEMO--2013

 On Friday we braced ourselves for the forecasted winter storm of Boston that was expected to drop between 2-3ft of snow.  The kids had school cancelled and all afternoon classes were cancelled at Harvard while the Governor of Massachusetts ordered everyone to be off the roads by 3pm.  All public transportation was shut down by 3pm and we stocked up on batteries in case of power outage.

The snow fell softly at first but by 6pm it was heavy with wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour.

We never lost power, but by morning our snow total was 27 inches.

The problem in Boston with snow is that there is no where to go with it.  The streets are already so very narrow and parking is already at a minimum.  After the streets are plowed, the roads are essentially one lane.

 The kids loved the snow, but were exhausted after playing for a short time.  With each step they would sink up to their waste.

Farewell Town and Country

 Well, the Vermont trip was the last trip for our Chrystler Town & Country.  On our return home from skiing  the transmission went out of the van.  We had to fix the van in a small town in White River Junction, Vermont and Mike had to take a Greyhound to get the van back a week later.

They replaced the transmission with a used one that they had found for us, but after driving it a couple of days, we were very uneasy about the way it was driving and decided to look around for a replacement rather than being stranded again along the rode side with no one to call for help.

We love the functionality of a mini-van and started to do so research with vans and began pricing them and comparing pros and cons of all the options available out there.

 We came to the conclusion that the Honda Odyssey would best suite our needs and it happens to rank #1 in reliability which was a new priority after being stranded with the kiddos.

The kids said their good-byes to the Town and Country and quickly jumped into the new van which has their most important feature: a DVD system.

The Town & Country was good to us.  We purchased it with 40,000 miles at the beginning of 2006.  It now had 135,500 and really had very few problems.

2011 Honda Odyssey with 27,200 miles.

We will be returning to Minnesota with Massachusetts license plates!!!!

Celtics vs Heat

Mike and Carter were able to take in a Boston Celtic game vs the Miami Heat!

Carter was pretty excited for the Daddy day out.  LeBron James is one of Carter's most favorite players.  The game went into double overtime and the Celtics came out on top.

Vermont Ski Trip

We packed up the Town & Country (maybe for the last time) for our New England Skiing Adventure of 2013.  We did a bunch of research to try and decide where to go that would be the best experience for teaching the kids and we came up with Smugglers Notch in northern Vermont.

The drive was approx. 4 hours from Boston and absolutely beautiful!

The kids are pretty used to traveling at this point and I thought it was so precious that Carter had his hand on Taylor for the napping portion of the trip.

 Here was our destination!  Smuggler's Notch sits at the base of three mountains.  The above picture is Mt. Madonna.  You can see the skiing paths quite clearly that come down the mountain.

 We were on the second floor of this condo.  It was set up perfectly for cold skiers to return to after a fun day on the slopes.  The kids especially enjoyed our bathroom.

 The kids did a great job for their first time!  Both Hailey and Taylor had it down after the first day.  Carter did great with balance and was mostly concerned with going fast but didn't have a clue how to stop or turn.  He fell A LOT and expected us to get him up over and over.

 This is Carter and Taylor on the "bunny hill" going up on the "magic carpet"

 I have fallen and now help me get up.

 Sometimes I just would join Carter in the snow because I was tired too and it looked good to lie down there with him.

 Carter's first time on the lift with daddy

 All five of us on the top of the mountain

 The kids took 2 hour ski lessons both days while we were there and became known as the Minnesota kids. Their lessons allowed Mike and I to conquer Mt. Madonna and we survived.  It was quite the ride up there; the higher we climbed the more worried we were whether we would be able to make it down.

Waiting for their ski instructors.

Taylor loved it and is already asking when we can ski again.  Her parents just need to wait till our muscles stop aching.

Our trip concluded with our transmission going of our van in central Vermont on the way home.

Gloucester, MA January 13, 2013

 With the unseasonably warm weather in January in New England we decided that it was only right to take full advantage and go out on another adventure.  This time we researched and decided to head to Gloucester, MA, which is just a short 50 minute drive north of Boston.

Gloucester MA is America's oldest fisherman port with a massive harbor.

Nearby, we found a great hiking trail to explore with the kids.

 Along the trail we discovered several man-made rock walls and rock cellars that have to be hundreds of years old.  The kids pretended they were in the war using the walls as barricades with weapons.

 There is a large memorial site right on the harbor that honors those lost at sea .

Taylor Ann