Our New Hampshire Getaway

When I was an undergraduate at UVM, I had two very close friends- Sarah Ginnetti and Patti Brennan. We shared the same major (Animal Science) and many of the same classes. We were all part of CREAM '94, and amazing agricultural opportunity at UVM. Over lots of Dunkin' Donuts coffee and the hum of the milk pump, we got to know each other pretty well during 4:00AM milkings!

We've stayed in touch over the years and try to see each other every now and again. The last time we got together was at my family's camp in Maine this past summer. Since we all have children now we thought it would be fun to rent a vacation home for the weekend. New Hampshire was chosen because Patti, who has a newborn (Ryleigh, 16 weeks), lives near Nashua. Patti is a veterinarian and had to work Saturday, so she joined us Sunday morning for just a day trip. Her husband Rob could not make it, as he and Patti are working opposite schedules so they can stay home with Ryleigh.

Sarah and her husband Sergio Rodriguez live in CT with their two children, Diego (3 1/2) and Maya (21 mos.). Sergio was born and raised in Mexico, and came to the U.S. after college to get his MBA. Ed has only met them once before, and he enjoyed visiting with Sergio and learning about his background.

Elijah, trying to get a kiss from Maya:

The house we rented in Winchester was amazing! Nicer than any place I've ever lived in. It was perfect for families, with every book, toy, and game you could ever imagine. Ping pong, air hockey, skates, skis, balls, pogo sticks, badminton, horseshoes, bocci, kayaks, canoes...someone even counted 13 (!) bicycles of all sizes. The house was not missing a single thing, it was absolutely perfect for our situation. The kids were all so busy!

Ed relaxing in the Great Room:

The dining room. Those French doors lead to 4 tiers of decking down to the lake.

Taking our time waking up on Saturday morning:
Saturday was a stunning day- 60 degrees and sunny. We went to a maple festival at Stonewall Farm, and Elijah had his first up-close experience with horses:

The Rodriguez Family:

Walking to the cow barn:First we visited the calves:

Elijah was a little apprehensive about the big cows......But eventually curiosity got the better of him.

This was a traditional two-row tie-stall barn, the same exact setup we kept our CREAM cows in. It reminded me and Sarah of the CREAM barn. I found this old photo of our CREAM '94 group. I know the caption is hard to read, but Patti is standing in the back row to the left (white baseball cap) and Sarah and I are up front (Sarah is the blond girl to my left in a matching green t-shirt). Wow we were young! I don't even think we were 21 yet in this photo.There was a very busy playground area. Here's Diego on the slide:Elijah (of course!) wanted to "drive" the tractor:

Waiting for their Daddy to return with some maple ice cream!

Sunday morning- here are Patti and Ryleigh:Sarah and Ryleigh:

A tired Maya:

Trying to get the kids together for one final photo: Here's the best we could do:

It was a fun weekend!

Busy busy busy...!

We have had a busy late-winter-early-spring. With slightly more than 50 student days remaining in our school year, we are anxiously anticipating the "lazy days" of summer!

Here are a bunch of pictures with captions, in no particular chronological order:

Last weekend, Ed went to Richmond to hang out with Matt, who spent his Spring Break week housesitting/dogsitting for his Mom & Dennis, and (of course) maple sugaring. It was a nearly perfect sugaring week, and he was BUSY!

Elijah, enjoying some outside time at home:He is CRAZY about Ed's tractor:
We walked up through the woods to visit our neighbors, Jim Ellsworth and Mary Spaulding. . They have a large (by my standards) sugaring operation, and with syrup selling for $50 a gallon this year, were happy to boil late into the night. We were treated some yummy donuts with warm maple syrup for dipping.

One lovely day, Ed, Elijah, Zoe and I went for a walk on the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail. We parked at Green's Corner Cemetery to check the status of the Isaac Lackey stone that Ed had repaired back in the very early Fall. Sadly, it had fallen over again and was broken.

We mostly pushed Elijah in the stroller, but let him out to walk the last 1/2 mile. I love this picture...
Post-bath fun. This picture was preceded by several naked-bum photos. But I hope someday Elijah will be able to enjoy this blog and the chronicle of his growing up. I hate to think he'd be embarrassed by naked-bum pictures so I opted not to post them.

Some shots from our trip to RI last month. My sisters (L-R) Leslee, Carole and Paula:Nana, and 3 of her 4 grandchildren:
Paula and Kyle, Mike and Sarah:
Leslee and Sarah (the reigning only grandDAUGHTER...for now!):

On the way to RI, we met my friend Jen for lunch and some exercise on the playground. This is her 4-year-old daughter, Maya:

Jen and Maya:

My child immediately fell into a muddy quagmire, which didn't seem to bother him much:I've known Jen since we were little girls, and her daughter is the spitting image on the Jen I was friends with as a child:

One Saturday night we met up with the Garrow family at Jeffersonville Pizza Department, a casual dining spot upstairs from a nicer restaurant. Elijah loved to peer down at the diners below, which I thought was funny.
...Until Ed realized that there was a table IMMEDIATELY beneath where Elijah was standing. He mentioned how mortifying it would be if Elijah accidentally dropped one of his sneakers into their entree...

And finally...Our first bird visitors of the year. Funny, we leave our bird feeders up all winter and not a single bird comes (even though we have plenty of chickadees, nuthatches and goldfinches around our property all winter long). These two Pine Siskins (along with one other male) have been the only visitors so far:

Aunt Eleanor has been on our minds a lot, and we are hoping she recovers quickly from her very scary fall and subsequent surgery. We appreciate that Joanie and Mary have been keeping us updated on her condition, and hope that Uncle Jake is holding up well.

My Dad is finally home from the hospital and is on the road to recovery. He is still in a great deal of pain, but is receiving some excellent care from my sisters and his visiting nurse.

My nephew Brandon (11) goes into Boston Childrens' Hospital for a colonoscopy tomorrow. The doctors are still searching for the best course of treatment for his Crohn's Disease. Today he has to fast...NOT fun. Good luck, Brandon. Hope all goes well tomorrow!

My Dad's Surgery

My father went in for surgery today to remove the tumor in his colon. He came through the 4-hour procedure pretty well and my sisters report that he was in good spirits despite being in incredible pain and a little "out of it" from the medication. He will be in the hospital for about a week and now has a colostomy bag, which he'll have for a couple of months until the next surgery.
I feel thankful that everything seems to be going as smoothly as possible throughout this whole ordeal.

My Sister is Having a GIRL!

Isabella Francine Vargas is expected to arrive in early August...we will be so excited to (finally) wlecome another girl into the family! To view a short video clip of her ecstatic older-brother-to-be, please visit my sister's blog at http://paula-jim-kyle-vargas.blogspot.com/

The Creature from the Dark Side of the Crib

Whoa, baby- Elijah woke up way too early this morning and was in a really foul mood about it. I can't wait until he is able to talk and really communicate his needs- he's going through a stage of complete frustration (on his part and ours) at not being able to always indicate what he wants. I guess I should have stuck with the sign language thing early on. He is good at the sign for "more", but then I have to guess, "More what?" More banana? More juice? More poopy in your diaper? And if I don't guess correctly, I'm in for an earful...
Whew. Today was one of those mornings I was glad to drop him off at daycare. I don't know how stay-at-home moms do it. Darlene, how do you keep your sanity?

Vacation? What vacation?

I can hardly believe that vacation is already over! Our trip to R.I. was nearly perfect. I did a TERRIBLE job remembering to take very many pictures, but I'll give myself a break, as I was "single-momming" it for the whole trip.
Elijah was a very good boy for the whole weekend, even though it took us 9 hours to get down to R.I. (with all the stops, etc) and about the same to return. We've had some pretty wild car trips with him over the months, so frankly I was shocked at his excellent behavior.
To be continued when I have a bit more time to really write and upload pictures. I have to get ready for my school day tomorrow (ie. It's past my bedtime)!