Vermont

What's the only logical thing to do for Spring Break when you've been getting 100" of snow in a month?  Why, go to Vermont, of course!

Reuel's cousin and her family have an absolutely quaint, just-what-you'd-imagine-in-Vermont, home near Craftsbury, and they invited us to join them for a visit over the recent break.  What fun we had!  (Well, except for having a child with a stomach bug the day we were supposed to leave.  And that minor problem of our radiator cracking on the way up and getting stranded and needing overnight car repairs.  And a rather severe, persistent headache on my part that didn't let up much on the trip.  But still, even with all that, we had so much fun!)

On the way up we stopped at the Ice Castles in Lincoln, NH.  VERY cold day.  But super fun :)  Eden had enough after about 5 minutes and informed us, "I am too fweezing."  It might have been about 4-6 degrees while we were there?  Something like that.

Then after stopping to check directions, smelling a strange engine odor (Amy) and deciding to carry on along a road called something-something-MOUNTAIN Rd. (Reuel), we were forced to pull over in a random rural driveway with something volatile pouring out of the engine.  (I wouldn't want to point fingers or anything.)  We just so happened to pull over in the driveway of a GM mechanic, who diagnosed leaking antifreeze and gave us a gallon of water and a gallon of antifreeze to get back down the mountain to the mechanic he recommended in town.  A blessing in a trial!  We got down, the mechanic took us right away, and we learned that the oil cap that had been lost during a routine oil change over a year ago had found its way to a fan, which kicked it into the radiator and cracked the radiator...he found the chewed up oil cap and everything.  So...if a mechanic returns your car to you without the oil cap screwed on, well, now you know what could happen!  Reuel's cousin mercifully came the hour's drive to pick us up and take us back to their home.  Then, we had all this fun!  The mornings were 20 below, but once the sun really came out and warmed things up it was at least a balmy 2 or 3!

Somebody is luuuucky to have a doting older brother.

Laura and Porter?  Pebbles?

Oh boy, do we hear the request for a dog even MORE often that previously :)

Swinging and warming in the barn.

Eden was pleased as punch in her cross-country polk.

So soothing, she fell asleep!  One of about 3 naps since the day she turned 2!

The boys say, "We hate cross-country skiing.  It is too much work.  And not very exciting compared to downhill."

Took a nice long nap out in the cold!

Tandem skiiers :)

Reuel, Nancy and Steve took the long way home (I drove the kids).  Reuel was a sweat ball by the time he got back, quite a workout!

And the highlight for Owen...