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First Ski Weekend!

This weekend we had the Holman’s up.  We rented a house with them all last season and really had a great time.  This year they are renting a place up at Stowe so, unfortunately, we aren’t going to be seeing them as much.

Luckily, Bretton Wood’s opened up the season early, so we were able to go skiing this weekend!  Only 3 trails were open, the bunny slope, Ben, and Range View.  The place was pretty empty, no lift lines.  Also, the average experience level was very high for this mountain.  Most of the people were on ski teams, getting some early season practice in.

At first Tommy (now 4) forgot how to ski, but quickly picked it up about half way through his first run.  Hard to believe this kid was doing black diamonds at Cannon at 3 years old!  The other 2 boys were kicking butt.  They’ve really turned into amazing skiers.  They can fly down any trail at Bretton Woods with ease and good form.

On Sunday the weather took a turn for the worse and was pouring rain.  The older kids went to do some indoor rock climbing.

I get to spend the rest of Sunday and most of Monday at the lodge by myself.  It was great to accomplish some home improvement projects.  I did some painting, organizing/storing the summer gear, and put up the Christmas Tree.

 

 

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Winter is here!

The North Country is now in full on winter mode!  The daytime temps are in the 20’s-30’s and the peaks are all covered in snow!

This past weekend we had some light flurries on Saturday.  The boys got to pick out their own shovels at Lowe’s and had a blast playing in the dusting.  We can’t wait to create our sledding run in the front yard.

Unfortunately there’s a chance I won’t be able to put in the hockey rink if the ground is alreadyfrozen solid.  I’m going to attempt it anyways this weekend.   Note to self to install this in October next year!

In other news I purchased a Thule Roof Box at Rack Attack in Natick.  Great store.  These boxes are expensive but will allow us to transport all of our ski gear to and from the lodge each week, and protect them from the elements.

This upcoming weekend we are going skiing at Bretton Woods w/ the Holman’s.  Everyone is excited for our first weekend at the slopes of the season!

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Fall Storm, disconnected from the Lodge

So we had a huge storm (wind + rain) at home and up at the Lodge this week.  The kids had no school on Monday and Tuesday.  The entire town of Sugar Hill has no power.  Apparently our street is impassable with downed trees and power lines.

It’s strange being disconnected from the lodge and not knowing if everything is OK there.  It’s become clear how important it is to have a connection to the neighbors and a caretaker being so far away from the house.

It’s now day 2 and still no power, looks like the electric company has 30% of customers without power, so it may be several days.

We’re planning on heading up this Friday, so hopefully things are cleaned up by then!

 

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A great October at the Lodge

Well, I haven’t been doing as good of a job of keeping the blog up to date over the past few weeks.

We’ve been up at the Lodge each weekend in October though.

On the first weekend, we had an extra day off for Columbus day.  On Sat+Sun we had our friend Jenn and her two kids up.  In the morning we hiked Mt. Willard.  It was a peak foliage weekend and the trail was packed!

On the second weekend, we had my parents up.  On Saturday night Michele and I took advantage of the babysitters and had a date time.  We went to the Woodstock Brewery, which was a lot of fun (and really hopping!)  Also, we got some good projects accomplished, including repairing our broken sofa bed (thanks Dad!) and getting that upstairs.

On the third weekend, Michele’s brother, David, came up to visit.  Most of the crew hiked Mt. Osceola.

Cannon will be opening in one month and we are very excited to get the ski season started!

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Dave and Eli hike Liberty

This weekend we had no visitors at the Lodge.  On Saturday, Eli and Dave hiked Mt. Liberty (4459′).  The hike had 3000′ of elevation gain.  Overall it took us about 7 hours to complete.  The top was chilly and there were even some snowflakes!  Eli did great on the hike, but was getting very tired in the last hour or so.  I think I tuckered him out!

 

On Sunday we spent the morning cleaning up the Lodge.  Also, we went to the Sugar Hill Autumn Festival, which was a small little craft fair in town.

Good shot of our view at the Lodge in Autumn!

 

 

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Ingalls Family Visit

This weekend we had a few visitors.  Michele’s brother, David, visited us from South Boston.  Also, Michele’s dad and step mother visited us from Florida.

We had several contractors scheduled at the house on Friday, so worked remotely.  We had a chimney sweeping, couch delivery, and a quote for a new boiler.

On Saturday, we started the day with a quick hike up Artists Bluff.

After Artists Bluff, we hung out at the Echo Lake beach.

In the afternoon, Steve and Mary arrived.  We just hung out at the Lodge the rest of the night.

On Sunday, we headed over to Loon Mountain to check out the gondola ride.  At the top, the kids got to explore some caves.  After Loon we had lunch at our favorite spot in Lincoln, Enzo’s, then got some candy at Chutters!

 

 

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Aaron hikes Cannon

We took a week off from the Lodge to do some stuff around the house, go to some kid bday parties, etc.

This weekend we headed up on Friday night, as usual.

Saturday AM, Michele and Aaron headed out to climb Cannon together.  This was Aaron’s biggest hike yet.  The Hi-Cannon trail is about 5 miles round trip with over 2500 feet of elevation gain.

While they were out hiking, I took the other boys out for the morning.  I had the great idea of hanging out at Loon to check out the gondola and the various other summer activities.  Well, it turned out that was a mistake, because it was the Highland Games at Loon this weekend.  This is a huge Scottish festival and the place was mobbed.

After waiting in line for over a half hour, we decided to turn around.  We had lunch at Enzo’s, ran some errands, checked out Boise rock and then headed back for nap time.

During nap I started chopping some wood, and built a wood holder.

Michele and Aaron got back to the Lodge just in time to head over to our neighbors house.  We got to meet a couple neighbors, which was great!

On Sunday we went to the Woodstock Cascades, which is an awesome watering hole.  We swam there and had lunch.  Then we headed back home and enjoyed the rest of the weekend back home!

Here’s some pics from the weekend!

 

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Labor Day Weekend 2017

So my parents have been vacationing up at the Lodge for the past 2 weeks.  We headed up there early on Friday to spend Labor Day weekend with them.

On Friday, we went for a hike at Kilburn Crag in Littleton.  The hike was an easy 0.7 miles each way, with a great view overlooking downtown Littleton and the whites at the top.

After the hike we just hung out at the Lodge the rest of the day.

On Sunday the weather wasn’t very good.  We had Polly’s for breakfast.   In the early afternoon I took Eli to the indoor rock gym, then to run some errands.    My parents headed home after dinner.

On Monday morning we packed up and headed home to beat the Labor Day traffic.

Overall a low key and relaxing weekend with the family!

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First family hike success!

This weekend Michele was finally not in Florida.  She headed up to the Lodge with the boys on Thursday.  Andrea, Nathan, and Hazel were up Friday night until Saturday morning.  Dave came up Friday night.

On Saturday morning we did Polly’s w/ the Watson’s.  After that we did the Basin.  After the Basin the Watson’s headed home and we went back to the Lodge for Tommy’s nap time.  After nap we just hung out at the Lodge the rest of the night.  The kids have been building a hiking trail in our backyard, which has been keeping them occupied and enjoying outdoors.

So far hiking as a family has been a challenge.  There is usually lots of whining, fighting, both parents and kids getting frustrated.

On Sunday we decided to try again and do the Lonesome Lake trail.  This trail is 1.2 miles from the Lafayette campground to Lonesome Lake, then another 0.4 to the hut.  The trail is easy to moderate grade the entire way.

Early on in the hike we decided to split up, Dave took Eli and Aaron, and Michele took Tommy.   This turned out to be the ‘hack’ that solved our family hiking dilemma.  Dave could hike at a faster pace with the older kids, and Michele could take her time w/ Tommy.  Also, when the kids are split up they don’t fight and whine as much.

It turned out to be a great hike.  We had excellent views of the Franconia ridge and everyone had a good time.

At least for now, it turns out the best way to have a family hike is to not hike together as a family!  We’re hoping this turns around soon!

 

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Vacation Pics

Vacation week at the lodge went by super fast!  Michele ended up getting to the Lodge Friday morning at 2am, after spending a week and a half in Florida for work.

In the morning on Friday, I had a contractor at the house, so Michele took the boys out to play.  In the afternoon we checked out the Littleton Pool.  It was huge and had a high diving board, so the kids were happy!  The kids were beat after staying up late so many nights in a row, so we decided to skip the Franconia fireworks and just do a movie night.

On Saturday we were originally planning to do a hike or go to Whale’s Tale.  Unfortunately the weather did not want to cooperate and it was a wash out.  Instead Michele took the boys rock climbing at the North Country Climbing Gym.

On Sunday we headed out early.  On our way back we stopped at Loon for a ‘touch a truck’ event, which was a big hit, then had Enzo’s for lunch.

Below are some pics from the week: