First Tracks 2018-2019

This weekend we got our first tracks on Cannon for the ski season.  The boys had Monday before Thanksgiving off, so Michele took them to Bretton Woods for the day.  After Thanksgiving, we all headed up Saturday morning.  Dave took Eli and Aaron for a few quick runs on Cannon, and dropped off some gear to get tuned up.  

We had the Holman’s up on Saturday evening.  The kids all had a blast in the new hot tub, which has been getting a good amount of use so far.  On Sunday it was raining, but we decided to ski regardless.  There were about 30 trails open, and some awesome snow conditions.  The only issue was the rain and getting completely trenched.  

The boys had a blast skiing the front 5.  Avalanche and Zoomer were open but pretty bare.  Rocket and Gary’s were in better shape.  We made it to about mid afternoon and then headed back to the lodge to do some picking up, dinner at Enzo’s in Lincoln, and then back home.  

It’s looking like a minimum of another foot of snow is going to drop this week, making for some good conditions next weekend!

More Summer Lodging

The Lodge has been getting plenty of use this summer.  My parents were up for 2 weeks at the beginning of August.  For one of those weeks, we had Eli and Aaron stay with them.  Also, on one of the weekends Lisa and Evren came up.

On the weekend we checked out the Reklis Brewery in Bethlehem.  This place was awesome!  They had really good live music, great beer and food, and lawn games.  We’re very excited to have found this place, it’s only 15 mins from the Lodge.

Another new Brewery opened up even closer (10 mins) in downtown Franconia, called the Iron Furnace Brewery.  They had just opened and things were still in the works (i.e. didn’t seem to have the waitstaff yet, still some construction), but the whole family had a great time and the beer and food was awesome.  We are especially excited about Iron Furnace because we have to drive by it on our way home skiing.  I guess we’ll have to stop in for some Apres Ski!  We’re very pumped to now have 3 awesome breweries within about a 15 min drive from the lodge.

Besides checking out Iron Furnace, this past weekend we hiked the Sugarloaf’s.  These are a relatively small (2500’ish) couple mountains just west of Bretton Woods, with the trailhead at the Zealand campground area.  The kids all did great and there were some pretty awesome panoramic views on Middle Sugarloaf.

On the drive home we hit up Enzo’s for an early dinner then Chutter’s afterwards for a treat.  We are starting to get a routine up in the North Country.

Family Vacation

We had a nice family vacation the week of 4th of July this year.

We headed up to the Lodge on Friday 6/29.  Michele had an overnight hike planned for her and Aaron on Saturday and Sunday.  They hiked Mt. Lincoln, Mt. Little Haystack, and Mt. Lafayette.  They had perfect weather for the trip.

With Eli and Tommy all to myself, we headed up to Santa’s Village for the day on Saturday.  The weather was hot but the kids had a blast and we didn’t even do the water park.  We went on the log flume and roller coaster probably 20+ times each.  We purchased a season pass since it was only $80/each vs. $30 for a day ticket.  After Santa’s village we had dinner at 99 in Littleton, and then had a movie night.

On Sunday, we lost power for the entire morning.  I was worried about losing everything in the fridge so I took the boys out to buy a ton of ice and we just had breakfast at Dunkin.  We got power back around lunch time when Michele and Aaron returned from their hike.  In the afternoon we did a little shopping and had dinner at Alburrito’s, a mexican place in Littleton.  Overall the food was very good but the service could use some improvements.

On Monday, we tried the Whale’s Tale waterpark in Lincoln.  It was upper 80’s outside of Franconia Notch, but inside where the water park is was lower 70’s and rainy, unbelievable weather difference.  The kids loved the wave pool and the big water slides.  Overall the water park was a big hit!

On Tuesday, we spent the day at Story Land.  The weather was soooo hot and humid.  We spent as much time as we could on water rides, but there aren’t many at Story Land.  The roarasaurus coaster was a big hit.  The kids are at a great age where they all enjoy the rides.  Disney is going to be awesome later this year!

On Wednesday, the 4th, it was another brutally hot day.  In the morning we took the kids to Echo Lake beach and it was packed with people.  Mudgie dug a big hole and was deemed the coolest kid on the beach by all the other kids.  At night we watched the fireworks in Lincoln.

On Thursday, we attempting a biking trip.  I searched all over for paved bike paths since Tommy is still on training wheels.  It turns out there are only 2, the one in Franconia Notch and another at Loon Mountain.  The Franconia Notch one is apparently really steep, so we packed up all the bikes on the car and headed over to Loon, in the ridiculous heat.  We got all the bikes off and started and Tommy had a melt down because he couldn’t figure out how to use the brakes, and of course this trail was steep as well.  Biking lasted about 10 mins, a total fail.  We had lunch in Lincoln at the kid’s favorite pizza place, Enzo’s, and then headed back to the lodge.    After dinner we all went swimming at the Lisbon community pool.  This pool exceeded our expectations, it’s brand new and super clean.

On Friday, the forecast was rain, so we headed back to Lincoln again to watch a movie, the incredibles 2.  I fell asleep but the kids loved it.  I honestly can’t remember what we did the rest of the day.

On Saturday, Michele and Eli went for an overnight hike on Mt. Madison and Mt. Adams.  They went up Adams via the King Ravine trail, which is notoriously one of the hardest trails in the whites.  I took the boys to Funspot at Lake Winnepesaukee, apparently the largest arcade in the world.  Aaron and Tommy had a blast there.  After that we had dinner at 99, because Aaron wanted to do the same thing mudige did the weekend before.

On Sunday, we headed up to Santa’s Village (again).  We stayed there until about 1pm, headed back to the lodge, and met up with Michele and Eli.  We all packed up and headed home.

Overall we had an action packed and fun week.  The weather was brutally hot at the lodge, very humid and the house didn’t cool down much all week.

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!

 

 

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!

 

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: