April Fools!

You thought Spring was here?? April Fools!!

Just a few more minutes left in March for 2011. I'm waiting for Emily to fall asleep so I may as well put up a new post since it's been a little while. I thought spring was almost here, the weather hasn't been great but the snow had almost melted. Now it's coming down again for a cruel April Fools joke from Mother Nature. Hopefully the 3-6 inches we get doesn't stick around long, I'm ready for winter to be over. The girls have pretty good colds going right now and I can't wait until they can get some warm fresh air and get rid of them.

We have had a couple nice days though. temps have occasionally hit 50 degrees over the past couple weeks and we tried to make the best of that. On one of the days last week I went up to York to scout out the trails on Mount Agamenticus and see if they were ready for the family. I was very happy to find that they were 99% snow free at that point so if we ever get back to seasonal temps we'll be headed up that way for a small hike. It's only 20 minutes and very easy. It's a great place to take kids for a short hike. For a few pics from my scouting mission click here.Yesterday, since it was the nicest day we're going to get for a while, we decided to take a trip up the coast to see Portland Head Lighthouse. I've always wanted to go and when I read it had nice walking paths and stuff along the water I decided it was a good place to take everyone for some fresh air and sunshine. We made the hour drive and visited the lighthouse and surrounding park for the afternoon. It's another great spot for a short trip if you're ever looking for something to do. Lots to see and explore for the kids. The museum was closed unfortunately and the rest of the trip to LL Bean never happened so we have reasons to go back soon. For now, to see some pictures of that outing and a few other recent pics click here.

That's about it for us. We plan to go hike Mt. Agamenticus as soon as the latest round of snow melts, then Pawtuckaway and maybe Mt. Major while we wait for the Whites to not be white any more for the year. That might be a while this year though so if you want to join in on any of the shorter local hikes let us know. We have extra seats in the van and are always happy to have company. Bye for now!

Spring Ahead!

So today is the first full day of spring and what a beauty it was around here. Lots of wet snow all day which fortunately didn't build up. I've about had it with snow for the year. To celebrate here's a picture of Emily in her spring green!

We spent this past weekend up in Vermont visiting Chris and Katie. We finally made it up there to see their new house. It was also Maple Weekend for the whole state so we went out to see them make it and try a bit too. Tyler also led us on a walk around the trails of their nearby woods and we had a little birthday dinner for Grammy even though it's really next weekend. We packed a lot into about a 24 hour stay. Brooke was really excited to spend time with her cousins and we were glad to get up there again since it's been a while since Jen could travel that far.

That's about all we've had time for lately. The weather isn't exactly springlike yet but most of the snow around here has melted. If it warms up a bit we'll be back to our usual outdoor stuff soon so there should be a lot to see around here. For now there are plenty of pictures of this weekend so if you want to see them as well as a few other recent ones you can check them out right here. That's all for now!

Nana Noveska's 80th and Emily's 1st Hike

It's been a busy fun weekend for us and while I wait for Brooke to go to sleep and stay asleep (she keeps waking up coughing) I may as well put up the pictures now since I can't sleep until she does.


For starters today was Nana Noveska's 80th surprise birthday party. Charlene got the function room at the Hampton Inn where she works and arranged for the party to be there today. It was a great party and very nice place to have it. I think Nana had a great time with all her friends and family there. I know we did. A lot of hard work went into the planning and food from a lot of people and my little contribution was to be the photographer and put together some music. Hopefully she likes the cd's I made and hopefully everyone likes the pictures I took of the day. To see them you can click right here. Also if anyone would like a print of any of them you can obviously download them from the blog but the originals are better quality, so if you'd like a better quality print of any of them just let me know and I can either have it printed for you or e-mail you the original file and you can do what you want with it from there. Hope you enjoy them.

Also, the weather is getting a bit more springlike. The snow is melting fast and Jen has been ok'd by her doctor to do some non strenuous walks, no hikes for a few weeks still, so we decided to take advantage of the 50 degree weather Saturday and get out for a small hike, I mean walk. It was a bit cloudier and windier than we were hoping for which made it a brisk 50 degrees but it was warm enough for us to want to get out so we took Emily out for her first hike.

Stratham hill is technically a drumlin, which is a big pile of gravel left from the last glaciers that rolled through the area. It is only 150 feet of climbing to the 290 foot summit plus about 50 feet of tower. From there there are nice views of Great Bay and the seacoast area. On a nicer day you can even see Mount Washington but today wasn't the day for that. It was still a nice first outing for Emily, who slept through most of it, and Jen who got to stretch her legs and get a little walking under her feet. Brooke is full of energy lately so she loved it and I'm always happy to get outside and do anything so we all had a good afternoon. We followed the hike with a trip to the buffalo farm in Durham. if you'd like to see pictures from any of this plus a few other recent photos you can click right here. OK, that's all for now.

Emily Is One Month Old!

Well Emily turned one month old yesterday. I'd like to say where did the month go but I know where it went as we were awake for a good part of it and watched it go by. It really didn't fly by like they do sometimes. She is sleeping 5-6 hours a night which is finally letting us catch up on some rest. Brooke still loves being the big sister, except for one time when Emily was crying and Brooke wanted to "put her out in the woods with the animals". Other than that things have gone really well. When she's not sleeping Emily is eating like a piglet and has already gained two pounds since she was born, which has resulted in some chubby cheeks! Brooke had a good time calling her Buddha Baby the other night. She's even smiling for real once in a while, although usually she looks less than amused when I try and make her do it for me. Anyways, not much else is going on lately but if you want to see a few new pictures you can do that by clicking here.

Jen is still on her orders to rest for the first six weeks but I did get out for a quick afternoon hike up Pawtuckaway the other day with Mike. It was right after the snow on Friday so the woods were very scenic for my first hike since October. That's a long time for me. They were also filled with the sights, sounds and smells of snowmobiles and 4 wheelers driving by for the first half of the trail. After that it quieted down going up the South Ridge and we got in some nice snowshoeing up to the almost 1000 foot high summit and fire tower where we had views to the ocean and Boston. It was a great and fairly easy 4 hour hike if you're looking to cure the cabin fever from this never ending winter we've had. For some pictures of that trip you can click here. That's about all for now but check back soon for more updates.