A Visit to Jay Peak

We all took a little ride up to Jay Peak to do a little leaf peeping.  There were a lot of hikers in the pulloffs, but the traffic was very light.  I have to admit, I'm partial to the deep, dark red leaves.  There is more red in the lower elevations than the peaks right now.  I will definitely get a few pictures this week of those.  I do also like a tree that is flaming red on top, yellow in the middle, and still green on the lower branches.  Makes for a nice balance.  This year, peak is a bit late. 

There is also a tram at one of the hotels on Jay.  We got to watch a few loads of people make the trip.  We've been up it once before, but we may need to ride up again sometime.

I never do get tired of the leaves changing in the fall.  Every year it's beautiful.  Are you somewhere that you can enjoy the changing seasons?

Summer Has Officially Begun

It always seems like the busiest week we have every year is the first week after public school gets out.  Summer is starting and there are summer things to do.  This year was no exception.  It rained a lot this week.  Probably at least a bit every. single. day.  sigh...

Public school didn't officially end until noon time on Tuesday this week, I'm guessing because of snow days.  Because of this, Xav did not have PE on Tuesday like usual.  Instead, he was invited to participate in field day with the whole school.  He was even given a mascot T-shirt in school colors, just like everyone else.

Monday night is also the night our first VBS of the summer began.  Yep, the first VBS is in the evening.  There are lessons for ages 2-adult.  So, while I was sorely tempted to nap in the car every night (because exhaustion), I stayed for Bible study.  Some other Friday School families were present, too, so it was nice to visit in our off time.  I also met a few other very sweet ladies.  The theme was Over the Moat: Drawbridge to the King and the study was about King David. 

Since school was in session for two days, gymnastics camp was only three mornings.  The charge this year was higher, the time and number of days shorter, but I still felt it was reasonable.  Honestly, the first time it was $10/kid/session (NOT *day*) and I thought that was crazy cheap, so I'm not complaining.  I do wish it had been all week though.  Xav and Merrick absolutely love it!  Mal chose not to participate this year again.  He didn't change his mind mid-way through, like he did last year.  When it didn't rain, Xav, Mal, and I walked and went to the playground while Merrick was in his lesson.  When it was Xav's turn, I took Merrick and Mal home because his session was longer than Merrick's.

Wednesday or Thursday afternoon (because we're kind of kooky), we went to a resort where we have a Daycation pass.  We spent a few hours getting familiar with the layout and at one of the pool areas.  Caught a shuttle bus, which Merrick and Mal thought was amazing.  We'll be going up again this week and probably head to one of the other pool areas, since they are all different.  We don't just have access to the pools.  There is hiking, a game zone, and a ton of events we can participate in, oh, and lagoons.  Because we want to be sure to get our money's worth out of this pass, I want to get up there fairly often.  I've told the punks we are switching to school in the morning.  It won't be easy for any of us, as we're all creatures of habit, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

So, that wasn't nearly enough to do and we didn't need any rest on Saturday.  So, our week finished out with a VBS closing carnival (and banana splits) on Saturday and the rain stayed away the entire time.  I picked up Greek food from the lady at the Farmer's Market for lunch.  Then we headed to a new (2nd year) Renn Faire.  We didn't stay long.  Then it was off to our favorite cider mill for our first visit of the year.  No, they weren't pressing, since it's summer, but they have samples and we bought cider and cider donuts.  Outside we were surprised by the most adorable little bunny litter.  I saw seven babies around the picnic tables and gazebo.  The most intriguing part was their appearance.  They didn't look like wild rabbits.  There were two albinos and five in various shades of tan or brown.  I have *never* seen wild rabbits like that.  I have myself convinced they were from an escaped pet.

This young lady worked a while to get close enough to pet this cutie.  She said it was the highlight of her whole day.

M is for Mud Season

Some weeks blogging through the alphabet is planned out months in advance.  Some weeks, it takes some serious thinking.  In Vermont, the logical M word would be maple and I seriously thought about it.  After all, Maple Openhouses were held at Sugar Shacks all over the state just a couple of weeks ago.  But then, *this* just happened.  (PS.  I'll tell you all about maple another day.)

Vermont has six official seasons.

1. Spring
2. Summer
3. Fall/Autumn
4. Stick Season (That time between the end of September/mid October when all the leaves have fallen and when winter finally arrives.) 
5. Winter
6. and Mud Season

Mud season is a lovely time of year, often warming up into the 30s-50s, rainy, gray, and brown.  The only splash of color in mud season is a daffodil or crocus.  Which reminds me, we need to plant more spring bulbs this year.  We get a nice long rainy season each spring here in Vermont, but we also have the winter thaw.  There is a ton of liquid running off hills and seeping up out of the ground as the thaw line moves through layers of dirt and clay.

I'm sure you can imagine what that means to a dirt road.  Or maybe you can't, so I'm here to show you.

These are actual pictures from my road.  We were the third car *that day* to get pulled out of that exact spot!

This week, I heard the grader shortly after I got up.  I like the sound of the grader in the spring.  The driver spent about half an hour working on a particularly rough spot in front of the neighbor's house.  When he left, it was only superficially improved.  Sadly.  I think the town purchased a gravel pit *just* for this road.  I'm sure that's not true, but it sure seems like it.

Later, that same morning, I came home to a road closed sign.  I decided that the work being done was *probably* at the same area on the other side of my house, so I took the chance.  Thankfully, I was right.  And this is what we found.

Merrick spent some time "helping" by tossing one small rock at a time into the pile of stone being spread on the road.  Don't worry.  No equipment was running at the time.  We were waiting for one of several loads of very large stone to be delivered.  I was amazed at how much clay was under the road.  And equally surprised to see a fountain of water when the stones were being tamped down.

This is what the road looks like here now.   Smooth....

Too bad the rest of our road wasn't as nice.  :)

Join us every week at A Net in Time and Hopkins Homeschool for Blogging Through the Alphabet!

Stella was a fickle storm.

Stella has finally moved on and we're still moving snow.  It's funny how much snow was forecast for much of the areas to be hit by her, including the cities, that never materialized.  We, however, received *plenty* of the white stuff.  After the 22.25 inches I shared with you the other day, I know we had three more "shovels" of about 3-4 inches each for a grand total of around 31-34 inches.  Luckily, it is settling down and getting damper with the sun shining on it.  It's no longer dry enough to be blown all over (making driving dangerous) and the kids can make snow people and tunnels and whatever else strikes their fancy.

Daddy got the roof rake out and pulled a bunch of snow into a substantial pile in the front yard which will be made into a wonderful fort this weekend.  The boys were forbidden from digging into, climbing on, and otherwise touching this snow.

Roads were still pretty cruddy over most of the area yesterday.  Some places much cruddier than others.  Even so, we ventured out to Tae Kwon Do and AWANA.  We lived to tell about it.

I'm glad to see the end of the storm even though it didn't greatly effect us this time.  We didn't lose power and Dad worked from home.

Funny Find - Sign Edition 2

Another unusual Vermont road sign is this very unique "Don't Drink and Drive" sign.  Now, I know drinking and driving is a very serious issue.  I don't advocate for it at all.  But this sign is all over in Vermont.  I always translate it in my head to "Don't Hit Glass Bottles with Cars."

Living in the Green Mountain State AKA Vermont

Learning About Vermont

I've been in Vermont for 12 years now.  I've seen so many amazingly gorgeous places.  You'd think for such a small state, I could have seen it all by now.  There are tons of places I'd love to see or think the boys would enjoy.  I hope you'll enjoy learning about these few events, locations, and people of Vermont and feel inspired to find out more about some of them. 

Interesting Events

In 1777, Vermont declared itself an independent republic named New Connecticut.  In 1791, Vermont became the 14th state.

1816 - The year without a summer. 

St. Albans Raid - The Northernmost Land Action of the Civil War
This year was the 150th anniversary of many Civil War battles.  The St. Albans Raid happened on October 19, 1864, when Confederate soldiers attacked from Canada with the intention of robbing banks and forcing the Union to divert troops to the northern border.  Bennett H Young led the Confederate raiders.  They stole $208,000, and attempted to burn down the city.  This is a terrifically detailed account with a humorous moment or two.

Famous Vermonters

"Snowflake" Bentley - We first learned about William Bentley from a Download N Go unit study by Amanda Bennett.  Then we had to follow up here in Vermont because he is actually local to us.  Snowflake Bentley was a photographer of snowflakes.  He perfected the means of capturing snowflake images before they could melt.  Using equipment available at the turn of the 20th century, he was able to photograph over 5,000 unique snowflakes. 

Chester Arthur - Lawyer, VP under Garfield and, later, president after James Garfield's assassination.

Calvin Coolidge - 30th president of the United States.  His homestead is a state historical site.

John Deere - Founded the John Deere company which has created commercial farm equipment since 1837.

Ethan Allen - Founder of the Green Mountain Boys of the American Revolutionary War. Captured Fort Ti (Ticonderoga) from the British.

Other famous Vermonters include Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism), Elisha Graves Otis (invented a safety device for elevators and founded the Otis Elevator Company), and John LeClair (first VT born NHL player).

Sights to See

Rock of Ages Vermont Granite Quarry - This quarry is amazing.  We learned how the granite is removed and formed into all kinds of art.  And it was featured briefly in the movie Star Trek (2009).

"The Notch" - This is a seasonal road between Jeffersonville and Stowe, a section of VT108 which goes over Mt. Mansfield (the highest mountain in Vermont).  Despite signage prohibiting tractor trailers and other large vehicles, someone(s) gets stuck every year.  When you no longer see a center line, the road is not two lanes.  There are several hairpin turns, which also happen to be narrow and blind.  It's a gorgeous ride for the seven or so months of the year that it's open.  It's also about as knuckle whitening as I care to get in my old age.

Tourists Traps that are Awesome!

Ben & Jerry's - Ice cream.  'Nuff said.

Vermont Teddy Bear Factory - I have assorted cuddlies, including the controversial Crazy About You bear.  We like to tour the factory every year or two.

Cold Hollow Cider - Fresh, cold cider samples, cider donuts, apple butter...  Oh, my happy tummy.

Cabot Cheese - We actually haven't been to the creamery yet, but it's on the list.  We like to stop at the outlet in Waterbury for samples when we head to Ben & Jerry's or Cold Hollow Cider Mill.

Here are some of the places we've been and I've blogged about.  I'll be adding to this list as I add more field trip posts.

Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium
The Great Vermont Corn Maze
Cold Hollow Cider Mill
ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center


I've linked up on AdenaF's Learning Through the 50 States.  Go see some of the other states represented there.

The Great Vermont Corn Maze ~ A Friday Field Trip

Our first co-op field trip of the 2014-2015 school year was the Great Vermont Corn Maze.

We drove nearly two hours one way.  We didn't stay as long as we would have liked and we didn't get to do everything, but it was one of those sticky days where the kids run around oblivious to the heat and get sweaty and red-faced.

We arrived just before ten, did the chatting, took our group photo, and headed into the big maze.  As we entered, Mal and Xav read each of the rules for me to be sure everyone was prepared.  There were four entrances; eeny, meeny, miny, and moe.  First, we chose miny.  I took Merrick's stroller, though he only rode 1/4 of the time.  It seemed like the whole maze was uphill.  We ended up being returned to the start at moe.  We started again at meeny, I think.  The four of us walked for about an hour when we saw an emergency exit and decided to take it.  Despite the ten foot corn, there was very little shade because it was creeping up on noon.  We got part way back and saw a tunnel that was begging to be run through.  That seemed to reinvigorate the punks and we headed off again.  It wasn't long and we were turning around and heading back to that emergency exit.

We exited right back at the beginning!  The owner told me we hadn't even left the first quarter of the maze!  Ah well, we headed into the red barn next (a blessedly cool red barn) and the boys kicked off their shoes and headed into the tunnels.  They also rode little tractors, a tire horse, and climbed in the hay.

Thanks, Meghan, for the top two photos!

Next up, LUNCH.  There is a nice, shaded picnic area there with several tables.  We brought along blankets, too.  Mal said he had a tummy ache and rested in the shade for a bit.  He seemed OK after that.  We grabbed ice cream at the gift shop.  Novelty ice cream was only $1 there.  Not unreasonable at all.

Merrick was anxious to see the goats.  He'd already had a nice tantrum before lunch over the goats.  I took him aside near the van and had a talk with him.  Sometimes, I think he listens to reason better than Mal or Xav!  He got to pet several goats and that made him happy.

Kid Village was insane amounts of fun.  For them.  I was roasting.  Some of the kids got sweatier and redder than they already were.  The village consists of a stable, corral, trading post, jail, and a home.  The jail was so cute.  It had a secret escape opening and some of the bars were not metal, allowing the punks to use their superhuman strength to escape.

"H" has a face, but since it isn't my face to share, he has been made incognito (as well as headless).

Nearby, they found an alien landing site and went for a ride into space.

Merrick's face cracks me up in this one!

Next time, we will take the scenic kid tour in the maze.  That looked like a lot more fun than me trying to figure out what in the world we were doing in the main maze.  We never did get to play barnyard golf either...

I recommend The Great Vermont Corn Maze.  Follow the directions on the website rather than GPS.  Go when it's a bit cooler.  Have fun!

THMJ - A jumble of catch up!

I'm not even going to try to put things in any kind of order or remember what we did when, but I am going to cover a bunch of "stuffs".

We took a hike on the Long Trail and Babcock.  I was quite sure Micah was trying to kill me.  Granted, he had the toddler in a pack, but he is also in much better shape than I am.  It was a gorgeous day, not too hot, not too buggy, not too humid.  It's just a shame I developed a wicked blister on my heel within the first half mile (out of nearly five).  The climbs were tough, especially once the heel got ripped up, but all but one down hill section and all the more level parts were beautiful.  Once we got to the road, I was all excited to be nearly back to the car, only to have to cross the road and walk another half mile.  In Micah's defense, the website labeled it a "fun family hike".  He just didn't take into consideration, my old, decrepitness.

An action shot of Mal at a rest stop.

Incredibly scenery.

All my hiking buddies.

Merricky Boy is growing up so fast!  Brings to mind the saying, "The days are long, but the years are short."  He is so stinking busy. All. Day. Long.

Making faces for Mama's camera.

So proud of himself.

My littlest Lego Maniac.

We're all involved in Royal Rangers this year.  Merrick joins me in Rainbows where I help out.

Merrick takes craft time at Rangers VERY seriously.

Mal helped me with laundry one day.  I added soap, just because I do when we don't have pods (which only the boys use, because, let's face it, they are a bit pricey).  After starting the load, Mal proudly informed me he added the "oily stuff" to the laundry.  I ended up draining and spinning the load, scooping out as much of the bubbles as possible (which the boys then sculpted in the kitchen sinks), dividing it into two loads, combining each half of the load with half of the dry, dirty load, and running an extra rinse or two.  It took all day to wash two loads of towels.

Glub  Glub

    Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
 My inlaws were just here for a few days, which is always fun.  Wendy and I took Mal and Xav to the goat dairy down the road.  They were having a family fun day.  Xav and I each milked this cow.  Mal didn't want to.  He mostly stood there, looking in the other direction, begging someone to *please* take away the cow poop NOW.  Which they did, because, honestly, who wants their fun day guests walking in cow poop and bringing it into the store?  Xav also helped feed these hungry calves.  We visited the goats and chickens as well.

Cider being made with a garbage disposal.  *chop chop*

Xav was creeped out by the finger sucking.  Cutest little calves ever.

Goats!

    Things I’m working on…
As long as I had help, this last few days, I pulled out the sewing machine and my MIL and I fixed two of my kitchen chairs.  They got new springs, new cushions and new covers.  Hooray!  Now I don't want to let the boys use the repaired chairs!  She also whipped up curtains for both of the kid bedrooms and took some of the matching left over fabric home to work on a quilt for Merrick.

    In our homeschool this week…
 As always, I am always amazed how differently these boys go about everything they do.

Lining up rods in pairs.

This video was pretty cool.  Singing God's praises with the heavens and the seas.

Let's see.  What else?

Xav and I rounded up an escaped chicken.  She survived a night of free-ranging it.

A brand spanky new "The WalMarts" opened up a half an hour away.  Xav saw and talked to an elf, even giving her a message for Santa.  The sweet girl was actually dressed as a Vulcan and Xav even recognized her communicator pin.  She just told him that she and Santa were big Star Trek fans.


Some nasty little green worms were eating our carrots.  *blech*

Guess that's it for now.  I shall end this post and Linky up to The Homeschool Mom's Journal.  See you over there!

Running (or My Insane Husband)

Micah not only ran his usual trails and towns and 5 and 10 Ks, he decided to run The Spartan Beast obstacle course thingy.  He hiked a lot of mountains and ran a lot of miles as well as work outs at home (with downed trees and tractor tires, no less) to prepare for it.

The view from one of the peaks.

This is what the boys imagined Micah's run to be like.  Lots of rocks and lava were involved.

He also ran at Jay Peak in September.  The family tagged along for a day at The Pump House (super fun!) and a gondola ride to the top of the mountain.  I'm sure it was way more fun for us than running to the top had been for Micah.

 Those two dots way down there?  The boys.

Summer of Fun!

We had some beach time. 

Micah put up a new swing the boys are crazy about.

A few splashes in the backyard pool.

Xav had swimming lessons in St. Albans.

Micah and the boys went on a few hikes.

We wandered over The Notch to Cold Hollow Cider Mill for cider donuts and free cider samples.  They were *out of ice cold sample cider*!  I was shocked.  They were selling what little they had as fast as they could make it.

Stayed at Jay Peak.  Micah had a crazy mountain race up there.  We spent a day at the waterpark, which we loved, and rode a tram up the mountain.  Merrick was teething.