Vermont in 26 Pictures or Less

I think Poppy is teething.  Which explains why we've been up so much at night with her.  Which explains, without excusing, why I seem to have lost my ability to write or speak coherently.  Ed is working across the room and just asked me the formula for the slope of a line.  What a joke.

But I still want to tell about our recent trip to Vermont.  So here it is, pretty much in pictures and captions.

Maren's super cute blue and yellow house.  We made good time Thursday, thanks to Maren's crazy weird guaranteed route, and our commitment to keeping stops very short.  We made it in about 9 1/2 hours and beat them to their own house (they were bowling with friends - we went in and called them from their own phone.)

Maren did an amazing job of both seating and feeding us.  She made us B'stila Thursday night, which is no small feat.  Maybe I'll post the recipe.

 Did you know the King Arthur Flour headquarters is only a short drive (< 2 hours) from my sister's house?  It warranted a field trip on Friday.

The grounds were not picturesque, but they are clearly expanding.  We made plans to someday return for a sisters' retreat at their school.  

 

Oh yes.

Wall of flours, drool

Oh the flavorings!  Pineapple!  Irish cream!  Sweet butter dough!

Gadgets, tools, mixes!

My new hat

The shopping experience was overwhelming.  I got a lot of stuff, most of which I'm glad for, but there are some things I wish I hadn't left.  Next time I'm definitely going without the kids and Ed hovering over me like ticking time bombs and a ka-chinging cash register, respectively. 

Bakery case on the way out.  Don't mind if I do.

But we didn't drive all that way just for baking supplies!  (Though I would have.)  Just around the corner from KAF is the amazing Montshire Museum of Science!  Hazel is particularly interested in science these days, but this place is amazing for kids of any age, from 1 to 37!

All the cutest cousins in the world, lined up on one wall.

Orbit stuff

Air pressure stuff

Air and water flow pattern stuff

Bubble stuff

Bee stuff (love Hazel's concerned expression)

This gizmo was my favorite thing in the whole place.  I could watch it ALL.  DAY.  Super cool glorified/engineered ball track with an awful lot of cleverly geared and weighted pathways.  And you have to turn a crank by hand to make it work.  Which I did gladly for a really long time.

Microscope/entymology stuff

Design stuff

Ooh, and look who found some soapy water just at her height!  Her favorite!

The drive back to Maren's Friday afternoon was just a little treacherous through the mountains because it was just barely starting to snow.  It started down by her house just a few minutes after we arrived home.  Friday night Ed & Quinn took some of the older kids to the Muppet movie on campus (don't you just love free movies on college campuses?).  The snow came lightly but steadily through the night, and we woke up to this:

Ed & Quinn took the older girls skiing, but luckily we had just enough snow back home for this:

Ginger & P saucer sledding down their back knoll

 And this:

Maren pulling Poppy in their little sled - good thing they have snow gear in every size because we sure didn't bring any.  Don't you just love their barn?  Maren said I had to let her edit any photos of her I was going to post.  You don't think she meant this one, do you?

Peas-in-a-pod cousins.  L introduced my girls to the wonderful world of American Girl Dolls during our visit, and they came home suddenly obsessed.  For some reason, I thought this trend might pass us by, but if they become really into it, we can always make a new earning chart for the fridge.

Saturday night the men stayed in while Maren and I did some shopping and went to the movies - "The Artist", which I'd already seen and loved, and which starred the French team from one of Maren's favorite funny movies, OSS 177: Cairo, Nest of Spies.  Which I bet you haven't seen.  But if you kind of understand Younces and the movies they like, you might like it, too.

Saturday night or Sunday morning, Hazel left this message on their kitchen chalkboard. 

It was a short visit, but I think we made the most of it.  We are all so glad we went!