Sunday, January 10, 2010

Christmas, Hampshire style.

So we finally got ourselves dug out on Monday, packed up the bears and headed north.  13 hours later we were in our cabin at Pawtuckaway state park.

It was a different kind of week and in the end, I'm not sure it was my favorite.  Not saying that we didn't have fun and, more importantly, get to spend some quality time with people we care about.  It just felt... transient.  We became one of those families who spent christmas morning on a highway and I was surprised at how many other cars were doing the same.  Maybe that's what the rest of the world has done every christmas and we just never realized how normal it was.  We were lucky to have what we did for so long but of course, at the time, we never knew it.    

I loved walking the bears on the awesome trails near our cabin with Dave.  We really felt like a family at those moments.  I loved seeing Cody and doing my best to make him laugh, which, I thought, went pretty well considering that the reactions most children have towards being held by me are usually a combination of upchucking and screaming all at once.  I loved doing plyometrics with les and baking a pecan pie with mom.  I loved playing Mario cart with Cam and winning every game at Trivial Pursuit.  :)  I loved reading, sleeping in, and although it was sad, spending some time really absorbing how much in our lives is changing.

What a transition year.  New job, new house, new traditions, new family arrangements, new training programs.  I really found it hard to get in the holiday spirit this year and I'm still not sure why.  I wasn't upset about it though, just not in the mood.  I'm trying to acknowledge all these changes as they come and not judge myself for how I'm feeling.  I suppose that's the only way I know how to handle it all for now.

Pictures!!

Christmas lights in our cabin from our welcome party!  Thanks!


Our daily walks.


View from the back of our cabin.


Cody-licious in his first christmas morning.  Should've captured the santa pants.






Best laugh ever.  He cackles like an old man.  Yes, mom, I'll get you a copy.  :)


This is how Bailey spent the whole trip home.


Which was long because most of NY and MD looked like this.


Sunday, January 3, 2010

Snow and berries.

It was  Saturday, December 19th, and we were supposed to leave for New Hampshire for a very abnormal christmas with the Rooke family.  Then it started to snow.  Well, it started the night before and by 10am on Saturday, our porch looked like this...



And it was still coming down.  Obviously not leaving that day, or probably not the next either (Virginia really doesn't get this much snow very often so knowing how to clear it with its one plow is a baffling thing to say the least), we hunkered down until we lost power... for two days.



But decided to get out and make the most of it with a walk with the bears, who LOVED it.






These are snow berries.  Also currently known as Bailey Berries.  Her hair is so long that she collects snow on her back legs when she walks through it.  Sort of like frozen dreads.  Pretty hysterical if you're us and watching her awkwardly waddle her way down the trail but not so much if you're her and they take hours to melt or pull chunks of your hair off.

So there was tons of down time and wondering when we'd be able to turn the lights on, finish our load of laundry, or finish packing.  The snow didn't stop coming down for 36 hours and we ended up getting about 23 inches of it.  Didn't get out on Sunday either but had another nice stroll, this time with the sun.





Dave threw some ball.



And, of course, more bailey berries.  I think this is the one that took her hair off.



And I became an angel.  Keep your comments to yourselves, there, family.



We finally got dug out enough to leave on Monday morning.  Well, precariously.  Stay tuned for nephew Cody's first christmas and our lovely new years with friends in Richmond.

Here's to making the best memories of 2009 our worst in 2010.

Love you all.