don't ask me in february...

As the title says... don't ask me in February if I want to leave New England because the answer will always be a resounding YES! It is dark, it is bleak, it is frigid, and usually involves some bone chilling combination of rain, ice, and/or snow. Don't get me wrong I like snow, I like to cozy up under a blanket and drink hot chocolate, but after Christmas it looses it's charm. Winter in New England is like a bad houseguest that way overstays its welcome. I also find it interesting that schools in New England have 2 spring breaks one in Febraury and one in April (neither of those times are even remotely warm!) so your options are 1 spend a fortune trying to get out of town with every other seasonal affective disorder crazed family or enjoy a week of crazy cooped up kids- usually the later prevails. (to make matters worse smart daddy-o and I spent feb break in puerto rico last year, which left us feeling quite disenchanted with our home state. Now as feb break rolls around I'd give anything for warm sunshine!

The other day as I pushed my cart loaded with groceries and my boys out of the warm grocery store into the 7 degree weather I thought about what a better mood I'd be in right then if I was in California, Florida, Arizona- (okay basically anywhere) and I could saunter out of hte store- take my time unloading the bags and strapping in my kids. Instead I lift the rear latch throw the bags in as quickly as possible and harangue my kids- "faster, faster!! strap in!! its freezing!!!"

I know it is a case of the grass is always greener- when we lived in California the lack of true seasons made me a bit crazy- although wearing cute sandals all year long did not. This is probably why I have been painting and eating like a fiend- trying escape the february doldrums!

But truth be told-- the grass IS always greener (basically anywhere on the planet) than in New England in February.

(Yes that is my back yard the other week!)

summer outings

well tis the season of summer outings so I will post a review of our ventures for your viewing pleasure.

last weekend we took a fun trip to kimball farm (a great new england gem) where we enjoyed unlimited mini-golf (great courses- 2 thumbs up). smart baby got tired of the golfing on about the 6th hole and got a kick out of throwing everyone's balls in the elaborate water traps. We unlimited bumper boats which smart son thought were the coolest things on the planet i think we did 8 rounds!! and yes it is true ice cream paradise- here you can see smart son with a kiddie size! smart daddy-o and i split a doubledae sundae -with peppermint stick, chocolate, hot fudge, marshmallow and whipped cream! you must it consume it very quickly because it melts in 10 second flat (way to go butterfat!!) today we did our annual zoo run. there is agency here that support early childhood development and parenting and every year they do a zoo outing- so yes the entire family gets free zoo admission, lunch, snacks for the kids and a free book! i love it! we go every year! smart baby was tireless running through the entire deer trail segment and smart son was quite the guide telling us facts about all the animals. I didn't take so many pictures because well its the same animals every year just bigger kids!

Don't you wish you lived in new england too?

Living in New England is quaint (And if the winter was not so interminable, wretched, and snowy- it would be even better) Don't get me wrong, I do like snow but I don't like winter that runs from November to April. At times NE feels so Norman Rockwell charming. Our little town is a quintessential New England town. We have orchards and dairys, lots of white churches, we have a cute town center with gazebo, antique houses, a white clapboard building which houses the town hall, fire station, police, and library (yes all in one)- It's a fairly sleepy town center- no stores. The biggest intersection in our town in where a 4 lane road intersects a 2 lane road- and the number of traffic lights in our town that I know of- 1. This weekend was our town's Christmas Festival, people even come from neighboring towns to enjoy our hospitality and cutesy town charm. They have trolleys that run routes through the town stopping at all the spots around our town where you can enjoy homemade food, crafts, buy local wares, etc. They stop at the local dairy farm (the smart boys' favorite), where they give out free samples at the "Milk Bar, tastes of ciders, fudge, cheeses, pastas, dessert, free hayrides through the farm, petting zoos, and you can even glimpse santa with this team of cows, the trolley goes to the Candy makers, the go to the churches, various restaurants, local businesses, artisan shops, and the school. The PTO hosted raffles, gave out free cookies, had a gingerbread competition, kids crafts, and a dinner that evening. I was in charge of major signage for the school events and the gingerbread area (if you were an elementary ed major at BYU you too were lucky enough to take an instructional design course where they teach you how to make posters with chalk pastels) I have to laugh sometimes at some of the odd but strangely useful required classes for education majors. (this also explains lack of blogging- as my evenings have been spent inhaling permanent marker fumes- in the name of the PTO!) I spent the days leading up to it making house labels, category cards, and posters, hours friday night laminating, copying, paper cutting thousands of ballots and tickets, hours saturday afternoon donning a hairnet and apron-and under the wise tutelage of E, the cafteria lady- cutting 250 brownies, putting ice in glasses, chopping mass quantities of basil and other fun tasks and help tally the over 900 votes for gingerbread house (although there were no hanging chads to combat- you'd be amazed at how many incorrect ways people can fill our a simple ballot)

Best of all we had fun as a family and we got to help celebrate the traditions and town "family". In our world today community spirit is becoming somewhat extinct- as we live in our busy worlds, our suburban sprawl, we sometimes loose the connections to our neighbors, we watch out for our own kids, but often forget how much watching out for and helping everyone around us returns benefits 100 fold.

And if you're ever in our neighborhood on our Festival weekend- it's worth checking out as a great reminder that people coming together as a community- well to quote Martha Stewart "It's a good thing!"