Weekend in New Hampshire
The kids had Thursday and Friday off from school last week for Rosh Hashana, so we of course headed to NH. We arrived late Thursday night. Greta was deeply asleep when we brought her inside, but Lucia woke up and walked up to her room herself. We said goodnight, and then Andrew went to unload the car and I started unpacking things in the kitchen. Suddenly I heard Lucia, sobbing at the top of the stairs, screaming for me. I ran up--she'd gotten stung by something. We have a lot of wasps in the windows, and Andrew always does a check before we put the girls into their beds, but there was one he didn't see, and it stung Lucia on the shoulderblade as she lay in bed.
I held some ice on it while Andrew went back upstairs to do some wasp killing (turns out it was a bee, not a wasp). He turned the light on in the room as he swatted around, taking the curtains down and unmaking Lucia's bed, and Greta slept through the whole thing. He did find a couple of bees to kill. Lucia calmed down pretty quickly, considering, and eventually went back to bed. Terrible. This was her second sting in NH.
Friday was hot and sunny, and we spent the morning at the pond, on the dock. The girls tried to catch fish in nets, and they collected berries, cattails, and milkweed.
For lunch, we packed up some food and hiked to the back field, where we spread out a blanket and ate. Afterward, we explored the woods at the very far end of our property line--an area where we always find old jars, bits of broken plates, and rusty metal objects. We did some basic bigfoot hunting, some tree knocks and calls. L&G were fascinated, and did some tree knocks of their own. I invited them to do some calls as well. Lucia did a few owl-like hoots, waiting eagerly for a response. When it was Greta's turn, she thought for a minute, then yelled out, "PINATA!!!" then dissolved into hysterics. That child. Her mind works in very unique ways.
We drove into town later in the afternoon for some groceries, and went out for ice cream. For dinner Andrew grilled sausages and we had sausage, green pepper, and onion sandwiches (L&G had sausage and Trader Joe's mini ravioli). We made s'mores for dessert with the hot coals from the grill.
Saturday was another hot, hot, hot day. In the morning, we hiked to the top of Mount Ascutney. Not our most peaceful hike--Lucia was in super-competitive mode, insisting on being first and faster than everyone else, which was a) dangerous because she was running on the trail and b) upsetting to Greta, who of course wound up being left behind. Sigh.
The day improved, though. We had lunch at home and then went swimming at William and Nelly's pool--crazy that we were able to swim this late in September, when, the last time we were in NH, it was in the thirties at night.
Sunday we headed to another of our favorite places--Riverview Farm. We picked raspberries and apples, and then went through the corn maze. We've been visiting this corn maze annually for probably the past 4-5 years, but we've never been there this early in the season, with the cornstalks still green. It was fun as always. And Andrew got a shout-out from the bona fide, white-bearded farmer who drives the horse cart and used to farm hay in our fields--"Hey! We've got to get together sometime," he called when he spotted Andrew in the orchard--which makes Andrew feel like he himself also has real farmer potential.
We got some maple ice cream at the farm, and then headed home, where we cleaned up and packed up and headed on our way later in the afternoon. After an early dinner at our favorite pizza place, we were on our way back to NJ, sadder than usual to leave NH behind. Greta keeps suggesting we go back. Best case, we'll visit twice more before closing the house; but it might just be once more. We'll see.
A perfect weekend as usual. Oh: I should mention what the highlight for L&G was. On our way there, last Thursday, we stopped at a rest area for a bathroom break. Outside the bathrooms were a bunch of gumball machines filled with various things. One machine had little donut keychains--actually really cute. Of course the girls asked for one, and I said yes, which BLEW THEIR MINDS. Apparently I never let them get anything, ever, from anywhere, and they were just beyond thrilled. They played with and talked about those donut keychains for the rest of the trip.
I held some ice on it while Andrew went back upstairs to do some wasp killing (turns out it was a bee, not a wasp). He turned the light on in the room as he swatted around, taking the curtains down and unmaking Lucia's bed, and Greta slept through the whole thing. He did find a couple of bees to kill. Lucia calmed down pretty quickly, considering, and eventually went back to bed. Terrible. This was her second sting in NH.
Friday was hot and sunny, and we spent the morning at the pond, on the dock. The girls tried to catch fish in nets, and they collected berries, cattails, and milkweed.
For lunch, we packed up some food and hiked to the back field, where we spread out a blanket and ate. Afterward, we explored the woods at the very far end of our property line--an area where we always find old jars, bits of broken plates, and rusty metal objects. We did some basic bigfoot hunting, some tree knocks and calls. L&G were fascinated, and did some tree knocks of their own. I invited them to do some calls as well. Lucia did a few owl-like hoots, waiting eagerly for a response. When it was Greta's turn, she thought for a minute, then yelled out, "PINATA!!!" then dissolved into hysterics. That child. Her mind works in very unique ways.
We drove into town later in the afternoon for some groceries, and went out for ice cream. For dinner Andrew grilled sausages and we had sausage, green pepper, and onion sandwiches (L&G had sausage and Trader Joe's mini ravioli). We made s'mores for dessert with the hot coals from the grill.
Saturday was another hot, hot, hot day. In the morning, we hiked to the top of Mount Ascutney. Not our most peaceful hike--Lucia was in super-competitive mode, insisting on being first and faster than everyone else, which was a) dangerous because she was running on the trail and b) upsetting to Greta, who of course wound up being left behind. Sigh.
The day improved, though. We had lunch at home and then went swimming at William and Nelly's pool--crazy that we were able to swim this late in September, when, the last time we were in NH, it was in the thirties at night.
Sunday we headed to another of our favorite places--Riverview Farm. We picked raspberries and apples, and then went through the corn maze. We've been visiting this corn maze annually for probably the past 4-5 years, but we've never been there this early in the season, with the cornstalks still green. It was fun as always. And Andrew got a shout-out from the bona fide, white-bearded farmer who drives the horse cart and used to farm hay in our fields--"Hey! We've got to get together sometime," he called when he spotted Andrew in the orchard--which makes Andrew feel like he himself also has real farmer potential.
We got some maple ice cream at the farm, and then headed home, where we cleaned up and packed up and headed on our way later in the afternoon. After an early dinner at our favorite pizza place, we were on our way back to NJ, sadder than usual to leave NH behind. Greta keeps suggesting we go back. Best case, we'll visit twice more before closing the house; but it might just be once more. We'll see.
A perfect weekend as usual. Oh: I should mention what the highlight for L&G was. On our way there, last Thursday, we stopped at a rest area for a bathroom break. Outside the bathrooms were a bunch of gumball machines filled with various things. One machine had little donut keychains--actually really cute. Of course the girls asked for one, and I said yes, which BLEW THEIR MINDS. Apparently I never let them get anything, ever, from anywhere, and they were just beyond thrilled. They played with and talked about those donut keychains for the rest of the trip.
Comments