Chestnut Village Ski Trip 2010

Again this year our neighbor Rich put together a wonderful ski trip for our neighborhood! So on a cold dark Saturday morning in February, about 50 of us piled into a luxury motorcoach and headed for Breton Woods. Unfortunately, neither Shawn, because of her knee, nor Josh, still recovering from a concussion, could ski this year so they had to stay behind.

Jake and John had a GREAT ski day! It was chilly but there was little wind and by late morning the sun was out and warm. For the morning, Jake skied with a couple of his buddies and John skied with his pal Brooke. Later in the day, Jake and Dad paired up for some family ski time. With excellent snow conditions and many long intermediate runs to choose from, they had a great time!

Kudos to Rich for once again pulling off a great trip!  Thanks for the fun!

Bretton Woods 2009

We once again participated in the annual neighborhood ski outing organized by our friends Rich and Joyce.

Again this year, about 50 folks from our neghborhood boarded a luxury coach at (or just before) the crack of dawn for the ride up to Bretton Woods. It was a gorgeous, though cold, day and the snow was awesome!

Unfortunately, Shawn’s knee wasn’t cooperating so she decided to play “Ski Bunny” and spend the day by the fire (after a run-in with the law as she tried to scalp her lift ticket).  John skied with the boys on and off or they skied with friends.

The boys are great skiers these days!  They can ski every bit of terrain the BW has to offer and even tried out some “Big Air” moves in the terrain park. (John only gets big air right before unplanned impact with the ground.)

After skiing, we all ate dinner together at the restaurant across the street from the slopes and then settled back into the bus for the ride home. Even did a brake test in the left lane at one point – but that’s another story.

It was a grand day out and we had a blast!  Big thanks to our friends for running this trip again!

Holidays ’08

We had a great time over the Christmas and New Year holidays!  It all started when Shawn’s Uncle Cleon and Aunt Ellie arrived at our place the day before Christmas Eve. Both John and Shawn got off work a bit early and the celebrations began. We weren’t really spun up though until Christmas Eve Day itself which began with the annual Ipswich River Road Runners Jingle Bell run hosted by Fast Frankie.  What a great bunch of nutz to run with!

After attending the afternoon worship service at our church, we enjoyed the “Feast of Seven Fishes” around a festive table where calamari, clams, scungilli, scallops, bacala, shrimp, and mussels all made appearances!

After dinner, we had the pleasure of hosting our good friends Heather and Thor for some holiday cheer and fun… They’re a great couple and we highly prize their friendship!

Christmas morning brought with it the usual array of merriment and chaos. We all got great gifts, grazed wonderful food, hung out in our PJs until well into the afternoon, and enjoyed the warm holiday mood.

We followed that with another Christmas dinner that couldn’t be beat – this time featuring a pork crown roast with apple stuffing! It was great having Grams and Cleon and Ellie with us  – nothing like family for the holidays!

The day after Christmas, we all took Cleon out to dinner to celebrate his 82nd birthday. We enjoyed a chilly night up on the Swampscott coast at Anthony’s Cafe.  Shawn’s mom even tried to pick up the waiter!

We went out to dinner again the next night as Cleon and Ellie treated us all to a nice pub feed in appreciation for hosting them. In fact, we consider it a real treat to have them with us for the holidays!

On Sunday, Ellie and Cleon started their long ride home and Josh and John drove north to Sugarloaf where our friends Roy and Sue have recently bought a home and had invited us to come visit for some skiing! And ski they did!  Josh is becoming quite an expert and, over two days, tackled everything the mountain had to offer – including double black diamond expert trails!

John and Josh returned home to be with the family on New Year’s Eve – driving the final hour in the approaching snowstorm. With snow making the roads a bit treacherous, we went to a local restaurant for a family New Year’s Eve dinner and then spent the evening with a few friends at our neighbor’s home. Dante and Dan hosted a fun evening for kids and adults and, while the kids watched Elf for about the thirtieth time, we ate and drank too much and a had great fun!  We did make an early trudge home after celebrating New Year’s in Tortola (or wherever it occurred at 11 PM) and were pretty comfortably horizontal before the actual stroke of midnight!

New Year’s Day was brisk and lazy. We slept late and then teamed up to take on the hanging of a ceiling light fixture to pretty much finish off the renovations of our basement family room. A couple of pictures on the wall and we think we’re done!

As we prepare to settle back into the routine of life for 2009, we wish you and yours a happy and propserous New Year! Happy Holidays!

Chestnut Village Ski Trip ’08

 January 26 marked the annual Chestnut Village ski day…

We’ve got this one nutty neighbor whose idea of fun is organizing this thing. He charters a huge “luxury coach” and gathers orders for lift tickets and lessons. We pack 50 or so folks into the bus, share coffee and doughnuts, drive 2-1/2 hours to beautiful Bretton Woods, and spend a day on the slopes!

We skied as a family and with our friends and had a blast. Snow conditions were excellent and the weather gave us a great day. We skied all kinds of slopes from smooth cruisers to double black diamond challengers. John took a fall while chasing Joshua though one of the glades that seems to have injured his knee – but he skied the day out and we’ll see how that heals!

After pounding the slopes, we moved across the street to a local restaurant for apres ski and dinner, and then piled back onto the beer-stocked bus for the ride home.

It was a great day with great friends! Thanks Rich!