Snow fun

We kept our power!  Wahoo!  I don't mind gads of snow as long as I have my power.

We estimate that we got about 16 inches at our house total for this storm.  Luckily we had cleared off some of the snow last night before bed.  It took a while this morning to snow blow the very long driveway.  Some people had parked their cars at the end of their driveways in case they needed to get out.  This afternoon they are clearing off their buried cars.  Some poor souls are out shoveling by hand.  I am grateful for snowblowers and power today.

Our outdoor dog loves the snow.  She is laying down in it right here.

Josh liked the snow better today too, with shoveled paths and no blizzards winds in his face.

Sadie loved climbing/jumping up the mounds of snow with McKinley.

Cute.

We shared the duty, since Kent's broken shoulder is still a hindrance.  I just don't have a picture of me working, but I did.

Blizzard

Tonight we did our first round of snow blowing to hopefully have a chance in the morning to clear the rest.

I talked the kids into going outside.  Josh really wanted to go so I bundled him up too.

 

We helped a little with the shoveling...

 

but mostly we played around and started building an igloo...

 

Josh wasn't so sure about coming outside after all, and I ended up taking him back in.

 

We had a bunch of sparklers left over from the 4th of July, and since we can't take them in the move, we let the boys do sparklers in the snow.

Christmas Tree

We went to the Geer Tree Farm again this year to get our Christmas tree.  This was our third and final year here.  We were sad we won't be coming here again next year.  It was a great place to go tree hunting.

Josh loved his free range roaming.

As soon as we got out of the car the kids were off and running through the acres of trees like they have every year. They pretend to be deer and run from the hunter, dodging and hiding between trees.

I made them stop for a picture and luckily Josh happened to pop through the row of trees and right into my picture.

The weather was perfect for our outing!

Goodbye Geer Tree Farm.

New England architecture

Another thing I am going to miss about New England is the variety of architecture in homes.  The neighborhoods are not cookie cutter homes.  From cottages to mansions, every house is different.

One of my favorite homes (it's for sale right now) with a wrap around porch and a beautiful blue door.

I love to walk by this adorable blue house with the bright red door.  Doors out here are painted all sorts of different colors and I love it.

A beautiful yellow Americana farmhouse from the 1700's

Across the street from my favorite house with the blue door is a sweet little white house that reminds me of an English cottage.  Here is the converted garage.

and the little gate leading to the front door.  When the hydrangeas are in bloom it is a charming English garden.

This is the Dutch Colonial across the street.  That old nasty house that got torn down used to be blocking it's view.

Then there are massive, classic, homes.  It's guest house has nicer finishes than we do!  Which isn't too hard since you'd only need to have baseboards to really outdo us :)

I love New England houses.

Pumpkin Patch

This was the third year we visited the Castle Hill pumpkin patch in Newtown, CT.  I love it!

When we were leaving I made everyone say goodbye forever to it....then I was sad.

Indian Summer day

Today the temperature was in the mid 70's.  So when the kids all got home from school I packed them up in the car and headed out to Compo Beach in Westport for a little beach time.

Sawyer brought his football along.  I had to hold Josh a lot, so we only had a little makeshift football throwing.

McKinley finally got tough enough to go into the cold water.  She played in the sand for most of the time.

Hayden was back and forth between water and sand.

The three of them enjoying the ocean.

This little guy hung mostly on the blanket and grabbed fists full of sand and rocks to eat.

We stayed until the sun had almost set.

When it was time to go Hayden kept chasing the seagulls and had to be dragged (literally) back to the car.  We are going to miss the ocean very much.

Kent stayed home and nursed his shoulder, which the doctor said has a little fracture and perhaps some muscle separating from the bone.  He sees an orthopedist next week to determine the best course of recovery.

Orem's Diner

Kent had work off yesterday, so we took advantage of the kid's school time and went out to lunch together with just baby.  It felt nearly relaxing!
Orem's Diner is located in Wilton, CT.  It was on my "to do" list from the beginning, but we just never made it over there with 3-4 kids.  Now that the countdown to move has begun we are ticking things off the list before we leave.  Glad to be able to cross off Orem's Diner now.

I ordered the homestyle cheese blintzes.  They came with homestyle potatoes, eggs, and toast.  Those blintzes were so yummy.  I'm so glad when I choose something new from a menu and it turns out to be good!

We leave on Tuesday to mark more things off of our East Coast list!

On our walk

I took baby for a walk while McKinley rode her bike with us.

I made McKinley turn around and grab my camera so I could capture some of the beauty of where I live. 



some wildflower in the growth on Silver Spring road




Passing this house on Ruscoe Road always makes me smile.  This is the barn.  The whole place is very Americana.



Compo Beach

After baby's nap on Saturday we headed out to Compo Beach in Westport, CT.  It is free until May 1.  It is one of the nicest beaches close by...about 20 minutes away.  The beach is a little rocky mixed with sand, but has tons of seashells to gather.  The water is a little chilly right now still, but that doesn't stop the kids from having fun.  One of their favorite parts of Compo Beach is the fun playground they have there.



Baby's first beach, first time at the ocean, and first attempt to eat sand...daddy successfully stopped him.

After the beach we headed to the Shake Shack in Westport so everyone could try out the "famous" burgers. They are definitely yummy, and the kids ate up every bite of theirs. I got the black and white shake again, but this time I knew what I was getting (vanilla ice cream mixed with hot fudge---not an oreo shake like I first thought).

Then we went home, quickly put the kids to bed and Kent and I went out to a movie while Grandma and Grandpa held down the fort. We finally got to see Hunger Games, yay!

Lawn art

Yet another example that we are out of our league here; the house up the street recently installed this art sculpture in their yard. It looked like one I saw in D.C., so after doing some research I think it's by Roxy Paine in NYC. They retail around the millions!

I do like the scultpure though. Maybe one day I'll have one for my lawn. I'd better get a job.

Country life

This....

is a necessity.

One morning Kent opened the garbage can lid to deposit some garbage, when he got a nice surprise. A little raccoon popped up his furry head and shocked the socks off him. Now we make sure the rocks are in place. I don't think the raccoons are happy though. There are tiny claw marks all over the lid. Bwah ha ha!

Colors

The sunset was breathtaking tonight.

I am going to miss these trees one day. The view out the window from our couch isn't too shabby, is it?

The house with the window

We pass by this house all the time coming to and from our house. At Christmas time they put their tree up by the gigantic window. It always takes my breath away.

I would love a window like that one day.

Compo Beach

This afternoon I took the three oldest kids (while baby Josh stayed home with Dad) to Compo Beach in Westport. I was reluctant to go during the summer because it costs $20 for non-residents to park there. It's free after Labor Day. I think it may be worth it this summer though. It was a fun little beach with nice sandy areas, a big playground, and vendors (in the summer). It's about 30 minutes from our house.

It was a bit chilly (in the 40's-ish) but we felt fine in our jackets. There wasn't too much wind coming off the water either.

The kids begged me to let them take off their socks and shoes. McKinley said she loves to feel the sand on her feet. Yes, I let them.

McKinley built little sand buildings and then a rock building. Such a pretty girl.

Sawyer wanted to race in the sand and then be fake-tackled and fall into the sand. I told him he could throw rocks into the ocean, but could not get in it. You don't know how exhausting the conversation I had with him was about the many reasons I would not let them go in the ocean today. He even insisted that he would be fine with getting hypothermia and going to the hospital. That's why I'm in charge and he's not. He did sneak his toes in though before he got busted.

There was a battle fought on this beach and near it on April 28, 1777 between the British and Americans. Here is the memorial of the battle fought here. The objects on both sides are the back views of cannons.

Hayden spent his time building a sand castle. I made everyone come with me to a little rocky archipelago. It all looked very New England and beautiful. I love the water and beaches.