Finishing Our Trip to Stowe

We really had a fantastic trip to Vermont. I think everyone would agree it was a great vacation; we would love to go again.

Before we left Stowe, we stopped at a farm to buy maple syrup. We had asked around, and everyone had said this was the place to go. I am happy to report the syrup did not disappoint; we have already had some, and it is delicious.

I thought these two pound size Honey Bears were huge!

The kids enjoyed all the snow. This was a light snowfall one morning outside of our townhouse.

The townhouse community had a game room and pool too.

We had some nice down time in the evenings.

Ready to head back to the slopes...zero degrees this morning!

Yes, if you notice Luke has a different coat. After two seasons in his old one, he tore the zipper out of it. We looked into getting the zipper replaced up there, but we ended up paying $5 more for a new coat compared to replacing the zipper.

Beautiful day on the slopes!!

The mountain behind is had an awesome trail that wound all down the mountain. In total, it was four miles long. We did that run three times!

Alex had a great day with his instructors. He was their only student most of the week, so he got a lot of personalized instruction.

Bear attack!

A different bear...here, Edward is trying to pack Stowe in the car for the trip home.

This was the first part of our drive home, and we left a day early to avoid the really bad weather!!! I took this at the Vermont/Massachusetts state line where there were three accidents in less than a mile.

After getting stuck in AWFUL traffic in New York City (we barely moved in tree hours), we arrived at my brother's house in Washington DC for the night at midnight. Cousin Violet was all smiles he next morning.

Madison loves her cousin.

Finally home! Yes, we like to ski. The skis needed a few days to dry out before we have another adventure.

Skiing

We spent three days skiing in Vermont.  It was awesome.  We originally had planned for four days, but a nasty winter storm moving into the Northeast made us leave a day early.  It's a good thing, as they received over 18 inches of new snow, and that would have caused a major problem getting home.  The kids had a fantastic time and LOVE to ski.  They are all very good skiers.  Because we were able to go in the early season, the resort was not busy. In fact, the boys attended Ski School, and they ended up with private lessons because there were a lot of instructors and almost no children.  That was great, and they loved all of the individual attention.

Alex is all suited up and ready for his first day of skiing.

 

Luke and Madison could not wait to start. All three kids have their own skis and boots, as I found good deals on them, making it much cheaper than renting them.

Luke with his instructor

In for a break after battling the cold for a few hours

Posing with my girl

Here's Alex coming down the hill with his instructor.

Alex loved this lift.  It was called "The Magic Carpet," and he couldn't get enough of it.  He felt very empowered using it, like a really big kid.

Hot chocolate break

Edward is under there somewhere.



Back at it...

Madison

I have no idea what the hand signals are...

Madison is a very good skier, and she skied with us all week.  We got a little nervous a few times, as she likes to fly down the hill instead of going back and forth across the mountain. These were no bunny slopes; these mountains were the real deal, and she finally figured out that it could be dangerous to go so fast down the mountain.

View from the top of the lower hill

The resort is at the bottom of the hill.  In the background, there is another mountain, part of the resort, with a lot of trails on it too.  We skied that a different day.

Luke is coming down the hill with his instructors.  He has on the neon yellow pants.

Luke

Alex

Alex on the Magic Carpet...again.

I thought this picture of Alex was so funny.  He's all crouched down like a professional.

View form the parking lot...you can see it isn't busy at all.

More of a view...

Madison on the gondola.  The resort included three mountain peaks. Two were across the road from the main one we were on all week. To get to the other two, you had to take a gondola across the road.  Madison loved that it was enclosed (and warm).