Night at the Royals

 

Mom took Max to his annual Royals game. We were joined by a friend, Sarah. We scoped out the new kids area. Max hit balls and ran bases at the Little K, rode the carousel, was timed running from home to first base, played on the playground, ate a hot dog and peanuts for dinner, and finished the night off with a sundae in a helmet. The Royals lost, but we stayed for the whole game! Max hasn't stopped talking about it, he had a blast.

Vermont/New Hampshire/Canada Trip - August 2009

We saddled up and flew to Manchester, NH with three kids and two tons of luggage in tow. Once there, we loaded into the rented mini van and drove 2 hours to Cathy's house in Vermont. Kevin and Rachel started the trip off with a brisk 9-mile hike up and over Franconia Ridge in New Hampshire (post below). The next day we headed with Cathy and the kids to Montreal where we walked the city streets on our mangled legs and saw the Canadian sights, eh. For our next "hiking" expedition, we opted to ride the tram up Jay Peak. The Hannon's joined us for some great views and great photo opportunities (post below). The final tourist attraction on our vacation to-do list was Santa's Village. Rachel, Cathy, and Terry took five kids to the Christmas wonderland of New England (post below). We spent some quality time with family we rarely get to see for the rest of our trip. The kids had tons of fun hanging out with their cousins. They didn't waste any time, they played until they crashed, then got up and did it again. We met cousins that Rachel and the kids had never met before, and everyone was able to meet Kendall for the first time as well. She got loads of attention and she loved every minute of it. Everyone was great with her and Max. The climax of the trip was Jim's 50th birthday party. We listened to the band and danced the night away in the 40 degree temperatures (post below). Sadly, our vacation came to an end. We said our good-byes and headed out of the green mountains back to green flatness. We played, we laughed, we drank, and we have 10 million pictures to document the occasion.

Uncle Jim's 50th Birthday Party

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The whole fama-lama piled into cars and drove caravan-style to Char-bo Campground to surprise Jim. Food was eaten, drinks were drunk, and the band played. Jim brushed off his dusty guitar pick and vocal chords and played a few songs with the band. It was great! Thank you Cathy for throwing a great party!

LOADS of great pics taken here. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the Bob Seger or Jim Etheze version of the song on iTunes, had to settle for a knockoff.

Lake Salem - Vermont

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Santa's Village

 

Nana treated the whole group to a fun-filled day of rides, food, rain, a few meltdowns, reindeer, Santa, and lots of out-of-season Christmas joy. A blast was had by all. Thank you Nana/Aunt Cathy!

Jay Peak Tram - Vermont

 

The Hannon's and the Clark's rode the tram up Jay Peak. At the top we saw some breathtaking views, snapped a few photos, froze our butts off, Max followed Austin's every move, and then we rode the tram back down the mountain. My kind of hiking!

Franconia Ridge - The 9 mile hike

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Hysterical

This is Kendall laughing at Lily chewing on a toy. She had tears in her eyes, she was laughing so hard.

DEEP THOUGHTS by Max

Max pointed to each letter of Grandma and Grandpa's alligator magnet that read "Florida" and said, "F-L-O-R-I-D-A Crocodile!"