Winter Wonderland

It all seems pretty peaceful if you forget that there are probably 12 very loud snowmobiles right behind the camera.

Quality Restaurants

There were some quality restaurants to eat at up there apparently. I wonder what you call a restaurant with snowmobiles parked outside........kind of like a winter biker bar?

Snowmobiling

Baer went up to Maine snowmobiling since we certainly have enough snow.

Making it Official

We all signed the constitution book. The constitution center was very cool. I learned a lot and now I am much better prepared for teaching the constitution when Constitution Day rolls around again next fall.

Statue Land

The bronze statues made it really hard to find actual people when you were looking for them.

The Bell

We got to see the bell.....It's a bell...........It has a crack in it. But now we've seen it and I feel pretty good about that.

Washington Homestead

During some construction they discovered the foundation of George Washington's house. It was pretty cold seeing as there weren't any walls or ceiling.

The City of Brotherly Love

Baer and I went down to Philadelphia to visit Baer's Aunt Dee. We had a bright and chilly day to see some sights in the city.

Jelly Bean World

Ella tried very hard to get some Jelly Beans out of that post and pick them up off the ground. She even tried to sneak under the chain to visit the ducks. She had to settle for sharing some eggnog ice cream with chocolate sprinkles instead.

Pure Joy

Ella really enjoyed the water show as you can see :)

Lots of Snow

Erin and Ella came up on Thursday afternoon. One plan was to go sledding but the snow was way too deep.

Snow Day!

We had a snow day! If you grew up in my house you know that snow days mean you eat cream of wheat. When you woke up and mom was standing at the stove stirring a pot you knew you didn't have school that day.

In honor of Henry Thoreau Jr.

Kevin had been going a little Thoreau-like lately. Telling us we have to much stuff and our lives have to be simplified. He is also living alone in a cabin in Colorado at T Lazy 7 these days. Dan and I took a few moments to show Kevin that we're thinking about him and hoping he doesn't go all "Into the Wild" on us and start sleeping in abandoned buses in Alaska.

Hot Chocolate in the Woods

Dan brought his small stove so we could enjoy some hot chocolate on our hike.



It was quite delightful.

Winter at Walden

Dan and I went for a walk at Walden Pond one winter afternoon. It felt pretty good to get out of the house.

Snowmo-baer

What has Baer been doing lately? Thinking about snowmobiling that's what....but they are still waiting for the snow to stick around.

New Year's Riddle

How many men in beanie hats does it take to create an ice sculpture?

The Day of First Night

Erin and I met in Boston for the afternoon on New Year's Eve. I got a break from tiling and Erin got a break from mommying. We walked around checking out ice sculptures and testing out the food stands. It was a great afternoon!

Some ice sculpture were more detailed than others.

Step 7

Drink a glass of wine in the bathroom to admire your work.

Step 6

Spend 24 hours together in the bathroom with boxes of tiles and a wet saw.

Step 5

Find a place to shower.

DIY Instructions from Julie and Baer

Step One: Agree that you are going to disagree. Baer likes to do things right, I like to do things quickly. Does this create conflict of opinion? Yes.

Step Two: Accept that the house will be a mess.

Step Three: Rip the Shower apart.

Step 4: Call a friend to help cut two holes in the wall.