Pond Walk

Rob and I are big on finding fun.. FREE.. things to do close to home.  Hidden gems!  Rob found this park in Manchester last summer with the kids.  A playground and walking trail in one.  We really enjoy hiking, but since small kids and hiking are tough, flat nature walks are an acceptable substitute!  At this park there is a one-mile loop around a pond, with fun boardwalks strewn throughout.. I am a sucker for boardwalks as you probably have read before.  We brought the backpack carrier for Cora, but we should have known better, she walked the entire way!

My model of the day was Cole, he was very cooperative and always asking me to take his picture.  It seems my model changes with each excursion.  Caden likes to hide, even though now that he has his own camera he is learning that this is very frustrating! 

Whenever I wanted Cole to smile I'd have him tell me his joke, which you may have seen on facebook.  if not you can check it out here!

Why is getting a good picture of the three of them impossible? 

More joke time :)

We saw some really cool wild life!  What is this an egret? 

Cora trying to be one of the boys.. not quite tall enough yet.

Caden wait for me!

Come on Mommy!

Cole couldn't stand next to his brother and sister he had to stand in front, and in the process of getting him to Cora took off so Caden rounded her back up again!  If only we had  video of the process!

At least their feet cooperate!

And to conclude our family walk we got to quack at the ducks and promptly scare them away.  Their heads are so beautiful!  I love his reflection in the water.. water is so cool, it can be murky and gross brown yet still reflect a beautiful image!

Mack Attack

Saturday we went back to Mack's Apples (remember we were there in our last post for ice cream?!) for their Earth Day celebration.. actually we went to the Stonyfield Earth Day festivities first.. only to figure out that it is next weekend... whoops, I need to stop doing that! Luckily Stonyfield is in the same town.  So we quickly jaunted back to Mack's Apples since the kids were promised Earth Day fun and we knew there was something going on there. So anyway.. after this weekend you should see some Stonyfield Earth Day photos as well! 

There was a guy making balloon animals!  So we got a black sword, a blue puppy and a girly butterfly.  All were happy.  There was also a multitude of free samples!  Stonyfield was the kids favorite booth, mine was Vitamin World! 

It was freezing out!  What ever happened to spring?!  The kids bounced around in a bounce house for a bit to warm up, and work on their appetites!  From there we drove to Manchester for some lunch since we had a coupon from Loco Local, a cool program that offers local discounts similar to Groupon, but specific to this area. I am an addict for these type of sites! Anyway.. back to the coupon.. coincidentally it was for Mr. Mack's Macaroni & Cheese! (Two Mack's in one day!  Craziness) Yum! we'll be back, they have many flavors of mac & cheese, as well as the option to create your own.  We got Carbonara as well as a bacon one... delicious!

Caden and Cora had heaping plates of they yummy lunch.. this was Cole's plate, and I'm not even sure he actually finished!

Clearly it was a busy day!  We figured Cora would fall asleep in the car, she didn't.. but she did fall fast asleep on the couch within minutes of arriving home.

Opening Day...

Friday was opening day for our local ice cream hot spot Mack's Apple Stand.. Cora was very eager to get into that car to go.  Like mother like daughter!  I love me some ice cream.. although I have to tell you, Mack's doesn't compare to my hometown stand, Hodgies... it is the BEST! but this will suffice :) 

P.S. do you see the pony tail?  She is finally asking for them!  YAY for me!

All packed in! We are ready to go!

So is Brendan!!

The line was not too bad... seeing as the evening was FRIGID, I believe that is why.

What is not to  love?

You better believe it!

I believe they were yelling something along the lines of "It's cold out here" but don't quote me.

Freshly painted picnic tables! free of sticky drips and jimmies!

Our own Nanook of the North waiting for her ice cream

Such a decision for Rob!  What will he have?!  Mint chip was the winner.

First licks of the Candy Shop ice cream - the flavor of the week! 

Cora was a cone pro, no bowl for her No Sir-ee! of course it was freezing out so no melting occurred.. if it had been summer temps we would have been in trouble I am sure.

I spoke too soon.. we moved to the cars because our hands were becoming numb.. when she wasn't paying attention we had a nice smear on the jacket.

Picture taking does not stop for the cold!

Delicious!  But next time let's go when we don't need coats and hats!

Back to the Trail...

Last Saturday we headed back to the Windham Rail Trail for the first time this year, we were all pretty excited to going.  I went for a run with Caden as my pace-bike.  Rob held back with the other two while  Cole rode his scooter and Cora walked along.  Caden and I went two miles out and 1 mile back so we could walk the remainder back with eveyone else.

Our annual picture on the bench.. I was hoping to replace the blurry blog header!  But they were not very excited for a picutre. 

Cole is getting pretty good on his scooter!

Here's my man!  He kept me from running too slow!  Although he really loves to chat, me with running and talking do not go hand and hand.. more like huffing and puffing!

"Come on Mommy!"

 We never leave home without snacks

Notice the scooter.. this is where it always ends up.  We boogied back to the car because we were all getting hungry for lunch.

Me and my biker guy.. and Crazy-Cora also wanted to be in the picture.. Cole did not, but Rob decided he should be, so this is what we got. 

 At the trail head they have this old caboose.. the kids always love to climb up on it and take turns steering.