Rewind to the week before

I admit it. I didn't post the week before we headed out for vacation. But really, I had good reason. Well, I made a promise to post weekly so I'm here to make amends. So here's the story as it played out that fateful week of February 9th.

Here's Brandon. Happy as a clam skiing the weekend of Feb. 7-8.

Now here's Brandon the following weekend. Notice the cast on his right hand? Yes, that was the reason behind my negligence. Mind you, Brandon did not fracture his wrist skiing. No, he doesn't have some marvelous, adventurous tale to tell. He tripped, he fell, end of story. Thumb still works great for Gameboy. But that hasn't stopped him from skiing. Next week he'll be back with his group skiing all-terrain rather than hanging out with me on the easy stuff. Cast comes off on March 4th!

Birthday Boys

When I met my friend Molly back in 1995 she was pregnant with her second son, Drew. It was just after Thanksgiving, Brandon was a few weeks old, and Brian and I were going to meet the babysitter who to this day remains one of the most special people in both of our lives. Molly's older son was already being well cared for by Carol. Drew was born shortly thereafter, on February 22, 1996, and soon became fast friends with Brandon. Little did we know, three short years later, right on Drew's 3rd birthday in 1999, our Cameron would be born. What are the odds? Brandon's best friend and only brother would forever more share the same exact birthday.

So, it was fitting that since we all share a house together in New Hampshire that the boys would share their birthday together with a big cake, given that it was school vacation week. Now to say cake selection went smoothly would be a slight exaggeration. OK, a huge exaggeration. My idyllic vision had the boys gazing into the display case, spotting that perfect cake, then all of us going home to sip hot cocoa after a great day on the slopes. Yeah, right! We had stress, anxiety, even tears the day we went to Hannafords to make the selection. Not the brightest idea mom had, I admit. But in the end, all was forgiven and the cake was inhaled by a houseful of boys.

Good friends=good times

I'm reminiscing because we are heading north today, once again, for what is setting up to be a fabulous weekend. However, it's bittersweet because I thought our housemates, the Welchs were going to join us but, instead of heading to North Conway for a relaxing weekend of skiing, they are heading to New York to spend time with Bob's dad, a very special person in their lives, who is seriously ill. All our prayers and best wishes are with "Pops."

So, since the Welchs can't join us I right now, I'll just post a few pics from last season to hopefully make them smile. You know we're thinking about you guys.

Take a look at that "do" on Bob. Remember St. Paddy's Day? And how about our visit from Phil and Brenna? We really have to do that again. It was so much fun.









See you soon in the mountains!

Mom still has it...but forgets sometimes

Well here we are again. Look, it's me tearing up the slopes and I actually look like I know what I'm doing. Not the picture I had in my head. Whew! Glad you can't see what I saw. Brian snapped this, unknowingly to me, while we were coming down Northwest Passage heading over to Bear Peak yesterday. It was only about 10 a.m. and we already had 5 or 6 runs under our respective belts, thanks to the Krypels.

After dropping the kids off with their coaches we ran into Scott and Amy having breakfast in the lodge. Amy is having back troubles so she offered to ski with me on some relaxed terrain for a while and let Brian and Scott hit the steeps. Sounded good to me. Right! Wrong! We get on the chair lift and she says, "Let's start off with Tightrope and work our way over to White Horse." My response, "I hate you." The last time I was on Tightrope it was a sheet of ice and nearly got taken out by one of the instructors who lost it on the ice and came rolling down the hill. Amy's take was that I needed to do it to prove to myself that I can. Well I did, I can, and don't want to again. There!

OK, enough of being a brat. We actually had a great time and the guys never did take off on us. Amy did stick with me on some easier terrain and gave lots of encouraging words like, "Maybe next time you should take one of my Xanax." Thanks Amy. After a few runs at Bear we hit the lodge for some much needed warmth and hot cocoa. As usual, we ran into Brandon having Apple Jacks, a chocolate chip cookie, and a large bottle of Gatorade; Brandon is a creature of habit for those of you who don't know him well.

Saturday afternoon at Ptarmigan's wasn't the same without the Welch's so hopefully we'll have them with us next weekend. (See Mol, got you in a post without you actually being there.) We went for a quick drink anyways while the boys skied over to a friend's house for a bit. Then, of course, had another drink with the DeVries and their guests when we went to pick them up.

Another awesome weekend. Can't wait for Friday!

Back to the slopes

After a week of inclement weather, we headed back to the slopes this weekend. Despite the bitter cold...again...the skiing was fabulous. Nice terrain, well groomed. I'm such a baby when it comes to difficult conditions. My take--with 2 kids, a husband, and a dog, if I'm down due to a skiing mishap all hell will break lose. Maybe my paranoia and anxiety are getting the best of me but that's what makes me who I am, for better or worse.

Brandon was the star this weekend. He really turned a corner. He too suffers from ski anxiety (for those who don't know, it is the fear of pointing the skis completely downhill and giving in to the speed.) Well he discovered the fall line, which I'm still searching for, and is now making turns downhill instead of up. I, on the other hand, am still trying to relax and let go (yeah, right.) I got yelled at by one of the ski instructors today, my dear friend Kathy who said, "stop sitting down." Oops, guess I'm not forward enough. Help me find the fall line.

Cam was awesome too and Brian just always gets it. Cam says that he isn't sitting down anymore so he doesn't ski like me. Ty, his instructor, says otherwise but we'll let him believe what he wants. Too much energy to argue with a 9-year-old.

Next week it looks like we'll have a full house again with lots of kids. Stay tuned for more fun.

Sure is cold in dem der hills.

This past weekend was frigid. My poor little toes were freezing beyond belief on Saturday. However, it warmed a bit on Sunday so it wasn't too bad. And, we got some snow in the morning so for those who like powder it was great.

Cam decided to spend most of the day on Sunday rolling in the snow. He came in from skiing looking like the abominable snowman. Brandon, on the other hand, embraced the powder and skied the steeps like a pro.

The Silva's spent the weekend with us. It was great to catch up with good friends we don't see as much as we like. Erik was home from WPI so it made for some nice family time for them as well. Got to chat with Steph on the lift too. It's amazing how quickly kids grow up. Real people. Real conversations. Another stage, I guess. I nice one in their case.

Looks like the cold is not going to let go of us just yet. This coming weekend looks like we're in for some arctic temps. Brrrr!

Ski Attitash

Well, the sailing season got away from me this year, as far as blogging goes, so I thought I would turn to the hard water cruising update--Skiing at Attitash. This is our 2nd year on the mountain and renting a cozy little chalet at the base of Cathedral Ledge in North Conway with the Welch's. Brandon and Cameron are enjoying the ski program which has them cruising all terrain. Stay tuned...I promise to deliver weekly posts as we will be heading north every weekend through the ski season. Much adventure awaits.

Launch 2008 - Spectacle Island Mini Cruise

Well, summer is here again and Howlin' took its first cruise of the season to Spectacle Island, one of the Boston Harbor Islands, as part of the CYC mini-cruise last weekend. Since we won't be making it on the big club cruise this year we're going to make the most of the weekend mini-cruises as they come along. Despite the fog we all had a great time...lots of food, lots of cocktails, of course, and lots of fun.

If you haven't visited Spectacle you should. Once a landfill, this island has been transformed and is a true testament to recycling efforts. Take a look at the Web site to learn more at http://www.bostonislands.org/isle_spectacle.asp

Brandon took the helm for a bit on the way down to Boston.

And Cameron and Anna built a fantastic castle. Architects in the making I think.

Home at Last

The cruise is officially over. We're back at home safe and sound, and boy did it feel good to sleep in our own beds last night. Now comes the fun part--cleaning out the boat, removing all the stuff we loaded up two weeks ago, and giving it a good bath. We also realized that we came home with a tub of margarita mix so come on by for a cocktail!

Heading home...Marblehead here we come

With weather being what it is we decided to head straight home from Red Brook. It's a hike and a pretty wet ride, but the seas are calm and that feels really good. As I write this Cam is still sound asleep. Too much partying with the girls, I guess.

We set off at 6 am and are now just off Scituate. This was the planned next stop but another 4-5 hours and we'll be home. Yes, those crazy sailing folks would rather spend 12 hours going from the Cape to Marblehead than driving the 1 1/2 hours we could have done in a warm, cozy, and fast vehicle on land. Maybe we should have brought a Fleet Psychiatrist in addition to the Surgeon!

Another injury to report...fortunately not one of ours. I think they just wanted to show us up since we had the best injury for the entire cruise, up until yesterday. A friend travelling on Total Eclipse fell down the steps heading into the boat and broke his ankle. Unfortunately he is in surgery today at Children's Hospital. He was supposed to try out for the Freshman golf team next week. Such a gifted player, I'm told. We hope they'll let it slide.

Jason, we all hope you are feeling better and get out on the green soon.

Watch for some wrap up photos. Howlin' standing by...

Padanarum to Red Brook Harbor

Much different day yesterday than our 30 mile rockin' and rollin' trip getting to New Bedford. We had sun, a nice breeze, and a great sail to Red Brook Harbor in Cataumet. We even managed to hit the beach before the required cocktails. Cam took advantage of the time to take a little nap.

Notice Brandon with the shades he picked up at the gift shop. He's working on becoming the next Tom Cruise...so cool! This is also the start of our cocktail party at the Chart Room restaurant. The kids had a ball. Here's Brandon with his girlfriend, Jessica. And Cam playing hard to get with Elizabeth.

Rockin' and Rollin' to New Bedford

For those of you who have never sailed, it is probably difficult to comprehend why anyone would want to take 5 hours to travel 30 miles from Newport to New Bedford. However, on a day like yesterday I have to agree. What were we thinking? The weather itself was fair enough, no rain on us as we set out, but we forgot to calculate what happens to the seas in weather like we had.

To get the full picture close your eyes and visualize the following...the winds are gusting to 30 miles per hour, waves are rolling in 5-10 feet in height, one kids is yahooing with every bigger wave (that would be Brandon), the other kid is in your lap heaving up his Flavor blasted goldfish over the side of the boat then peeing in a cup that overflows all over you. Then he says he's going to be sick again. (By the way, he reports that flavor blasted goldfish do not taste better the second time around, yuk!)

We had several boats stay back in Newport to wait for calmer seas. Today is a different day. The sun is shining, seas are calm, and we're recovered from yet another cocktail party hosted by the New Bedford Yacht Club for us. I'm too beaten down today to upload pictures so I'll add to the post when we get to our next destination. Onward to Red Brook Harbor!

Windy in Newport

Well we gave it the 'ol college try but winds started to pick up to 40 kts so we all picked up the closest mooring to wait it out a bit longer. Looks like its going to be a long night. No photos at this point of our soggy crew.

Ahh, Newport

We decided to skip Wickford and move right on to Newport...land of mega yachts and the beautiful Rose Island Lighthouse where you can be keeper for a day.

Not that we have anything against Wickford, mind you. It is a beautiful little town and I'd love to spend some time there. But, the weather was questionable and the kids wanted to go body surfing so we found ourselves sailing on past and landing at the dock in Newport. For those of you who sail or camp you can appreciate the fact that we are able to hook up to shore power and have water plentiful courtesy of a hose at the marina. Oh, and we can take real showers. Ahhh!

We're staying at the Newport Yachting Center and as I write they are setting up a huge tent for a party that we weren't invited too (wah!). But, we figure once the kids are asleep and the guests have enough to drink we can probably tuck in for a cocktail or two unnoticed.

BTW--How do you like our new vessel? You know, the one with the helicopter...not. Can you believe that thing was downing 4,000 gallons of fuel and water!

Still having fun. Wish all of you were here too. Actually, a quick drive to Newport will have you here with us in a flash. Come on down!

Fogland to Bristol

Another party...this time at the Bristol Yacht Club. We're going to need a vacation after this trip. Our wonderful neighbor, Martin Ray, is standing with us and Barbara Ferro, new friend and accupuncturist extrordinaire. Martin is responsible for us being on this cruise and contributing signficantly to our alcohol corruption--or should that be consumption. I guess its both.

The kids below. Cameron got his sutures out after this party last night. Swimming time again. But first we're going in for a little history at the Herreshoff Museum, home to some of the greatest and largest yachts ever built. Bristol is also famous for the country's oldest and grandest 4th of July celebration. Too bad we missed that one.

Cuttyhunk to Fogland

Roll call was at 9 a.m. this morning. A real treat compared to the 6 a.m. calls we had all week long. Cuttyhunk is a great little island. They have ice cream right on the dock--always a favorite with the kids, Cam's favorite gift shop, and one of the best breakfast spots around high up on a bluff with magnificent views.




The gang at breakfast.

Brandon and Cameron shopping, as always.
We got underway around 10 a.m. and landed in Fogland around 3 p.m. Beautiful weather, beautiful sailing. Entering the Sakonnet we had some 36 knot winds that took us for quite a ride. The wind has died down now and the thunderstorms have managed to bipass us again. We are ready for a good night's rest now and a leisurely sail to Bristol tomorrow. Only 10 miles to go this time. Such a treat since we been averaging 25 miles per day all week.

Vineyard Haven to Cuttyhunk

Another amazing day. Fifteen knots of breeze and sunny clear skies--a sailor's dream.


Lobster bake on the beach, treasure hunt, and s'mores. 'nough said.

More Nantucket

As I mentioned in the start, sometimes we're having too much fun to post on schedule. So, I wanted share a bit more on Nantucket--namely, another cocktail party--courtesy of "Whisper," an elegant beauty of a sailboat. Whisper is one of my all time favorite boats. I have a special spot for Hinckleys and this one is magnificent. A 48' yawl designed for ocean crossings, its a boat to aspire to. I'll post a photo when I get a nice one of this vessel underway. Take a look at that sunset...just as the fog was beginning to roll in.

Here's Brandon at the helm of Whisper with one of his new best friends from the cruise, Brenda.








Of course, we'd be negligent not to show off some whales on Nantucket. This is the skeleton of a sperm whale that died in Nantucket sound and washed ashore. Scientists at the Whaling Museum were granted permission to keep the whale and to study it. Fascinating stuff! If you find yourself in Nantucket take a trip to the museum. It has an amazing scrimshaw collection as well as several journals from sea captains.

Nantucket to Vineyard Haven

Another early start heading back to the Vineyard. This time to Vineyard Haven...home of the Black Dog Tavern. Of course, we had the obligatory cocktail party about one of our vessels. A beautiful 47' PowerCat. This came after the pre-cocktail party, cocktail party on Warp 9 after the kids had dinghy races in the harbor. Hiccup! Then dinner for all at the Black Dog.

Edgartown to Nantucket

We got underway at about 10 a.m in pea soup fog heading to Nantucket.

Skies finally cleared about 8 miles off the coast. This is an organized group. We travelled in fog formation, keeping all the boats safe. 20+ boats from Marblehead invaded the tranquil waters of Nantucket Harbor about 2 p.m.

Imagine our surprise when we ran into one of our best friends who was staying on the island. Here's me and Linda having fun after some margaritas at Capt. Tobey's and the boys licking their chops after some mighty fine ice cream on the dock. What a life!