Weekend in VT

Spent the weekend in Vermont. We were only there a couple of days, but time moves slower up there and it's enough time for a lot of small things to happen.

- We threw the baseball around the front yard. Baba was impressed by Jack's arm, and rightly so; I am too. The hitting and catching need work, but the kid's got an arm.

- The three of us walked across the road to the brook. Kicked our way through the brush and reeds to stand near the edge of the muddy, quick-moving stream that used to be a lazy, slow-moving stream where we happily swam and made mudpies on the beach all summer. I tried to figure out exactly where the bank used to be but could barely place it; it's changed since Hurricane Irene. Jack and I each threw a stick in the water (Jack called it a pooh stick after "Stick Man") and watched them disappear.

- We paced around up behind the house, what we used to call the flat place. I spent some time looking for the old sandbox but couldn't find so much as a board. Did find a few rusted remnants of the swingset, what looked like the ...chair swing? I think that's what we called it. Pretty overgrown up there, with moss-covered trees criss-crossing the grass. Emily thought it'd be a nice place to build a house. We also went up on the back hill and found the white stone marking where Scott is. The old apple tree there has long since died and crumbled. I remember we had a tire swing on it.

- Kate made Baba jump out of his socks, according to him, on two occasions, by walking around and coming up close to him and saying "Rahhh!!!" She particularly liked doing it in the bear slippers.

- We found lots of old toys and games. (I remember Jack, when he and Kate were packing last week, saying to Kate, "You don't need any toys...they have GREAT toys up there." And so they do. We played (and ultimately brought back) a 40-year-old "Snoopy versus the Red Baron" game I found in the attic. I'm sure they'll have lost interest in it in a week or so, but we played it again tonight before bed.

- Nana and Baba got Jack a Lego contraption and Kate a "Make Your Own Tiara" set. Both were big hits. As Jack was using his, he said almost too himself, "I just LOVE contraptions!"

- Nana made pancakes, we all ate them. I mention this only because everyone sitting and eating the exact contents of a meal doesn't always happen. And, you know, pancakes.

- We went out for dinner, which started poorly but ended well, with kids eating and everyone happy. Then we headed home, but there was sentiment to look for deer, since it was almost that time, and we wanted to drop by Willis Wood's for maple syrup, so we did that too. As we parked he was walking around the corner of the barn, which for all I know he's pretty much doing 18 hours a day, and I was able to buy maple syrup and cider jelly right there. As I was heading back to the van I said, "So, you got any animals that small kids can meet?" And he said, "Sure, you got small kids?" So I went over to the van and opened the door and said, who wants to meet some animals? So Jack and Kate both piled out (and Emily too) and we all ran into the barn and got to see some lambs, including one that was just a day old. That seemed pretty cool until we turned around and got to meet another one that was just an HOUR old. Both kids, Emily, and me were duly impressed. Jack climbed up on the fence slats for a better look, Kate was equally interested until this one goat made noise at us like it wanted to kick us to death and she was understandably alarmed. As we left the barn and headed back Nana and Baba were just on the way in; sorry! I kind of forgot that even people who live in Vermont don't always get to see hour-old lambs.

Anyway, just another Vermont weekend. Jack didn't want to leave, which is kind of cool. But at least he got to bring the Red Baron game.



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