Easter Week Special

Beth and children arrived late Saturday evening just in time to spend Easter Sunday with her ever so happy mom. The week has been full and busy starting with the whole family worshiping together Sunday morning, picking up after the Easter Bunny and a scrumptous Easter dinner at Jon's parents house.
Monday the kids and I went ice skating in Cromwell with a detour to Kid City on the way home in Middletown. Tuesday we spent the day in Mystic at the Aquarium. Wednesday was a beautiful almost 60 degree day so off to Hurd Park for a little letterboxing and hike. Thursday the destination was Imagine Nation museum in Bristol and our grand finale today was New Haven; the Peabody and Ikea, Beth had never been to either one!
They leave early tomorrow morning, Mason and I both shall be aimless for the next few days trying to figure out what to do next.
I miss them already.

Timber Rattlesnake Country

May thru October is prime Timber Rattlesnake season in the Meshomasic State Forest so we decided to visit in March for a little hiking & letterboxing over in the Portland/Glastonbury section. A bit windy & chilly but still a good day to be outside and no 'Crotalus horridus' encounters!
http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2697&q=322834&depNav_GID=1631

Located right down the road is the old Portland Nike Site, (Surface to Air Missile Battery intended to shoot down enemy bombers during the Cold War), where we went next to do some exploring. This was one of the maintenance access shafts that has been filled in although it looks like someone has been busy trying to dig it back out.

New this week...

So much for our lofty goal of putting up 2 gallons of maple syrup. Unfortunately the propane stove I bought with such high hopes at a tag sale last summer didn't make the cut as it took over 2 bottles of fuel and 26 hours of kitchen stove time to put forth the 1 1/2 quarts you see here, but we had fun and there is always next summer for which another sugaring plan is in the works!

Viva Las Vegas!

Jon had an almost 2 week business trip out at Nellis AFB and Mason and I got to tag along. We stayed here: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/lasri-residence-inn-las-vegas-south/ and used that hot tub, pool and tennis court every single day.
So Vegas was OK, larger than life is the only way to describe it. Didn't love it, didn't hate it, could never ever live there! Highlights were the Lied Childrens Museum and the Public Library, hey it was open on Sunday! The Ethyl MM Chocolate Factory had an impressive Cacti Garden that was splendid even in February.
Hoover Dam/Lake Mead was rather awesome; refer to above photo taken about 9am on Groundhog Day, approx 58 degrees and a gorgeous day to be outside.
But the Grand Canyon was unbelievably spectacular and for the record made the whole trip worthwhile! Even though it was overcast most of the pictures came out brilliantly. Pictures in slideshow are too small to really show off the colors so click to enlarge for a better view, also look for the little ribbons of choclate milk, thats the Colorado River.
After spending a hour in Hermits Rest trying to warm up (it was in the 20's) and eyeing a storm that was moving in, we left sooner than we wanted, alas no sunset pics!

Eureka, thars gold in them thar hills!

Mason and his friend Dante tripped out to Meshomasic State Forest in East Hampton for a little rock hunting expedition, while no gold was to be found the boys were wallowing in all the quartz and mica that their little hammers and chisels could manage.

Whirlwind Weekend in RI

We headed up to Roger Williams University Saturday morning to catch a Lego's Robotics Tournament. From there we hit the Roger Williams Zoo. Yes, zoo in New England in January; frankly it was rather balmy and I was very comfortable as it was a beautiful clear and sunny afternoon, close to 60 actually.
After checking into our hotel in Providence we decided on visiting Providence Place, a huge mall where we grabbed an early supper and settled in for some people watching. We were not disappointed as we are quite positive there was a S&M convention going on somewhere nearby! Sunday we woke to another fine, close to 60 degree day and after checking out of our hotel we headed over to the Providence Children's Museum.

Due to an expected "winter storm" with a predicted 6-15 inch snowfall heading our way we skedaddled it back home to CT. OK so it wasn't the foot deep snow expected when he woke this morning Mason wasn't too disappointed and now Frosty graces our front yard.

Another knitter in the house!

With Mason now knitting as well, competition over needles and yarn has been stiff so another trip to "sit n knit" was put into action where Judy made a quick repair and Mason chose a beautiful red wool, cotton, acrylic blend and a pair of #10 needles so he could knit his own scarf. Whew, my scarf is safe for the moment!