Road Trip: Spring in Mt. Washington Valley

every spring we are called to the white mountains. it is my favorite time of year to visit this area of new england. the skies are bright, the air is crisp and the weather is never too cold or too warm. the black bears have not awoken from their winter slumber just yet. the land is so peaceful right before its bloom. the morning of our departure the stomach bug reeked havoc on my little one. delaying our highly anticipated road trip. with a lost day and a not quite himself baby boy we made our way north. i get totally stressed when our little one is sick. the feeling of helplessness it has over a mother is consuming. but, once we arrived kingston was excited to be on a new adventure and the much needed change of scenery was welcoming.   

the next morning we woke early ready to get outside and explore, but our little boy was not. his stomach was still not right and kept us in for the next few days. is it just us or do kids always seem to get sick at the worst times. it was a bumpy start to our holiday and we had to adjust to crankier than usual toddler.

our first hike of the week, if you can call it that, turned into someone wanting to turn back about a half hour into the trail. i wanted to press on and he wanted no part of it. we ended up enjoying a slow walk back to the truck. unfortunately, the next few days were rainy, so the pool, little shops and st. patricks day celebration kept us busy.

keith and i were so thankful our scheduled dog sledding day wasn't until later in the week. the weather was good and everyone was feeling tip top by that point. what an amazing experience. the muddy paw sled dog kennel is awesome. the location is beautiful and they care mostly for unwanted sled dogs. my kind of people. some of the dogs stories are heart breaking, but the kennel gives them a second chance and a renewed purpose. you even get to meet the dogs and help pick your team before your ride through the forest. our musher, brianna, is super passionate about her job. her excitement and extensive knowledge about the dogs is incredible. we absolutely recommend checking them out. 

the weather and toddler cooperated through the rest of our trip. and we were able to get in a few miles in on the trail. my little adventurer was back to his ambitious self and excited to trek up a mountain to check out a frozen waterfall. if we return this summer i will had to repeat the walk so he can see arethusa falls in motion. and maybe next time i will remember to snap a family photo when our little guy actually has his eyes open.xo, beth-ann 

2015 Providence Children's Film Festival

over president's day weekend we originally had plans to head north, but with the anticipation of another generous snow storm we opted to stay closer to home. feeling a little blue about our circumstance i wanted to make our few days together special. keith regularly only has sundays off and this weekend he had not only saturday off, but monday as well. i search the local papers and sights for something new, interesting and fun for our family, not an easy task seeing it is the coldest month of the year in new england. i claimed victory when i stumbled upon the providence children's film festival. we recently have been allowing our cub to view a little boob tube and how fun to see a children's movie in my favorite little theater the avon. the film festivals webpage made it super simple to find appropriate viewing by categorizing everything by age group. we found two movies that i knew our family would enjoy, song of the sea this weekend and okee dokee brothers through the woods: an appalachian adventure the following week. 

friday night i put the whole house to bed early, since we had a full day ahead of us on saturday. starting with the winters farmers market in the a.m., song of the sea in the afternoon, a late lunch at johnny rockets and then home for pizza making and adult beverages for the grow ups. the day, even though it was busy, it was the good kind of busy… in a fun relaxing way. song of the sea was magical. the animation was beautiful and the sweet story strummed on all emotions. i definitely had to wipe a tear or two away at times. 

 

 

 

 

 

the following week we packed the cub and the cousins in the car and headed back to providence for a night of fun. music, movie, flat bread pizza for dinner and a late night snowy walk. the boys had a blast and kingston could not be happier when his big cousins are around. somehow i got my husband to agree to this and a sleep over. he is so patient and willing to go along with my crazy ideas. i'm a lucky girl. the okee dokee brothers hiking the appalachian trail playing music, learning new songs, about new music and being as silly as boys can be really made these kiddo's night. there was much to talk about over breakfast the next morning. 

 

 

xo, beth-ann

Date Night In: Encouragement, Yes!

this past friday night i dragged my husband to a three hour couples yoga class. keith wasn't convinced this was a good idea and made me promise that we could bail two hours in if he was not feeling it. i agreed to the compromise, but had all intentions of ignoring his cues to jump ship. he ended up loving the class, time went by super fast and there was no shortage of giggles (keith could not resist the opportunity to quote the movie couples retreat "encouragement, yes!") i have been waiting patiently for a gentle partner yoga class to come to our area. i think it makes a great date night alternative to dinner and movie or dinner and drinks. this class unfortunately is not offered regularly so i thought a yoga date night at home would be easy enough to pull together. besides most of our date nights are spent at home anyway. here is all you need.

no. 1 easy to follow yoga book (with pictures), dvd or yoga youtube playlist / no. 2 mexican yoga blankets / no. 3 lifefactory water bottles / no. 4 madewell tee and ae joggers

xo, beth-ann

Remembering Paris

every year around this time i think of our trip to paris in hopes to return someday. several months before leaving i read an article about taking vacations and how the human brain responses to time off of work. the article contained a study (every article i tend to read always has a study) about what really makes people happy about going on vacation. the results were people enjoyed the anticipation of going away even more so than the vacation itself. in conclusion, the article recommended taking several shorter vacations throughout the year verses one longer holiday. the idea of serval shorter vacations is novel, however, for the budget traveller it is not ideal. prices of flights and gas keep this traveller on the longer less frequent holiday schedule. what we do practice from the article is maximizing the anticipation period by making an appropriate themed date nights out of planning and listening to fitting music several weeks before leaving. edith piaf was played quite a bit before, during and after our time in paris. the best part is now when i hear her music it brings me right back to that blissful vacation state of mind. you can check out our whole paris adventure here: paris calling

xo, beth-ann

Winter Walks: Sachuest Point

several weeks ago, when our winter was still on the warm side we jumped in the car, picked up my nephew ben and headed to middletown, rhode island for a short afternoon hike around sachuest point national wild life refuge. the sun drifted in and out of the clouds as we walked, spotted light houses and collected treasures on the shore. the wild life refuge is wonderful place to bird watch, exercise and take in the beautiful views that surround you on all sides. their visitor center houses rest rooms, info about the area and even a cute frog in a observation tank. here are a few photos from the day. the quality is not so good, because i forgot my camera so we used our iphones.

 

 

where is your favorite place to spend time outside? i would love to here from you. sachest point was a great recommendation from a friend and we will be definitely heading back soon.

xo, beth-ann
plan your trip: sachuest point website