mobb hill romp

We have a common theme going on here: Tom and I playing hooky for fun afternoons spent in the snow. Bad habit? Not when there is over three feet of snow to run through and your neighbors happen to have "the day off" as well. The four of us drove out to Jericho, one of my favorite places lately, to trek through Mobb Hill. The snow was so heavy that it was stuck to the branches of all the trees which made for some added entertainment as you'll see in the photos below. Other than entertaining, the snow made for a perfect, beautiful Vermont day that made my qualms about moving back up here seem to melt away. No pun intended. Ok...intended.

Are all you city folk jealous yet? (My blog is secretly a brag forum for all my Vermont ventures if you haven't picked up on that. The photography is really just a front. So far no takers for a move up to the Green Mountains but if anyone knows me, I'm extremely persistent) :)


Joe pointed out this gorgeous apple tree absolutely draped in snow. That's Tom and Bear trucking along in the deep stuff.


Poor Kenz - Joe and Sarah are busy picking the snowballs off her little poodle fur. She's a tough cookie especially since her breed rarely sees the "real world" outside of kennel shows and grooming parlors. Ha!


Sarah gave this branch the slightest tug...and yes, that's Tom beneath completely frozen.



Yes, Tom is still in there.


Oooooo he looks cold.


Bear plods through our snowshoe tracks while Tom takes a breather on a nearby log. We bushwhacked our way off trail and managed some pretty tough terrain.


Off trail and through the woods looking for the river and waterfall. Never found it.


Tom's beard in 10 years....ok, maybe 30.


Perfect.

snowshoesnowshoesnowshoe

We have had the most amazing and incredible snowfall in Vermont so far. December proved to be the perfect month for the fluffy white stuff - so of course - Tom and I had to go play with our new snowshoes! We've been dying to get out and stomp around with Bear after the pitiful winters we had in Boston the past few years. On New Year's Day while everyone else in the world is nursing a hangover, Tom and I headed up to Niquette's Bay for a crisp morning in the woods. We linked up with a few other snow shoers along the way, Bear made a new girlfriend and we started off the New Year perfectly!



There's my handsome Tommy.



Tom, Jason, Sharon, and Eric on our latest excursion to the Indian River Reservoir.



Boscoe - the huge, 85 lb chocolate lab, has a jump like no other. We discovered it after hanging around the cliff jump at Niquette's Bay this summer.






Boscoe almost knocks Jason out of the way!



Tom taking a breather and soakin' it in.



A cute little snowman greeted us at Indian River Reservoir - grass skirt included.



My Bear racing along the footbridge at Niquette's.



What a gorgeous morning - I love it when the snow sticks to the trees - everything is so quiet.

big snow!

woohoo! We have had the most amazing early snow this year in Vermont. I've been begging for a solid snowfall for the past two winters and I've finally gotten three big storms leaving no less than one foot - amazing. Just last night as I was nodding off I said "I hope I wake up to a foot of snow tomorrow morning!" and sure enough, like a kid on xmas morning, I peeked through the blinds and found this (see below). Having a few hours to kill before tonight's New Year's coverage for the Free Press I decided to try out my new snowshoes and take Bear for a walk at Shelburne Farms. I've always loved this spot and I think it may be Bear's new favorite as we stomped around in the deep stuff for an hour or so.



Before we get ahead of ourselves, this is what greeted me when I came home from snowshoeing! HA! My awesome neighbors George, Steph and Joe built this big guy in my parking spot. And after laughing about this little prank, Joe and Sarah had some tasty french toast hot off the griddle for me. I love my neighbors - you guys are the best.



Here's my brother Todd and Bear in one of my favorite spots at Shelburne Farms.



Some frozen berries still dangle from this tree at Shelburne Farms. Yes, that's Todd and Bear off in the distance.



Tom and I took Bear along the Winooski River on Sunday and came along these stumps - looks like the beavers beat us to it!



Here's Bear at Shelburne Farms again running along the great arbor trail.



My two babes.



He got a real kick out of this trail.