cabin camping

This weekend we went camping for the first time as a family of three. We slept in a cabin, not a tent, which was a very good thing because there was (surprise!) a good amount of snow at our destination. The adorable one-room cabin had a roomy front porch and was furnished with a wood-burning stove, beds, a table and chairs. We went hiking, goofed around at the camp site, and on Saturday afternoon, the little guy and I went for a road trip to Williamstown, MA while the Cydermaker went fishing on his own.

We were surrounded by the beauty of nature all weekend long, but the only half decent shots I managed to capture were a series of photos of the kiddo chomping on the dregs of a bag of Doritos. In my defense, it was the most entertaining part of the trip. Can you tell that he enjoyed himself?

Yeah. Pretty disgusting. But kind of funny too.

Oh. And if you were hoping to find something crafty today, join the toy makers on their journey to Australia and fashion yourself a paper kangaroo or a dizzy koala.  Gotta love free paper toys!

right foot red

We had a very nice family ski weekend in Stowe, Vermont with the Cydermaker’s parents and siblings. We hit the slopes Saturday and Sunday while the kiddo hung out with his grandparents. They had a great time—lots of toy shopping and breakfast-time cake eating. You know. The usual grandparent stuff. I didn’t get any photos on the slopes, but I did catch this Grandpa/Grandson moment on the porch.

One highlight of the trip for me was sitting around with Grammy and City Auntie learning about how this amazing dress was constructed. See that gorgeous gal in the photo below? That’s our very own Adventure Auntie and she and Grammy made that dress for her senior prom. I don’t have the time to delve into the actual story of the making of the gown, but I thought I’d share a picture because it just blows me away. I can’t imagine working with twister board material. (This scanned photo does not do the dress, nor its model, justice. And–yikes!– I don’t have time to edit the scary red-eye. Apologies, especially to Adventure Auntie.)

The weekend flew by and before we knew it we were heading back home. The little guy was screaming his version of “are we there yet?!!!” an hour into the four hour trip. That’s when we gave him the thing that we said we’d never give him again. Ahhhh. Much better.

And then we were finally almost home.

We are hosting a little St. Pat’s Day party for our family this weekend. I did a little crafting for that last night and will share the goods next week. Just something small (tiny, actually) and goofy for folks to take home with them.

I am thinking of doing a post on how to make those photo silhouettes I used on Grandpa’s Beer Bag. I’ve had three people ask. I am pretty sure there are other tutorials out there in crafty blogland for this sort of thing, but I could give you my slightly varied take on it. Is it worth putting it out there? Let me know what you think. Either post a comment or send me a quick note at acyder at gmail dot com.

Did I mention that I have a brand-new, beautiful niece? I’ve booked my first flight as an Auntie and will get to hold that sweet thing soon!