Women's March

When I heard about the Women's March happening in DC, I was intrigued, but not enough to make the 10 hour journey down there.  I sort of, pretty much, hate crowds, but I felt inspired to do something, especially because I wanted Cally to see that she matters.

My dear friend Susan and I decided to make the journey to Montpelier with our girls.  Originally, we thought we had a minivan full of Moms and daughters, so when John asked if he and Hazey could join us, I said there was no room.  That didn't stop John.  He decided to join our friend Bill and his sons and do a boys carpool.

We put on our pink hats and waited in traffic for almost an hour. We took whatever parking spot we could find right off the exit ramp (they ended up closing the exit 15 minutes after we parked because of safety concerns) and walked to the march.

The march was so inspirational.  People were so happy and kind.  Cal loved reading all the signs (many of which should have been rated PG13) and we managed to find the boys amongst the crowd of over 10,000 Vermonters.  We were stunned to have Bernie Sanders speak, as well as a lot of other truly amazing role models.  I am so glad our whole family was there for this little piece of history happening before our eyes. I felt positive about their future for the first time in months. 

Happy New Year!

I love New Years.  It's all about "out with the old and in with the new", especially along the lines of holiday decorations.  One of my favorite traditions is watching the ginger bread houses burn in the wood burning stove:

Nana and Grandpa paid us a visit the weekend after New Years so we could celebrate Christmas with them.  The kids always love seeing their grandparents and couldn't wait to give them the gifts they had made (jam from Hazey and a necklace from Cally).

They also love getting the incredibly thoughtful gifts that their grandparents pick out for them:

Because most of the college students are home on vacation, we try to make it to our annual UVM hockey game.  This year, it was hard to drag Hazey away at the end of the second period (it was 9:30pm).  He loved following the action. 

The snow wasn't so great around the new year, but the temperatures were perfect for ice skating.  Gillet pond is the perfect place to skate.  It's a mile long and people come from all over to play hockey, get exercise, and just play.

We couldn't pass up another gorgeous day on the pond:

 

Hazey loves to play hockey, but we've been warned not to "go there" as a sport and fear what it might do to our lives.

Fortunately, his ice skating skills translated to some great roller skating when he went to a classmate's birthday party:

But, the cold temperatures eventually led to some great snow.

While the backcountry wasn't amazing, it's always wonderful to get out there for some exercise with my favorite ski buddies:

And these guys are pretty fun, too: