Summer in March

Who'd of thought it would reach 85 degrees in March!  Yep, it's been downright summery here in Vermont for the past five days.  While it's wonderful to be able to go outside without jackets or socks, it's also weird.  For those of us that live in Vermont, we expect gray or snowy days throughout March.  We assume our ski passes will be utilized through early April.  In fact, we usually plan on a spring skiing day on Easter!  I'm pretty sure we haven't seen the end of the gray and snow, but I do think the days of skiing this season are numbered.  For that reason, we seized the opportunity and made some fun turns on Saturday. While Cal and I skied the sweet corn, John and Hazey offered some great encouragement.  Mom and Dad even got to ski some turns together because of a wonderful posse of friends (Thanks Anton, Amy, Colleen, and Adam!)

 

 On Sunday, we opted from some sidewalk time on the scooter and some fun in the sun up at High Meadow. 

 Since the naps never really happened on Saturday, we decided to make that a priority on Sunday.  And while the kids snoozed, I picked up two grocery bags full of dog poop, John raked, and then we cleaned the cars.  A little friend came down to join us for the car cleaning part when he woke up:

A day in the sun is not complete without a stop at the Country store for our first Maple Cremee of the season.

Since we didn't ski on Sunday, the kids and I decided to join John and a group of Outing Club students to honor Avi on Monday afternoon at Bolton.  After loading the kids and ski gear, it turns out Bolton is closed for the season and the chairlift wasn't running.  Cal had her heart set of skiing, so being the committed ski/adventure parents that we are, we hiked up the mountain.... Hazen on John's back, Cally on my shoulders, skis in hand (I decided to forego my skis), we hiked half way up the Timberline lift.  The snow was soft and not easy to turn upon, but Cal was gung ho to go for it.  Dressed in her new favorite dress, she was off-- even skiing through grass to get to the next span of snow.  Who's going to deny a gung ho 3 year old from a skiing adventure,especially when she feels so at home with any conditions.

 But, these warm days don't come without their draw backs........ Folks who rely on sugaring (maple syrup) are finding the takings much lower than normal and the dirt roads around here are horrendous!  Below is a picture from a friends road in Lincoln, VT..........

This afternoon, I had the opportunity to take part in an absolutely beautiful event.  UVM had a memorial service for Avi Kurgonoff.  John spent the day with his family, driving them to the places that Avi loved (the Mad River in Waitsfield for kayaking and Bolton Mountain for snowboarding).  John bonded with Avi's Argentinian grandmother, aunt, and cousins.  He couldn't wait to introduce them to our children (because they have a bunch of red heads in their family).  After a truly amazing service, I felt like I got to know a truly amazing 20 year old.  A guy who was generous in so many ways, wise beyond his years, and lived life to it's absolute fullest.  After the ceremony we all gathered together in the sunshine, with amazing views of Lake Champlain, where his family played music and celebrated Avi's life.  The family truly solace in playing music together-- and Hazen seemed pretty into it too.  Below he is enthralled by Avi's dad's harmonica playing!