Family Weekend White Mountains About This Page:

[BostonTeaParty]

We spent this past weekend in Thornton, NH (near Waterville Valley). My DH's sister lives there with her family. I have a mini-trip report I want to post, but I'm having to fight both DS's and DH for the computer today. I will post it later this evening. I'm typing very fast to try and get in as much info. as I can before I'm attacked!!

Anyway, just a little pre-info. Last year we started a tradition of a weekend get-together at DH's sister's house. DH and both of his sisters got married in the same year, and last year we all celebrated our 15th anniversary together by having a big family party. We had such a blast we decided to make it a yearly thing. It includes our children which only adds to the fun.

I'm going to try and include a few photo's. They are large and when I try to reduce the image size the photo becomes a bit distorted.

Okay, gotta run...under attack...aaaaarrrrggggghhhh

Nanc [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[ 08-12-2002, 03:27 PM: Message edited by: NancyW ]

[PS - I LUV WDW]

Can't wait to hear all about it! We love the White Mountains!

[BostonTeaParty]

Finally got the computer to myself, here's our weekend trip report.

On Friday night, August 9th, my DH Paul, our two sons Paul and Chris, and I, headed up north to the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire. My husband has two sisters. One lives on the Cape, the other lives in Thornton, NH in the White Mtn. region. Starting last year we decided to have a family get-together each summer. It started last year as a celebration of all three couple's 15th wedding anniversary, but we had such a good time we decided to make it an annual event.

We couldn't have picked a better weekend weatherwise --- we had sunshine and hot temps. (high 80's low 90's) all weekend. Paul's sister and her family live on a HUGE tract of land (I mean acres and acres). Four tents were already set up out in the backyard for the kids. We arrived pretty late Friday night so the kids headed straight out for the tents and got settled in. They still managed to stay up even later. There's nothing like getting together with your cousins to get everyone worked up, laughing and having fun. We heard lots of shhh-ing from various tents and muffled giggles, but eventually things quieted down.

Everyone was up and about by 9(ish) on Saturday morning. My SIL Jan (from the Cape) was making french toast and pancakes for everyone, assisted by her daughter Katie. These pancakes were incredible!! [img]graemlins/yuma.gif[/img] She added plenty of fresh berries (blackberries, raspberries and blueberries) that were bursting with juice and just delicious. While she was hard at work, the adults poured fresh hot coffee and sat on the porch talking and waking up. The view from the porch is just breathtaking - mountains in the distance and bird feeders hanging from the posts. Even a nectar filled hummingbird feeder...those ruby throated hummingbirds are just so pretty. And high overhead hawks were soaring and circling. No matter where you looked there was something amazing to see.

After breakfast we were all joking and chatting away, getting caught up and just relaxing. The kids were in the yard riding around on the quad (ATV) and having a great time. Finally, we all piled into our cars, three Caravans (a caravan of caravans) and headed up to Franconia notch. We had a few extra kids in our car as the cousins decided they wanted to ride together. So in addition to our two boys, we had Nate, Becca, and Kerrie. We made sure the kids kept their eyes peeled for "The Old Man of the Mountain." The Old Man of the Mountain in a natural stone formation on the side of Cannon Mountain, that gives the appearance of an old man with an easterly gaze, 1200 feet above Profile Lake, and is the symbol of the state of New Hampshire. Our kids didn't believe us, they thought we were joking when we told them to watch for him. Becca and Nate, who live nearby, assured them it wasn't a joke and pointed it out to them. They were amazed and thought it was pretty cool.

Shortly after we passed by, we reached our first destination of the day, the Cannon Mountain aerial tram. The tramway brought us to the 4,200 foot summit of Cannon Mountain in approximately 8 minutes. On a clear day, we were told by the tram operator, visitors enjoy views of the mountains of New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Canada, and New York. Fortunately for us, it was an almost perfectly clear day. At the summit there are walking paths, an observation deck, cafeteria, and restrooms. We took some stunning pictures along the walking path. One of the pictures that I took of the kids with the mountains behind them, is so impossibly beautiful, the background looks fake.

This is running a little longer than I thought it would. I have to stop for now (I'm nodding off at the keyboard). I'll try to get back to this tomorrow.

[ 08-12-2002, 11:57 PM: Message edited by: NancyW ]

[BostonTeaParty]

A couple of pictures to go with the report. First, my SIL Bev's home in Thornton, NH. It's like Little House on the Prairie,isn't it?


For those of you who've never seen him, the "Old Man of the Mountain."

[BostonTeaParty]

The kids atop Cannon Mountain. Clockwise from left in the Red Sox cap is my son Chris, then Katie, Becca, Kerrie, my son Paul and Nate is front and center. In the background the scenery is so beautiful it looks fake. The picture is big, but I did shrink it some. When I tried to resize it smaller it became distorted. I think I have to change my camera settings to take smaller pictures. Hey, I'm learning.
[img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

Nancy

[Bert & Sully]

Great stuff Nancy! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]