Capturing the Moment

  The last time I explored Bingham Falls from the Mill Trail I had a different baby on my back. You can check out those cute photos of Catalina here . It was shortly after we moved here and we were trying to explore all the cool spots nearby.     The Mill Trail is a lesser known hike to get to Bingham Falls. It is up near the notch, here in Stowe. The trail starts out high above the river through a beautiful forest. Some well constructed bridges help you cover some distance, before you are able to descend down closer to the river. The falls are actually a series of cascades that have carved a deep, narrow gorge through the rocks. It has formed plunge pools below each cascade.     This time around I had Dela in the backpack. Once we made it down to the river and the falls I took some long exposure shots with my iPhone. Someone showed me a trick of taking a photo of a waterfall in live view mode, then hitting 'long exposure' on the drop down menu. It turns the photo into this mis

 Today was a holiday for school, Junteenth, but summer camp was in its first day. So Catalina was busy with camp, Dela was doing her one nap a day, making it the perfect time for some special 'father son time' with me and Fisher. The Stowe gondola had just opened for the summer season, and I did renew my epic pass, so I scooped up Fisher to head up the mountain for a fun adventure.    The last time I was on the Gondola it was to get my last few snowboarding runs in before packing up the family for our winter move to Maui. It was a vastly different view today. The mountainside was as green as green can be. We stopped for a few fun jumping photos in front of the gondola before heading up.  Fisher getting some mad air  Once we got to the top, I wanted to go explore the steep trail leading up to the top of Mt Mansfield. I didn't expect Fisher to get very far but it was like he has turned into a little mountain goat all of a sudden. Not only did he do a great job scrambling up t

 I try to do this short and sweet hike a couple times a year. It is called the Sunset Rock hike, and starts right from beautiful downtown Stowe. You can see one of the last times I did this hike with my other daughter, here: Sunset Rock with Catalina .  This time my hiking companion was even younger, Dela at one a half years old. She happily rode along in the hiking backpack that has carried my kids so many times over the last five years.   We had the trail to ourselves on this beautiful morning. The temperature was in the low 60's, just perfect for hiking. The view from sunset rock was beautiful as always, especially with the early morning sun shining down on the buildings. Off in the distance we could see Stowe Mountain Resort, where we do our skiing in the winter. Now it is covered in green, as is everything here in Vermont at the moment.    The hike didn't take us too long, but I still managed to work up a sweat. It is another benefit of carrying a baby on your back.. a lit

Well what do you know, the Blue House is blue again! The kids were very excited to head over to Grandma Nancy's. They remembered all about the garden, the wooden planks in the pasture used to make an obstacle balance beam course, and of course the chickens!  We had such a nice time here, visiting the playground, walking down the bluff, and just enjoying some laid back time at Isle of Hope. Grandma had lots of books ready to read to the kids, which is one of their favorite activities.  All three kids and their Grandma Back yard fun Fisher found my old train set and loved it Just like old times On one of our many walks, exploring the neighborhood It seems like just yesterday it was me doing this I still can't believe he stretched out enough for this She made it to the top. My mom and my daughter  

   After two plane rides, the kids were ready to switch up catching crayfish in Vermont, for catching alligators, frogs, and fish in Savannah. Babu was up for the challenge. Every morning he would take them on a 'morning safari'. Off they would go on the golf cart, loaded up with snake bags, fishing poles, and many other contraptions.     This was the trip that Catalina and Fisher really got into fishing. Catalina was able to pull in a big catfish all by herself. And while checking out an entangled heron, Fisher pointed out a big water snake right next to Babu's foot!    Both kids were hyped up for gatoring. We had a big crowd this time with all the boys (Special, Dennis, Jay, and Sriravong, plus all their famlies). We had three full golf carts and still had a walking group. It was a huge success, complete with the muddiest alligator catch of all time. David did a great job being the one to eventually jump on it and wrangle it so we could tape the mouth shut. Then almost ev