Capturing the Moment

     Winter Challenge is on! Luckily, where I live turns into a winter wonderland at the end of every year. This year we are off to a great start. Stowe, Vermont is a quintessential New England small town. The church dominates Main Street, Christmas lights are everywhere, and the mountain is covered in fluffy, white snow. One of the biggest draws of Stowe for me is the outdoor community and all the activities that are available. At this time of year you could switch between skiing, snowboarding, cross country skiing, and snowshoeing.    I've been hitting the slopes in the mornings, trying to beat the crowd and advance my snowboarding skills. But now, with the kids out of school, its time to get them on the slopes. Today was our first day as a family, so we kept it easy. It was a blustery, cold, snowy morning, but the kids did great. We started with a run on the magic carpet, then the older two took to the adventure triple lift with Heidi. I stayed for a few more...

 What an amazing, non stop trip we just had to Savannah. Dela, Fisher, and I just spent a week staying at the Blue House, and hanging with Grandma Nancy, Babu and Nana, Lea and David, and all the Boys as well. We had lots of morning walks on the Bluff, playground visits, a big boat ride out towards Wassaw, aquarium time with crab catching, and pool time. Fisher and Babu caught a ton of fish, including a big striped bass. We went to the Pirates House to see the infamous tunnel leading underground to the Savannah River, where pirates used to shanghai drunk patrons to join their shorthanded crews. We watched trains and built legos, finished puzzles and collected eggs.     We had good animals as well, with some close, big alligators, tons of frogs, a box turtle, some deer, and even a big water moccasin (cottonmouth) snake that we caught and relocated out at the Ford. One of the coolest animal moments was Dela's very first alligator catching night. At two and a half years...