Winter Break in Gilford, NH

It has been a fun winter break! Gunstock was a great destination for us. It is a big step up from the local ski spot, but manageable enough for all the kids. The kids took lessons yesterday which freed us up for cross country skiing. In true form, Adelaide made a friend in her class. Today they were off for the day together!

The staff here has been very helpful and friendly.  We especially appreciated the patience for the non skiing parents as we wrapped our heads around everything. The instructors were fantastic in their thorough reports.  John and I had some adult time at lunchtime both days. We had a leisurely time with a game and good beer ( Blue Moon and Angry Orchard).

John got out today for a drive down Memory Lane.  After asking assistance from an old timer, he was able to find the location of The Chanticleer--the former hotel-now condos that his family stayed at in his youth. Before we left home, we had watched some old movies of the Notte kids sledding down to the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee. John was able to find the same vantage of the lake.  That's the photo above.
With a tired crew, we are ready to go home to the latest snow storm--hurrah!

Oh and we forgot to mention our first night of tubing....what a ride, what a rush!  It was one fast course with creative thinking staff who were more than willing to show you the best take off patterns!

Skiing All Around

The adults enjoyed the snowy woods while the kids enjoyed the slopes. We stopped at the Tilton Diner on our way up-- part of the Common Man empire as John says. : ). So nice to have the mountains so close! We already look forward to warmer weather and some hikes!

A Last Nod

Miss Adelaide did a great job representing for one of our favorite blog spots: goodmorninggloucester.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/the-notte-family-represents-in-hawaii/

Rarely a day went by that we weren't checking out what was happening at home. It may sound trite, but I'm putting it out there anyway...

There are many beautiful places in this country, but none so lovely as our fair city and the surrounding Cape Ann.

And so ends our fantastic CA - HI adventure! Until the next one...

Home Again!

Geez! These east coast birds of ours just don't sleep in, do they?? Still, it's good to hear them and to sleep in our own beds.

Now that we're home it's time for the at-home summer adventures to begin. We have some tough decisions in front us-- such as what beach are we in the mood for today??! Or what favorite haunt shall we go frolicking at?? We hope to see many of you and share the adventure!

San Francisco Redux

Another wonderful day in San Francisco! We saw this beautiful tile mosaic sea serpent keeping watch at Children's Playground at Golden Gate Park. We spent the entire day at the park-- playing, people watching, pedal boating, enjoying music and just generally having a great time. We saw fireworks sitting on the beach beneath Ghiradelli Square complete with smiley faces and heart firworks--really!!!  We all missed the home show at Stage Fort Park though and "oohing" with the Boucher Family. Happy 4th all!! See you soon.

No Coconuts!

For those of you to whom we promised coconuts-- sorry! It's not happening. The local postmaster had a gazillion rules and the alternative was a kitschy $40 a pop variety from a gift shop. We really tried!! We're heading back to the mainland now...

Notte Family vs. The Pacific: Round 2

Score: Pacific Ocean 2, Notte's 0

Well, we're still trying! We had a great day at Hapuna Beach. We had sea turtles swimming past us as we boogie boarded in WARM ocean water. We had the monthly tsunami siren test at 11:45--we were in the know on this one thanks to our visit to the Pacific Tsunami Museum! And we had another herculean effort to stop the tide. We're at the Kona Brewing Company--a hot spot and a long wait.  The Growler take out at the entrance looks very tempting.  If only we had more time!