New Hampshire Vacation Day 7

Our last full day in New Hampshire.  It was a little chilly still and since everyone had so much fun letter boxing we decided to do it again.  We found one that had more than one letter box you had to find.  Two were missing, but it appears other people had the same problem.  It was still fun none the less.

View of the mountains

CJ liked this car

Had to have his picture with it

Natalie and CJ at the start of the walk

It's a fitness walk

Natalie doing the fitness challenge

CJ doing the fitness challenge

Kaitlyn doing the fitness challenge

Found the first letter box

Just a mini box

Moving along

Heading back

 After we did that we decided to stop on the way back at some of the shops to do a little shopping.

Tried to get a picture of the 4 kids in front of this old fashioned car

3 modern age kids with an old fashioned car

 Then it was back to the house to prepare a boat that Joe had made to set out to sale.

Joe's boat with a few sacrificial <strike>lambs</strike> toys taking a ride

Natalie went out into the river to send the boat off

Floating down the river

It's going to hit that rock

Maybe not, looks like it wasn't going to make it far though

On our way back Alyssa looking at a flower

Here, want the flower?

Natalie is such a good big sister, giving her brother a piggy back ride.

And that was how we spent the last day.  The next day we packed the car, but the fun wasn't over.  We made a stop on the way home.  Check back later to see what we did before we made it home.

Black Rock State Park and Letterboxing

Last Friday we went with some friends to Black Rock State park for some swimming, fishing, and letterboxing. We had a great time. After we swam in the lake we split up into groups. The "men" and Natalie went fishing, while the "women" went letterboxing. I had never done letterboxing before so Kaitlyn and I were just along for the ride. And what a bumpy ride it was...

The fishing group

The letterboxing group

Marybeth and Kaitlyn following the path

Marybeth and Mikayla reading the clues

Searching for the first box. We couldn't find it

Onto the second box

Walking through the deep dark woods in search of these boxes

Stopping to rest and read the map

The view from the top of the mountain. We went through a lot to get up there

Kaitlyn and Mikayla resting at the top

Kaitlyn getting ready to head down the mountain

It was a very difficult hike and a very exhausting day, but we had lots of fun. The girls are very interested in doing letterboxing now too. I just hope that we can find ones that aren't so physically demanding. We had a very nice day with friends though.

Week in Review: July 19 - July 25, 2009

Here is this weeks Week In Review for July 19 - July 25, 2009

Sunday: A nice lazy Sunday. I got up before everyone and enjoyed a quiet morning. The kids got up and I fed them breakfast. Joe got up and got ready for work. The kids and I just hung around until he came home. I made dinner. Washed some laundry and cleaned up the kitchen. We put CJ to bed and then the girls stayed up watching TV with us. They went to bed and we went to bed a little while later.

Monday: I got up before everyone again. Had a relaxing morning. Fed the kids and then went to swimming. It was the girls first day in their new levels. They did great. After swimming I had to get a prescription and pick up a few things at the grocery store. We did that and came home for lunch and put CJ down for a nap. Then we just hung around the house. I made dinner. A little while after dinner we put CJ to bed and played Yahtzee with the kids. After that they went to bed and I did the swimming laundry. Joe and I stayed up late. I finished up the laundry and went to bed.

Tuesday: Today was Joe's birthday. I let him sleep in. I got up with the kids and got them breakfast. It was a rainy day and pretty chilly. The rain was coming down good and there were threats of thunder so I decided to skip swimming. Instead I cleaned the apartment. After that the kids had lunch and Joe stayed home with CJ while I took the girls to the library. We got a couple of books and then went to pick up a few things at the store. We came home and I had something to eat. Then my landlord's mother came over to talk to me and give me a gift. She didn't stay long thankfully. Joe had to get ready for work. He left for work and CJ got up from his nap. I made dinner. The kids were acting out so they all went to bed early. Joe came home from work and we enjoyed a nice quiet house.

Wednesday: Got up early to bring Joe to work. We dropped him off and then came back home. Had breakfast and got ready for swimming. Brought the girls to the pool and my girlfriend came and dropped off two of her kids for me to watch for a few hours for her. So they ran around the patio of the pool and told me how cute CJ is and then the girls got out of swimming. We went home and I made them all lunch. The girls showered while I was doing that. I fed the kids and they played some games. Then my friend came to pick them up. I talked to her for a few and gave her some clothes for her youngest and sent them on their way. Then I went to pick Joe up from work. His replacement was late so I ended up having to go inside to wait for him. We got him and went to pick up some soda that was on sale. Then we went home. I did some laundry. We had dinner. CJ went to bed and the kids stayed up and watched TV with us. Then we sent them to bed. Joe and I stayed up watching some TV before going to bed.

Thursday: I was up early. Enjoying some peace and quiet. Everyone eventually got up. We had breakfast and got ready for swimming. When swimming was over we came home for lunch and decided to go berry picking. We invited some friends to come along. Everyone showered and then we headed out. Got lots of yummy fruit and had lots of fun. Then we decided to go to the drive in. So we said our goodbyes to our friends and then went to the store to pick up some snacky stuff. Then headed to the drive in. Stopped at a pizza place for some dinner and headed off to the drive in. Watched Ice Age 3 and The Proposal. Enjoyed both movies. Got home very late with some very exhausted children and mom and dad. Everyone went straight to bed.

Friday: Another early wake up for me. Slowly everyone got up. Joe decided he wanted to call out of work. He wanted to take the kids swimming at a lake and fishing. So we invited our friends from yesterday and they wanted to join us again. So we had breakfast and packed up all the stuff we were going to need and some lunch. Then we left for swimming lessons. After swimming we went and bought worms and then headed to my friend's house to pick them up. We went to the park. Had lunch, swam, and then split up. My girlfriend, her daughter, Kaitlyn, and I headed into the woods to go Letterboxing and Joe, my girlfriend's significant other, their three boys, CJ, and Natalie went fishing. I was not prepared for what we got ourselves into with the letterboxing. We hiked up the side of a very hilly very rocky very steep mountain which was made worse by the rain the night before. We only found one out of the 6 boxes we were looking for. At least we found that one though. We found our way out of the woods and to the fishermen/girl. Everyone was pretty much ready to go. My friend had to drop off her daughter off with her father and her significant others son off with his mother. But we decided we didn't want the fun to end. So we made plans to go out to dinner. My girlfriend dropped everyone off so they could shower and took the two children to their other parent and we went home to shower. When my friend was ready we met up with them to go out to dinner. We went to Chilis and had more fun. Although, the kids were very tired and it was very late. And then I did have to argue with the manager about something, but I did get my way. We departed and came home and the kids went to bed. Joe and I went to bed shortly after as well. I had another big day planned for Saturday and needed to be up early.

Saturday: Got up at 7 and was afraid if I went back to sleep I wouldn't wake up in time. Another friend was picking me up at 8:30 so we could go to a PTA convention. So I got up and cleaned up the kitchen and threw a load of laundry in the wash. Joe needed his pants washed for work. I got ready to go and before I knew it my friend was there. The whole house was still asleep. I ran to tell Joe I was on my way out and that his pants were in the wash all he had to do was dry them. And left. Had a great time at the convention and was very excited by what I learned. We unfortunately had to leave before it was over though because Joe had to go to work. I got home just in time. I had a few minutes to talk to Joe. He forgot to do the laundry. All he had to do was throw it in the dryer and it was for him, but he left it until it was too late. Luckily he had something to wear. CJ got up from his nap and Joe left. I was stuck with a very crabby little boy. I tried to please him, but nothing was working so I put him to bed because all he was doing was screaming. He fell asleep. I cooked dinner and then woke him up to eat. He was fine for all of 10 minutes before he began screaming again so I changed him and put him to bed. He fussed a little, but eventually fell asleep. I wonder of the lack of napping the past two days was finally catching up to him. I stayed up and worked on some pictures and waited with the girls for Joe to get home. Shortly after Joe came home we sent the girls to bed.

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