Monday, December 08, 2003
Last night was Drew's birthday party ~ he turned seven of course on December 2. What an exciting time for him - he got to go on a ski trip the week before for Thanksgiving vacation at Stratton and this week has a huge snowstorm and a party to boot. Wow. It was pretty fun, though Matthew needed an awful lot of attention. It was such a tiny place - the airport cafe - that there was literally no room for Matthew to run around and play. Next year we will get a babysitter certainly. The cake had fudge inside! YUM. Sandy, the restaurant owner, was really good with the children corralling them from one activity to the next and it looked like she had done this many times. Drew truly had a Lego kind of birthday - nearly every kind of toy was a Lego product - including many Bionicles. What could be better for this boy?? The Keyl kids were there along with the Rose kids, from the bus stop we had the Riley kids Samantha and Zach and also Andrei. Thomas Haller was there along with the Lukasik children 'the racers' Tyler and Jakob, and Gintas Paradie, Jenna Barton and Chris. Jenna is having her birthday party next week at One Stop Fun in Westford, MA. I never had my birthday parties in a different state growing up! Neat memory for her. As I suspected, Drew received some Bionicles which he already had at home, including some he received at the party which replicated the other, actually he opened them right in a row- the red Toa of the Bionicle series. I had discussed with him the possibility of receiving something which he already had and how he ought to act, so it was kind of funny to actually see him receive the red Toa from Bethany and Gabe and then from Jenna. Melinda, Jenna's mom, had indicated to me that she bought it at Kmart and they take returns very easily. That evening when discussing Drew's options with him, and including the possibility of giving some of the extra toys to the needy children for Christmas, he did something which I didn't expect. Not only did he offer to give a toy to less fortunate children, but he offered to do the same with the second toy and the third. I asked him if he was sure about this and he said yes. What pride and joy I have for this child! I told him so many times how proud I am of him and hope he is also proud of himself. I also told him I will ask Santa to bring him something extra special. Of course I already know he is going to receive something of the most special variety (to Drew) - the Lego set he has been coveting for ages - a rather expensive set called the Dragon Fortress. How I wish I could give it to him now! Nothing like seeing your children make compassionate choices towards others.
The Stratton holiday was good - nothing like being in Vermont to do my spirits good. It is hard not to relax in VT - even just driving from the back side of Stratton to get there. Such memories ~ on Thanksgiving day I was still catching my breath from planning the trip in the last three days and packing so much stuff for Drew, Matthew and myself. John packed his own things! It is nerve-wracking taking a baby in the car anyhow, so my nerves were still a little raw and I savored down time in the condo just relaxing by a fire deep in the woods while Matthew napped, on Thanksgiving Day. John is eager for me to join him out on the slopes but Matt does not take too well all the time to strangers, so I am leery of leaving him with strangers to ski. I may try, though, for there is nothing to lose, for there is a ski ticket included in our condo. In fact we received four ski tickets! John took Drew over and got him signed up for lessons and then joined him for ski time afterward. It was a good day to ski. Later the boys joined us at 4:45, and we dressed up a bit nicer for our holiday meal, buffet style, at the elegant Stone Chimney Grille at the Stratton Mountain Inn. Years ago in 1991 while visiting Chicago for a wedding of a college friend I happened to be strolling a neighborhood one Saturday am before the wedding with another friend and happened upon quite a find - an actual mink stole for ten dollars. I have been wanting to have an opportunity to wear it and rarely have I had the opportunity to wear it. But I wore it to Thanksgiving dinner that evening - that very brisk evening up on the mountain. Neat. I wanted to have a photo of the four of us to capture the memory of our special elegant dinner but forgot the camera in the condo about a mile away. But Matthew needs many things at that time of day so I was not about to send John back to the condo to get it. Taking care of the boys' meals, I didn't have much time to check out the lovely food, and didn't even have time for the traditional turkey! I believe it was my first Thanksgiving without eating turkey. That's okay. the lovely hostess who was so cordial and gracious to us kept calling me Mrs. MacKenzie. She must have misheard my name at first when we arrived to take our reservation and I kind of liked the sound of it and didn't correct her!
Friday it rained all day and night, unfortunately. It actually let up at times, enough for John and I to take turns skiing. The other stayed with Matthew. Drew was such a trooper - he wanted to keep skiing even though it was pouring down rain at lunchtime. I had just signed him up for a lesson for the afternoon, Kidskamp, which is indoor playtime and also ski lessons. But when it began to pour, we immediately went to try to get our $ back. He was so disappointed. He would have gone out skiing and never let it bother him. That night it began to get windy and howled all night and then the next day snowed all day. Wow, what wild weather to get in one weekend - the whole gamut. It was SUPER to go to bed listening to the wind blow and howl so wildly, being right there in the thick woods. I wished for snowshoes and the whole mountain snowy so I could have taken Matthew in my backpack for a walk in the woods, but this early in the season it was pretty green still. Maybe later in the winter.
Sunday came and we were busy getting ready to leave. Sad to leave this condo which worked out so nicely for us. The shuttle to the base worked out so well, since we had one car. The boys skied in the am and came back for a late check out at 2, then we headed into Manchester to see the Equinox Inn, an inn I had passed by each time my family drove into or out of Manchester. It is quite big, colonial white with shutters and lovely. Elegant. Anyhow, I had seen on a morning program on TV a while back a mention that this was one of several inns in the US to be considered haunted. Things have been seen and heard there, mostly seen. They have seen rocking chairs rocking by themselves. We stepped inside, since Drew is at the age in which he is fascinated by ghosts and such. I happened to mention to one gentleman standing nearby that we had come to see a bit. I inquired, I do not know why, about which room number was haunted. Not only did he tell me, but he offered to be our tour guide! Well, we were right on it. He took us up to 301, and also 250 and 350 were also haunted, as well as just a few others there. He took us to 301 which is a two level suite and it was neat. He said about 1 in 10 guests makes a 'complaint' or observation of sightings there, even though the inn staff do not volunteer any info about the ghosts upon check in. If asked, of course, they will answer questions. He showed us the mirror where a gentleman was standing at the sink and saw a figure looking back at him in the mirror. Drew was taking all of this in. I think he had the impression that ghosts are all bad and mean and very scary. The more this gentleman told, the less frightened Drew got. He kept saying 'I am not very scared now.' He showed us a conference table in the suite at which chairs are often pulled out, even though no one has allegedly been in there. He says some of the female housekeeping staff refuse to go in alone to this room. He said often where the housekeeping staff in there, they open the blinds and before they are done in there, the blinds are pulled so apparently the ghosts like the room dark. He said often when he is leaving the inn to the parking area in the back, he looks up to this room's window and sees a light on, when there is no registered guest there, and the lights should be off. He told of so many stories that I could not possibly remember. But these are highlights. That was pretty neat to see Drew experience this personal tour of a "haunted place."
More later! ~Mary
The Stratton holiday was good - nothing like being in Vermont to do my spirits good. It is hard not to relax in VT - even just driving from the back side of Stratton to get there. Such memories ~ on Thanksgiving day I was still catching my breath from planning the trip in the last three days and packing so much stuff for Drew, Matthew and myself. John packed his own things! It is nerve-wracking taking a baby in the car anyhow, so my nerves were still a little raw and I savored down time in the condo just relaxing by a fire deep in the woods while Matthew napped, on Thanksgiving Day. John is eager for me to join him out on the slopes but Matt does not take too well all the time to strangers, so I am leery of leaving him with strangers to ski. I may try, though, for there is nothing to lose, for there is a ski ticket included in our condo. In fact we received four ski tickets! John took Drew over and got him signed up for lessons and then joined him for ski time afterward. It was a good day to ski. Later the boys joined us at 4:45, and we dressed up a bit nicer for our holiday meal, buffet style, at the elegant Stone Chimney Grille at the Stratton Mountain Inn. Years ago in 1991 while visiting Chicago for a wedding of a college friend I happened to be strolling a neighborhood one Saturday am before the wedding with another friend and happened upon quite a find - an actual mink stole for ten dollars. I have been wanting to have an opportunity to wear it and rarely have I had the opportunity to wear it. But I wore it to Thanksgiving dinner that evening - that very brisk evening up on the mountain. Neat. I wanted to have a photo of the four of us to capture the memory of our special elegant dinner but forgot the camera in the condo about a mile away. But Matthew needs many things at that time of day so I was not about to send John back to the condo to get it. Taking care of the boys' meals, I didn't have much time to check out the lovely food, and didn't even have time for the traditional turkey! I believe it was my first Thanksgiving without eating turkey. That's okay. the lovely hostess who was so cordial and gracious to us kept calling me Mrs. MacKenzie. She must have misheard my name at first when we arrived to take our reservation and I kind of liked the sound of it and didn't correct her!
Friday it rained all day and night, unfortunately. It actually let up at times, enough for John and I to take turns skiing. The other stayed with Matthew. Drew was such a trooper - he wanted to keep skiing even though it was pouring down rain at lunchtime. I had just signed him up for a lesson for the afternoon, Kidskamp, which is indoor playtime and also ski lessons. But when it began to pour, we immediately went to try to get our $ back. He was so disappointed. He would have gone out skiing and never let it bother him. That night it began to get windy and howled all night and then the next day snowed all day. Wow, what wild weather to get in one weekend - the whole gamut. It was SUPER to go to bed listening to the wind blow and howl so wildly, being right there in the thick woods. I wished for snowshoes and the whole mountain snowy so I could have taken Matthew in my backpack for a walk in the woods, but this early in the season it was pretty green still. Maybe later in the winter.
Sunday came and we were busy getting ready to leave. Sad to leave this condo which worked out so nicely for us. The shuttle to the base worked out so well, since we had one car. The boys skied in the am and came back for a late check out at 2, then we headed into Manchester to see the Equinox Inn, an inn I had passed by each time my family drove into or out of Manchester. It is quite big, colonial white with shutters and lovely. Elegant. Anyhow, I had seen on a morning program on TV a while back a mention that this was one of several inns in the US to be considered haunted. Things have been seen and heard there, mostly seen. They have seen rocking chairs rocking by themselves. We stepped inside, since Drew is at the age in which he is fascinated by ghosts and such. I happened to mention to one gentleman standing nearby that we had come to see a bit. I inquired, I do not know why, about which room number was haunted. Not only did he tell me, but he offered to be our tour guide! Well, we were right on it. He took us up to 301, and also 250 and 350 were also haunted, as well as just a few others there. He took us to 301 which is a two level suite and it was neat. He said about 1 in 10 guests makes a 'complaint' or observation of sightings there, even though the inn staff do not volunteer any info about the ghosts upon check in. If asked, of course, they will answer questions. He showed us the mirror where a gentleman was standing at the sink and saw a figure looking back at him in the mirror. Drew was taking all of this in. I think he had the impression that ghosts are all bad and mean and very scary. The more this gentleman told, the less frightened Drew got. He kept saying 'I am not very scared now.' He showed us a conference table in the suite at which chairs are often pulled out, even though no one has allegedly been in there. He says some of the female housekeeping staff refuse to go in alone to this room. He said often where the housekeeping staff in there, they open the blinds and before they are done in there, the blinds are pulled so apparently the ghosts like the room dark. He said often when he is leaving the inn to the parking area in the back, he looks up to this room's window and sees a light on, when there is no registered guest there, and the lights should be off. He told of so many stories that I could not possibly remember. But these are highlights. That was pretty neat to see Drew experience this personal tour of a "haunted place."
More later! ~Mary
