This summer was for the birds!!!!

So, I have never been one to be into bird watching all that much, but this summer we were able to watch a mommy robin raise some babies from start to finish right outside of our window.  It was a pretty amazing experience.  We first noticed the mommy robin in late June working diligently on her nest.  Literally, the nest is about two feet out of our dining room window….right at eye level in a lilac bush.  After she finished building the nest, we deduced when she had laid her eggs by noticing that she was sitting in her nest more often than not, and only leaving for very short periods.  Before you know it, voila, we saw two little teeny baby birds poking out of the nest.

Momma robin working hard to build a nice nest for her babies.

Sitting on her eggs.

Feed me!!!!!

Eyes still closed...but mouth wide open!!

Getting stronger everyday!

Mom sure was busy hunting and gathering food for the babes ALL DAY LONG!!

In about a week and a half, they were really cute and looking almost grown up!!

At the end of two weeks, these big guys were ready to go!!!

The amazing thing about all of this is how quickly the process went.  Within two weeks these little guys were born, raised, and out of the nest!!!  Another thing we noticed was how hard this mommy bird worked….back and forth all day long feeding her little whippersnappers.  All the little ones did all day was keep their beaks open for food!!!  The rate of growth and development was fascinating to watch and it was a great little home science experiment for the summer time!!!!

My NH Hiking Adventure

So, I couldn’t put it off any longer….I finally gave in and went hiking this past weekend.  Chris and Max have become quite the hikers and I have, up to this point, been able to avoid this one particular activity.  Max had climbed more peaks in his 5 years than I had in close to 40.  But, it was a beautiful day, and I had nothing else to do or nowhere else to be, so I joined the boys on their hike up Mt. Kearsarge.

Now, Mt. Kearsarge is by no means a large mountain by NH standards.  It is almost 3000 ft.- half the height of Mt. Washington.  But, it is a nice hike, located in Warner, NH, and has a fire tower up top, a bald peak, and a wonderful view.  You can get there by taking 89 North and getting off of Exit 10.  There are three ways to get to the top….one way is by going halfway up by car, and then taking a nice walk up the rest of the way.  The other two ways include a 1.1 mile, very rocky steep trail, and a 1.8 mile more gradual and less rocky trail.  Now, left up to me, I would have chosen the riding up option.  As anyone can tell you, driving up to the top of Mt. Washington is great….a lot less work, and still a wonderful view when you get to the top, but of course, I had no such luck.  Hiking the whole 2900+ feet was the task of the day.  So, we decided to go up the hardest one, and then save the easier, albeit longer, one for the way down.

Yes...I climbed up that....the rockiest steepest part of the trail!

I’ll spare you all the gory details, but suffice to say, I am glad that my jaunt up the mountain was not documented by a recording on any sort of digital device….we just have pictures that caught all the positive moments!  I actually did fine on the way up, and the view from the peak was wonderful!!!  It really was a beautiful day, and it was extremely fun to watch Max.  Max is a natural….running and bounding up the rocks without so much as tripping.  He reminds me of a little mountain goat.

We made it!!!  Is my face a little red there???

To be honest, things got a little bit sketchy for me on the way down.  I should have eaten more before heading up, because I crashed like the Hindenberg.  My legs got really weak, I was dizzy, and I was slow as molasses on the way down!  But…….I made it!  And although it was very physically challenging for me, it was a fun and extremely enjoyable family activity!  Not sure if I will do that again any time soon…hiking just really isn’t my thing……but overall, I think I did pretty well for a first timer!!!

Chris and Max at the top of the world!!!  Well, not quite, but you get the idea!

Everything Irie in Jamaica Mon!!!

One of my favorite vacation spots is Jamaica!  No worries, mon….this is the overwhelming sentiment of the Jamaican people.  It is why I love Jamaica so much….the people are wonderful.  They are super nice, always smiling and singing, and don’t seem to have a care in the world.  They are very laid back, and seem to embrace stress free living!

At the Ritz Carlton Rose Hall, White Witch Country Club, Montego Bay Jamaica

If you ever visit, and if you are in the Ocho Rios area, you definitely need to climb Dunn’s River Falls…..it is the thing to do!  You actually climb up a waterfall.  We did this on our first visit to Jamaica, which was our honeymoon over 15 years ago!!  A local will guide you up…and it is very funny because they will hold your cameras for you while you make your way up, and they take your picture.  They can just climb up with no hands….like mountain goats bouncing from rock to rock, with 20 cameras hanging off them…and not one stumble or drop!!!!  Meanwhile, you need both hands and steady feet to make it up…it is quite an experience and really fun!

This past April, we stayed in Montego Bay, at the Ritz Carlton Rose Hall.  This was a trip that Chris earned through work, which was an all inclusive, at a top notch resort!  If you are ever able to stay at such a place, do it!!!!  Great food and drink, beautiful rooms, and the royal treatment!! 

Huge suite!

Lounge at the resort

The Beach at the Ritz, Rose Hall

Rose Hall is a great attraction to take in while in Montego Bay.  Rose Hall is an old plantation….that is supposedly haunted!!!  You can tour the house, and there is a great golf course there called the White Witch.  The White Witch has a country club with a great restaurant that has an awesome view of the ocean and you can catch a beautiful sunset in the evening!!!

This pic is almost complete....missing the fruity frozen drink!

News from Niagara

Max and Chris with the American side of the falls behind

Well the last weekend in August was family trip time!  We usually try to take one major, long weekend trip over the summer….taking advantage of a Friday and Monday with no school!  Last year, we hit NYC.  This year….Niagara Falls in Ontario Canada!

After finally getting my passport back after renewing it…one week before our trip, yikes…..we headed out on Friday the 27th.  It is a pretty long ride from Concord NH…8-9 hours, depending on the number of stops of course.  And with an 8 year old, and then me…a woman with the bladder the size of a thimble, the trip actually took us about 10 hours.

We made an overnight pit stop on Friday night in Rochester NY and stayed at the grand Double Tree!  Our trip started off with a bang…or a fire alarm, really…at 3 am Saturday morning.  Poor Max….quite upsetting for him…and just really obnoxious for the rest of us!  Turns out, it was all just a false alarm, thank God…….and after returning to an unsettled sleep, we rose early and were out to Ontario, another 1.5 hours away, by 8 ish!

After waiting a bit at the border, we were at Niagara Falls and in our hotel room at the Embassy Suites by 10:30!  Talk about early check in…we walked in on the housekeeping supervisor who was checking the room!  Thanks to Chris and all his travel, we get to stay at all these great Hilton hotels for free usually!!!

The Incline and the Embassy Suites hotel

Unfortunately, we were unable to snag a falls view room….it was an extremely busy weekend, but it really turned out okay…how often are you really in your room anyway?  Not often for us….we just sleep and shower there!
After checking out the hotels reservations/tours desk, we decided against the 5 hour $129.00 per person tour (Pretty pricey to have to hurry up through tours and wait on buses for people who are always late getting back!!!)  and headed into town to check things out ourselves.

What we found for a deal instead was AWESOME and I highly recommend it…….get the “Adventure Pass” through the Niagara State Parks.  For 40 bucks a piece (less for Max) , you get admission to 4  great attractions:  The Maid of the Mist, Journey to the Caves, Niagara Fury, and the White Water Walk.  You also get to use the people mover transportation for 2 days….you can take advantage of the bus to drop you off and pick you up at all the stops every 15-20 minutes or so, and the “Incline” which helps you not have to walk up and down a huge hill from hotels to falls.  The Adventure Pass also had all kinds of coupons in it, reducing the prices of admission to other things….like the Butterfly Conservatory and food/beverages around town.  Awesome deal……and all three of us had access to 2 days worth of activities, for what would have cost one of us for 5 hours!

The Maid of the Mist is SO GREAT!!!  Another recommendation of mine!!!  You have to go on it if you are ever in the area!  It is so much fun, and it is truly amazing to be so close to an amazing natural phenomenon….and yes….wear your poncho….you will get soaked!!!  And…get there first thing in the AM….9:45 for the first boat out.  No line… and lots of room on the boat to move around…..otherwise, you are packed in like sardines and wait in line forever!!!
Journey Behind the Falls is fun too…..you take an elevator ride down over 100 feet, then walk through a tunnel system under the falls, where there are two portals to look out of and see the wall of water rushing by you, and an outside observatory deck right next to the bottom of the falls.  Pretty cool…and yes….more ponchos required!

Sardines on a boat....

Get there early and have plenty of room!!!

Niagara’s Fury is a neat attraction and recent addition to the Falls area.  It is really great for kids.  It takes you on a 4D animated adventure as to how the falls were created over time.  Probably not good for really small kiddos under 5—very loud and a bit scary, but the older kiddos will love it.  And yes….more ponchos!!

We also went on the White Water Walk.  You need to take the bus to this attraction….it is a bit further North along the Niagara River.  You get to head down to the river bank to walk next to the Class 6 rapids, which are the fastest and most dangerous in the world.  You are not allowed in the water to white water raft…although they tried that…..and people died…so, ya, no more of that!  But hey…. no poncho required this time!!!

Max the nature photographer

View of Horseshoe Falls from Journey Behind the Caves

Beautiful

View while on the Incline