Tuesday, December 18, 2007

This morning I slept in a little longer. When I fell asleep last night, it was about 8:30. This morning, I woke up at 8:30. 12 hours of sleep! NOW I'm on vacation!! Well, it made it even more special when I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast (thank you Pilsbury!!!!)

After the nice warm breakfast, we decided to bundle up and explore the back yard of this house. When you first drive up, it looks so tiny from the front, but the downstairs extends down a slope which leads to a river. I'm sure it is so beautiful any other times but with nothing but white powder everywhere, it was amazing!!!

Not sure what is underneath all of the snow, we waded (and yes I mean that--the snow was above my knees!) out just a few yards. Of course I couldn't resist, so I plopped down on my back and made a snow angel...and afterwards found that it was difficult to get up to not 'mess it up'.

Not long after I figured out how to get up and away from the angel (no real damage done!) we wandered back up to the house, where we stepped out onto the upstairs deck. I bet it was beautiful naturally, but the snow enhanced it tremendously! The table outside was covered at least 1 food with snow, so it made for the perfect location for my first snowman! Well, let me clarify that--I have made snowmen before, but it was a Texas slush-man...not quite the same (but I was proud of him at the moment!)

The snow didn't pack together properly, so the snowman went from the plans of being tall to very small...about 6 inches high I think. But he was so cute, and I was so proud of him!

After the joys of freezing our hands while creating the snowman, we decided to make a drive up north to Stowe, a popular ski-town in Vermont. There is a hamburger joint there called The Malt Shop that Cary and his parents have eaten at before, so we decided to go there for lunch. Interesting combination--milkshakes in the freezing cold!

Stowe was a cute small town, very much unlike Lewisville and Dallas (in size, not cuteness--though the snow made it magical!)

After eating at the Malt Shop (hamburger, fries, and chocolate milkshake!!), Cary drove us over to the Cold Hollow Cider Mill and gift store. Cary loves this place because it shows how cider is made right in front of you. They even have samples to try!! The place was also full of items to buy, including candy, honey, candles, wall decorations, kitchen items.... I picked a cute wall plaque for mom with a snowman on it.

After walking there we walked across the parking lot into the Fudge shop...such a variety of fudge!!!! While there, Cary showed me a Gund beaver (Gotta Getta Gund!) that I couldn't resist buying. We later named it Svea, after the owners of the house we were renting for the week.

Of course we bought fudge. And I think it was gone pretty quickly. Wouldn't know why...

We were satisfied with our souvenier buying for the time and decided to head back towards Woodstock, but not without a stop at our favorite ice cream factory--Ben & Jerry's!!! They offer factory tours here, so we signed up. Cary's family had visited there before but never took the tour, so we took advantage of the opportunity, not knowing when we would be able to again.

It was a neat tour, starting with a short video of how Ben & Jerry started, and then we moved along to a room where we could watch the factory workers below 'make' and package the ice cream. It was interesting to watch because some would 'show off' and spin the stacked cups that were really tall...they really seemed to enjoy their jobs! The final process of the tour was taste-testing a bit of ice cream. The flavor of the day: chocolate chip cookie dough. Go figure--it was one I had had before!

After we finished the tour, the sun was starting to set, so we decided to skip the B&J's graveyard and head home. We decided to try our luck again at the East Ender, and this time, we were in luck--they were opening their doors in 15 minutes!!!

We sat down to a dinner that ended up being delicious--I had chicken with a sauce (I wish I remember now) and Cary had pot roast. He said his wasn't as good as mine, and I have to be truthful--I believe him. Mine was so good!!!!!

We made it home in time for us to sit down and watch the ABC Family movie called Snowglobe. I had been seeing the advertisements for this made-for-tv movie for a while and was looking forward to seeing it....too bad I fell asleep 30 minutes into it!