Girls Trip!

About a month ago my mom threw out the idea of a girls trip in Vermont for a long weekend. How fun right? Well, when I think of girls trip after living up north for the last year I think of Florida, not Vermont! I am not one that really loves the cold weather, in fact I talk about how much I hate it quite often. But, needless to say I was all in, with the kids in tow, of course. 

The trip itself almost didn't happen. Our house was plagued with a nasty bug that started the Sunday before and ran its course through all of us until the day before we were to leave (which I eventually spread to every single girl on the trip except one, sorry guys!). Not to mention the girls coming from Florida missed there flight out of Orlando to Vermont. A little too much time spent at the Chilli's airport bar if you know what I mean. And the snow gods decided to dump a few feet of snow off the day before we were supposed to leave. But it all ended up working out.

Since we are down to only one vehicle my lovely mother rented us a car for the weekend. Let's just say I will never be an owner of a Toyota Corolla. So I loaded up the kids and all of our things and started our 5 hour drive. Thankfully my kids are the best travelers. We filled up on treats and within an hour they were both off counting sheep.

My Aunt Jackie was nice enough to lend us her house in Vermont. She spends a few months there getting away from Florida's heat. Her house is the perfect vacation getaway.

A shot of her house nestled in the woods. 

her beautiful barn that's usually filled with her horses

where else can you use vintage snow gear as decorations on your wall?

yes, it was that cold

 Now I've never driven in the snow before really. Everyone was warning me on how to drive on icy roads, over bridges, through the snow, blah blah blah. How different could it be? Well, I found out very quickly as I was trying to push that Corolla up a snow-filled hill getting to the house.

first try up and I slid all the way down. i quickly needed  back up

he was so excited to play in the snow when we first got there he jumped right in.

My Aunt Jackie has a basement full of winter clothes. As we were all gearing up for our romp in the snow the following day, she found this sweater and said "I think this could fit Norman." He saw that sweater and was all over it! I personally think it's hideous (no offense) but he was just too cute in it, I couldn't say no.

We got to visit the Vermont Country Store. Apparently it's a must when you visit. They have the most delicious samples of every cheese, fudge, chocolate, and jam you can imagine. They also have these awesome vintage toys that everyone admired and took a walk down memory lane saying, "remember when you used to play with that?"

One of the days we took full advantage of the fresh snow and made a snow man, snow angels, and raced down the hill on our sleds.

another classic out fit pulled from the basement. i don't know where she finds these things. her youngest son is in his 30's! notice the plastic bags covering the shoes. who wants to spend money on snowboots for a weekend?! not me!

Last but not least, we enjoyed our last day snow tubing at the gorgeous Okemo ski resort. My poor mother was having her turn with that nasty little bug that I decided to pass onto everyone so she stayed snuggled up inside next to the fireplace with Claire while we all hit the slopes. Norman was quite brave and head down the mountain all by himself. He was in heaven. Although, he was quite fond of those younger kids taking ski lessons and kept asking "what are they doing with sticks on their feet?". Next year maybe.

The last night we had the pleasure of eating dinner with family from Vermont that we rarely get to see. Also, a sweeping gust of snow came out of now where just as we were leaving the house.

i've seen snow fall before, but never like this. i was so excited i had to take pictures

A special thank you to my Aunt Jackie for hosting us. She's pretty amazing.

I think we should make this an annual event. What do you think ladies??