Because we take our summer vacations in early in the summer, by the time our Thanksgiving mountain getaway comes along, we are more than ready for a break. This year, as always, was lovely.

Maybe one day we will rent a lonely mountain hut away from it all and hike for days, but for now ski resorts are the place to be. Our condo included lift tickets, bike rentals and access to the skating rink. Combined with a train ride on the Hobo Railroad and the visit to the Squam Lakes Natural Science Centre our stay was just what the doctor ordered.

This is the first year that Markus was expected to walk all the hikes by himself.

How did he do? Not too bad. By the third day he was pretty exhausted and Chris carried him for a while, but otherwise we were good to our word to not pick him up if he complains. He was busy enough picking up sticks to not ask more often than that.

Trevor and Owen really got into hiking and had a great time.

Though I am sure this is always true, this year in particular I feel that I have so many things on the go I can barely get the minimum done. I was reluctant to be away from the work and house for the four days but I was so glad to be able to spend this time with just my guys and none of the other tasks that I usually run mad with.