Fall in the White Mountains

Hello all! I thought life would finally slow down for me last week. Unfortunately, my daughter came down with what I thought was a cold while we were on a mini vacation in NH. A few days after we got home I realized she wasn't getting better. In fact, what she had didn't look like a cold at all. (I had my suspicions but I didn't want to say them out loud) I took her to the doctor this past Friday and my suspicion was right - she has pneumonia. She's not so serious that she needs to be hospitalized. I think it's safe to classify this as walking pneumonia, which her brother has had twice. She's just not bouncing back as quickly as I thought she would. If you can say a little prayer for Emily I'd appreciate it. I'd like to see her back to her normal school and after school activities routine soon. I know better not to push it, but we all need to get our lives back to normal.

My husband went back to work last Tuesday. Can you hear the angels singing? He's been put on light duty for the time being. Light duty at full pay is better than collecting workman's comp. This couldn't have come at a better time. Things are starting to get really tight for us.

The kids and I took a mini vacation to the White Mountains in NH last weekend. My husband stayed home because he had surgery to remove the screws from his ankle the week before. It was a beautiful weekend in NH. The temps were freezing cold in the morning and evenings but pleasant and sunny during the day. We always stay in a family cabin. The accommodations are free and the food is amazing. We shared the cabin and with my sister and BIL, my nephew and his girlfriend. My sister and I always take turns making home cooked breakfast and dinner for the group. The cabin is rustic and heated with a big wood stove and fireplace. Our bedroom, which sleeps four, is in a loft. It was so hot in the loft that we slept with a window open even though it was 30° outside! On Saturday we drove to the North Conway outlets hoping to find some bargains. The bargains were no greater than if we'd shopped locally but it was still nice to get away for a weekend. We saw some pumpkin people in North Conway, but not as many as we saw last year. We also attempted to do some letterboxing at the Mount Washington Hotel but we couldn't find the box. It was so cold and windy up there that we really didn't spend much time looking for it.

My daughter Emily was our official photographer for the weekend. These are a few of the pics she took over the weekend.

This is Emily with a pumpkin person outside a bookstore. That's my son Adam peeking in the back. I took this pic.

We spotted this guy on our way out of North Conway. He was walking around in front of a costume store.

A pumpkin angel.

A pumpkin family doing their gardening at the Covered Bridge Gift Shop in Bartlett, NH.

Yours truly, taken outside the Covered Bridge Gift Shop.

Oooh. Ahhhhh. The pretty view on Rt. 302. This was taken through the windshield on our way back to the cabin.

The Mount Washington Hotel 

We pulled into this hotel to search for a letterbox. Usually we admire it from afar as we drive by so it was a treat to see it up close. It was very cold and windy when we got out of the car!

This a view of the hotel from one of the trails where the letterbox was supposed to be. Like I said, it was very cold there. We didn't stay for long.

We spotted this family playing a jumbo game of chess on the lawn of the hotel. What gets me is they don't even look like they're cold. Maybe I'm just a wimp. I wonder if this is how Em developed pneumonia. She'd been complaining of a sore throat and said her chest hurt that day. She wasn't dressed warm enough (bad Mom) and I'm sure the wind didn't help things.