A Real Vacation

 Marathon Monday is also Patriot's Day in Massachusetts and is also the start of April Vacation here. The schools don't have a March spring break, but instead have a week off in February and one off in April (we also get out much later!). Scott took the week off of work and we spent half of it doing marathon and tourist-related stuff, so we took the other half to get some real family time. We headed to North Conway, New Hampshire, in the White Mountains. We found an awesome cheap hotel that had a small indoor waterpark, free breakfast, and even nightly activities for kids. We went for a hike each day, then followed it with swimming and playing.

Our first hike was to Glen Ellis Falls along the Appalachian Trail. We picked short hikes that weren't too tough because Phoebe doesn't do well with long distances and Oliver doesn't like to be in the hiking backpack for much more than a half-hour. Glen Ellis Falls met our requirements and even had a 65-foot waterfall to check out. Success.

 This is near the trailhead where it goes beneath the highway. There was still snow piled in there. We were next to Mt. Washington, the tallest mountain in the state, which still had plenty of snow on it and a bunch of tough skiers trekking up it.

After our hike, we stopped by the depot in town. There was a playground next to it, so between the playground, the trains, and a nearby construction site, Oliver was over the moon. This is way better than Disneyland (and cheaper).

We ended up going for a train ride on our last day there, but this is Phoebe posing for yet another photo. She loves the camera.

On Friday we hiked to a place called Diana's Baths. There were waterfalls big and small all around and I was wishing it was a bit warmer so we could get in. 

 The kids loved this hike.

After our hike, we went to a McDonald's that was next to our hotel. The kids saw it when we first pulled in, saw that it had a PlayPlace, and went nuts. This particular McDonald's also had a skiing theme, so we sat in a gondola lift to eat lunch...

 ...and then played on the indoor playground of course!

 Saturday morning we hiked to Echo Lake. "Hiked" is a strong word here. We walked a few hundred feet, had a sword fight with sticks, and walked back to the car. We also went on our train ride, which I thought Oliver would love. Instead, he had a fit and fell asleep.

We stopped at this lovely place on our drive back to Boston.