Madd Max Hike Foss Mountain

View from the top where an evening picnic was had.

These were also had, picked along the way.

Wine and farmers market cheese.

Storm moving in.

Family selfie.

Pages.

The easy trek back.

And upon arriving home, a rainbow.

And Max's great joy - an evening of people to play One Night Werewolf with.

Madd Max Does Chocorua Things

Madd finished up her stool for her new room.

Barn time - of which there is always a lot.

The 45 min trek to find ice cream because apparently ice cream in NH is hard to come by.  Tamworth to Ossipee to Chocorua (a negged phone call to Conway) and finally Freedom!  (As in the city, not the emotional release upon having actually found ice cream).  The homemade ice cream was almost worth the drive, and Max's cone ended up 75% inside his body.

Madd Max Finally Get Some Rain

Amen for rain - also 18 years of marriage!

Maddie called it, "hot rain."

Sam in his natural habitat.

Uno with the boys.

And the sky, no filter, after the not-so-much rain.

Madd Max Have A Lake Day

The Panama crew now celebrates with Sam's cinnamon rolls instead of cakes, so some vegan (for Gwen) and non-vegan rolls were made for birthdays.

The temperature was in the muggy 90s, so some lake time was needed.

Swimming out past the lily pads.

Followed by a canoe ride.

Manned by Max and Gwen, which involved very little canoeing in a straight line.

Adults chillax-ing in the shade.

Madd Max Play Heart And Soul

All the time.  Almost every time the piano was walked past.  Which is a lot of times.

Madd Max Hike To Heron Pond

Another pristine morning at the lake.

The hike starts right in back of the house.

And leads to the pond.

Like father.

Like son.

Gwen caught a toad and brought it over to the area where Maddie was viewing tadpoles.

Madd Max Settles In With The Cousins

But first, a stop at Maddie's latest passion, farmers markets - in this case, the Tamworth Farmers Market.

In a haul that would have made Mimi proud, Maddie came back with Egyptian onions (the entire thing of which can be eaten), fresh eggs, homemade goat cheese in oil and herbs, crumb cake and a watercolor painting.

The Egyptian onions in with Taisie's flowers.

Max and Simon begin work on the lego Titanic.

More present opening for the new 13-year-old.

Maddie and Gwen in Taisie's studio, working on stools.

Max and Simon biking to the bridge.

Sam chopping down trees, and making them into firewood.

Super nachos.

Family dinner.

And best of all - the Panama crew celebrates their first vaccinations!

Slappy Tears It Up Again

Having come across an old blog post (click on link to compare), Maddie felt inspired to recreate the dance of her 5 year old self.

Madd Max Are Reunited

Awaiting the arrival of the Panama crew.

A little reunion Heart and Soul.

And a celebration.

For Gwen on her 13th birthday!

Madd Max Hike The Big Pines Natural Area

Hike Entrance.

Please note, Max's tick prevention outfit complete with everything being tucked into everywhere.

The hike started on this pretty bridge.

Duck lips on - ready to start.

Beautiful New Hampshire.

The hike ended at this fire tower.

360 view.

Mt. Chocorua.

FTW!

On the way back, the fam saw some wildlife.

More wildlife.

And this final creature, later referred to as the Giggle Monster.  Max has that sweet, sweet blood that the mosquitoes and flies love.  His anti-tick outfit did not provide coverage for all of these areas.  A solution was improvised.

The mating dance of the Giggle Monster.