Visitors

I am not the only sad one in the house this afternoon.  Blizzie is on the bed in the guest bedroom and will not leave.  Zdeno looks at me with sad eyes and sighs.  Then he goes to the back bedroom and back to me to whine and sigh again.  So quiet.  My parents just left after their annual fall visit.  This is a visit I always look forward to with great anticipation and a visit that saddens me when they have to go.
They flew in last Friday night and we hit the ground running.  We had the family over on Saturday for our annual fall get together.  Food, family, and fun.  It is also a last time we can all get together before Art's folks head South for the winter.  Art's sister, four of our nieces and one nieces boyfriend stayed the night and we took a great hike over Pack Monadnock the next day.  A six mile trek with great vistas of the changing leaves.  It was a spectacular day.  It must have been 70 degrees out and was sunny and beautiful.
Monday we headed down to Boston to see our first hockey game of the year.  They weren't in our mini season package but they were playing the CO Avalanche so I thought we would all enjoy it since my parents still live in Colorado.  The Avalanche won 1-0 so Art and I were a little disappointed, but my Mom was pleased as punch.  It was another gorgeous day so we walked around for a while and saw some sights and went to Durgin Park for lunch.

Tuesday we didn't slow down but Art did have to go back to work as he had already taken off more time than he probably should have.  Fall is such a busy time, and especially this year for some reason.  My folks and I headed up North.  We hit the outlet stores in Tilton, then had lunch at one of my favorites the Yankee Smokehouse.  Best barbecue in my memory.  Then we did a little more shopping in North Conway before heading to our condo in Bartlett. 
Wednesday- the one day I had my camera :-\ we drove to the top of Mount Washington.  This is a mountain with 4000 foot rise in elevation.  It has some of the worst weather recorded, including a top wind speed of over 230 mph.  It was, again, a beautiful day though.  It is a mountain that is frequently enveloped in the clouds yet it was 54 and mostly sunny.  The clouds that were there were down below in one valley creating a stunning vista.
Thursday we shopped a little more and took our time heading home.  We then headed out again to ManchVegas to have dinner with Karyn and Ralph.  We went to Firefly Bistro.  A cozy little place in downtown Manchester.  It was good to catch up with them.
Friday we took a bit of a down day and walked Zdeno up to the Ledges here in Temple.  He was such a good dog.  We took him off leash once we left the road and he stuck right by us.  It does crack me up how he dashed up and down the marble ledge with ease yet he won't go up or down stairs.
Saturday was a rainy day so went to see a movie.  Footloose.  I hadn't seen the original with Kevin Bacon so I enjoyed getting the opportunity to see this one.  It doesn't strike me as a movie Art would see with me but we all had fun.  My Mom then made enchiladas for dinner- YUM!  Then we taught them the hand and (in?) foot card game.  Good day.

Sunday was the last full day and we had ambitious plans to go to Maine for the day.  However, it was a little windy and we were pretty tired from over a week of busy activity.  So we hung out in the morning and watched a movie on tv, played angry birds on the ipad and iphone, then headed over to Karyn and Ralph's for dinner.  We picked up some $4.99/lb. lobster at Market Basket on the way.  We had a great dinner and enjoyed sitting outside by their fire pit.  My Mom also picked up a cake from Frederick's Pastries for my impending birthday next week.  Great day again.

This morning we went to one of my Mom's favorites- Parker's Maple Barn for pumpkin pancakes before heading out.  Now, it's just me and sad little Z and Blizzie again.  I cleaned out the coop for a distraction and will get to work making up for all that I didn't accomplish last week but I did want to take a moment to secure my memories from a wonderful visit!  I can't wait for the next one :-)
Of course, all week, Zdeno got to play ball with his Grandma and Grandpa.  They brought him a bag full of tennis balls and he was in heaven.  Inside ball, outside ball, nonstop ball.  He is going to miss then most I think!