The hills are alive with the Sound of Music...

Not only did we get off the island, we got out of the country!  In around an hour and half from home we were on the US border headed to Stowe Vermont. 

My very dear friend in NYC told me about the Trapp Family Lodge and being a Sound of Music loving family, we had to go and visit.  

The Lodge was built by the original Von Trapp family and they still run it today.  There are lots of Austrian touches and the walls are full of Sound of Music memorabilia.  The resort is beautifully run and there are many activities including a kids club, yoga, snow shoeing, cross country skiing, indoor swimming pool and collectively we had a go at it all!

Stowe is a really lovely little town which we enjoyed exploring.

Luckily the other bears are still asleep...

The weather has been warmer so Baby A's baby prison has been down graded from maximum security to minimum security!  While he may not look it in this photo, he's actually quite happy with his new suit.  He can actually move his arms around!

Stowe is also home to the Ben and Jerry's Icecream factory!  This place was a hit with everyone!

Enjoying the free samples at the end of the tour...

Other highlights of the trip included filling up the car for .84 cents a litre instead of $1.38 and saving $30 each on spring boots for the kids!  

It was really nice to get away and do lots of fun things together.  I really appreciated a few days off cleaning, cooking, washing etc...  This was my first trip to the USA and I enjoyed having a positive, relaxed introduction to the country.  We see and hear a lot of crazy stuff about the US in media so I was pleased to see it's not all like that.

xx