Thanksgiving continues to come at a depressing time of year, right around when the first cold snap and 4:15 sunsets collide to remind you that our collection of seasons includes a particularly nasty one. Last year we had plans to go to New Hampshire but Bugs was not doing well and we were not comfortable leaving him alone so we canceled.  Bugs is now in “Cat Heaven” along with Oscar and Tyrone.  There were a few more questions on the details of their interactions in Heaven but I am now deferring these to Cristin who seems more comfortable impressing Judeo-Christian myths on their young ears. This year Cristin planned a fun trip which started with a stopover in Wellesley for the usual Thanksgiving meal. I actually felt that there was some regression this last year versus prior years in terms of the children. We have gone from kids at the table to kids at a nearby table to kids in the kitchen and I felt that every holiday they were furthering their independence which resulted in us enjoying more of our meal and adult time. This year there seemed to be a lot of pestering, at least until aunt Maura got smart and started the Grinch up on TV. After dinner we had a few nice rounds of port and I got to enjoy playing the newly-tuned piano. I also discovered a new personal tradition which is requesting the chocolate croissant from Quebrada when Peter puts the order in for breakfast the next morning.  It is outstanding.

After breakfast we hit the road and drove straight to North Conway and checked into the Red Jacket.  I had spent a bit of time in North Conway, at least four or so Christmas time ski trips in the late 1980s but I barely recognized the place.  Much has been built up since I was last there.  The Jacket is as I remember it but they have added an indoor water park.  We hit the park after checking in and Phoebe immediately went into her anxiety mode when she saw the water slides.  I really feel for her because she puts a lot of pressure on herself and does not like to let herself or, as she perceives it, her parents down.  Ellie on the other hand relishes with little subtlety any moment when she elects to do something Phoebe will not.  As she was not yet 48” tall, this mean that I was to ride the water slides with her about 20 times over the next hour and a half while Phoebe pretended not to notice.    After finding that dining in North Conway is a challenge on a Friday night we ended up at Elvio’s Pizza which was greasy but good.  We watched Star Wars back in the room and tried to have lights off in the kid’s loft around 9 but the giggling and whispering continued long after 10.

We slept in on Saturday and left in time to try and catch a hearty breakfast but lines out the door at every restaurant led us to kickstarting the day with a dozen munchkins.  We took the road up through Jackson on the east side of Mt. Washington and arrived at Santa’s Village just as it opened.  This place is really out of the way and apparently only we and roughly 1,200 families from the western suburbs of Boston know about it.   The park is more or less entirely outside so we geared up with full snow outfits.   Phoebe was starting to get some ride anxiety after foregoing the roller coaster but we were rescued when she won a small game where she was allotted a prize.  I could see this was not sitting well with Ellie but fate intervened and Phoebe’s choice of a stuffed animal from the cheapest bin meant she could get two and thus we ended up with two happy kids toting blue and pink owls made from various carcinogenic materials.  Ellie drove us around a track in an antique car which caused me to wish silently for autonomous cars to be fully functioning, if not required,  before February 7, 2027.  After lunch we arrived at a ride called the “Himalaya” which was just a bunch of cars that go rapidly around in a circle, causing you to get squished against the outside wall.  It is actually similar to the G-force machines used by NASA and featured in one of the Roger Moore Bond films.  I wish I had recorded Phoebe’s face as she analyzed the ride for potential scary factors.  “Too fast” was her main concern so I timed it for her and we determined that the cars were only moving about 12 mph.  I explained to her how this was actually slower than her bike and didn’t bother explaining about centripetal acceleration and we loaded up together, her on the inside.   The constant acceleration was actually enough to bother me but Phoebe was thrilled and mostly just proud that she had done it.  After this, she had renewed vigor and did not turn down any of the subsequent rides which included two more rounds on the Himalaya, both with Ellie.  We headed home and caught an excellent dinner (pizza again) in at Mountain Fire Pizza in Gorham which was full of Santa’s Village folks on the way back to North Conway.

Sunday we woke up early to hit the waterpark before checkout and Phoebe marched right up the stairs to the beginning of the water slides.  I caught a slight moment of hesitation but she loaded up with me and the moment we hit the pool she demanded another ride.  The tide had turned on Ellie as Phoebe was old enough to ride all four slides and ride them alone. Thus began another hour for me going up and down the slides, this time with Phoebe. Cristin Zillowed real estate as we drove out of North Conway but by the end of the trip, four hours in the car with one stopover at McDonalds, she had lost interest.  Overall we had a great time and I think this is a good tradition to keep. I was proud to see Phoebe overcome some of her fears, if only for the giddy joy she gets, as any of us do, when she does something that frightens her.