Vacation, Day 1

Last Monday we drove up to the White Mountains, where Andy's folks have a ski house. That was our base for our wonderful vacation week, which included lots of activities we'd never done before. After we arrived (and I started doing all that blessed laundry), we went into Littleton to Chutters, which boasts the longest candy counter in the world. I had taken Steph and Pete once last summer, but Andy and Julie had never been. The kids were out of their minds when we let them each fill a small bag with the likes of gummy brains, watermelon licorice, and neon ring pops. We rarely let them eat candy, so this was more than just a small treat. (We've let them eat only a few pieces so far and will probably disappear the rest. They have more fun choosing than eating, I think.) I contented myself with cherry Mike 'n Ikes, chewy sour cherry balls, dark chocolate nonpareils, and pink grapefruit chews; Andy got lots of black licorice and sesame candies. They also have every imaginable penny candy item from my childhood, including those juice-filled wax soda bottles, orange peanut-shaped marshmallow things, candy necklaces, and so on. Something for everyone! Oh, and they also have M&Ms in every color imaginable: dark purple, light green, white, pale yellow, teal, etc. Very cool.