Barry returned from San Francisco safely having had a successful trip. He said the visits to the various hospitals and health institutions were excellent and illuminating and he felt like he learned a lot. His final day in San Francisco was dedicated to sightseeing and he had booked a trip to Alcatraz. He was somewhat unlucky to find the day overcast and wet, bearing in mind California had been suffering a five-month drought! However, he soldiered on and thoroughly enjoyed the day. Below are some photos from his San Francisco experience, ending with the aeroplane being de-iced at Chicago airport before continuing its flight to Boston.

Chinatown in San Francisco

The Golden Gate bridge

Alcatraz

The San Francisco sky line from the bay

Alcatraz

A typical cell

Former inmates

De-icing the plane!

San Francisco may have been experiencing a rainy drought but the snow and freezing temperatures continued in Boston. The weather was so cold that the snow and ice wasn't melting and was just accumulating as more snow fell. It did enable some excellent snowman building though, as witnessed by this marvellous example discovered on our way to Rachel's violin lesson. It also meant that the pavements and roads were getting narrower as the cleared snow was piled up at the edges and some monumental icicles were forming.

The schools have a week's break in February so, as mentioned previously, we planned a few days in each of New York and Washington DC. We left by train early on the Wednesday morning, Barry having returned from a couple of days in Cincinnati late Tuesday night (he's such a jet setter). After a day of more snow on Tuesday we were relieved that Barry's flight had made it in to Boston and that the trains seemed to be running as normal.

Amtrak is the USA's inter-state railway service, the equivalent of UK services such as Great Western. However, unlike the UK rail services we were unable to reserve seats in advance so it was a bit of a bun fight at the station to find somewhere for all four of us to sit together on what was already a busy train. It was like boarding an Easyjet flight! Thankfully, we managed to find four seats together and sat back to enjoy the four hour journey from Boston to New York via southern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Jersey. The sun was out most of the way and we had some glorious coastal views through Rhode Island and Connecticut. It was also fascinating to see how white the landscape was still from all the snow. The journey would have been perfect had we not been held up in Providence, Rhode Island for around 15 minutes waiting to rescue the passengers of a broken-down New York-bound train just ahead of us. Somehow, Amtrak managed to turn that 15-minute delay into an hour-long delay by the time we arrived in New York.

Anyway, we arrived in New York's Penn Station and found ourselves a yellow cab to take us to our hotel which was close to Central Park, just around the corner from Carnegie Hall. The girls and I had never been to New York before and Barry just the once, six months ago with work, but the crazy traffic, the honking horns and the neck-twisting sky scrapers all seemed very familiar from the very many films and TV programmes we have watched over the years.

We dropped our bags at the hotel and headed straight for the Empire State Building to make the most of the reasonably clear skies. Our pre-booked tickets allowed us to jump the ticket queue and head straight for the security check (one of many we would go through over the next few days) but there was very little in the way of queues anyway. We enjoyed the walk to the lifts to take us up to the 86th floor observatory (the decor and surroundings bore a worrying resemblance to Disney's Tower of Terror ride), taking in all the art deco decor, and then flew up to the observatory level in a super-charged lift (quite a bit faster than the one in Porthcawl's Co-op - those of you who have experienced the Co-op's lift will know what I mean). The views were stunning, giving us a bird's eye point of view over Manhattan Island and beyond and we enjoyed trying to identify all the various sky scrapers.

See - no queues!

The Chrysler Building

Looking up to the top of the Empire State Building

Looking north east, from Downtown towards Queens (I think)

Looking south into Manhattan and the Flatiron Building

Macys

Looking out

The inevitable gift shop

Wrong attraction, Rachel!

The Empire State Building at dusk

We walked back to our hotel through Times Square, which was a cacophony of flashing lights and street entertainment and in the evening went to see the Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway (technically, it was on a side street off Broadway, as are most of the Broadway theatres) which was an amazing show.

Thursday morning we had a wander through Central Park, which was covered in snow. It didn't quite look like the scene in Enchanted where Giselle sings her way through the park, picking up a variety of hangers-on. We admired the Maine Monument, which we discovered was not named as a tribute to the New England state but to the USS Maine battleship. 

A very snowy Central Park

The Maine Monument

 

 

 

We had lunch in a great restaurant near Times Square called The Jekyll and Hyde, which was like a Victorian-era horror/freak show. The walls were decorated with painted portraits with moving eyes, the heads of a talking Sphinx and a talking elephant watched over the diners, a glass cabinet full of miniature human skulls was positioned creepily close to our table and the Elephant Man even paid a visit! The food was good too. It was certainly a dining experience with a difference.

 

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, we spent more time in Times Square, getting mugged by a couple of Statue of Liberty lookalikes and visiting the M&Ms factory store, the Hersheys Chocolate Shop and the ferris wheel inside Toys R Us, mainly to stop the girls nagging. Needless to say, it made them very happy! Our day ended with another show, this time Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, starring Carly Rae Jepson of "Call Me Maybe" fame (you must remember the song from a year or two back - it was annoying catchy and was everywhere for a while). It was great fun, a really traditional old-style musical and about as close to a pantomime to be found in the USA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday was Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island day. Fortunately (or unfortunately, perhaps) we knew the weather forecast wasn't good so we were not too surprised and disappointed to wake up to a dismal, damp and foggy day. We made our way to the ferry stop in Battery Park, at the southern end of Manhattan, to pick up our boat and headed out into the murky waters. At this point there was no sign of either Liberty or Ellis Island, just featureless murk. As the boat headed out the Manhattan skyline disappeared into the fog within a minute or two - disappointing when the commentary on the boat is advising you to admire the buildings and giving you information about the architecture of the Brooklyn Bridge. In the meantime a vague shape was starting to take form ahead of us. We assumed it was the Statue of Liberty but to be honest it could have been an oil rig or a crane and none of us would have known. Just to give you some idea of the statue in all its glory, see the photo below ...

 

 



 

 

 

It was so bad it was funny and most people were chuckling as they disembarked from the boat. The view improved a little as we approached the statue but we never managed to see anything more than a vague outline of the crown at best. Our tickets allowed us up the pedestal to just below the statue's feet and I was glad we hadn't been able to get tickets to go all the way up to the crown - it would have been a pointless exercise on a day like this. Anyway, we enjoyed the display informing us how the statue had been financed and how it had arrived from France. We were interested to see that the day of the grand unveiling was apparently wet and foggy so at least we were getting the authentic experience.

 

 

The Manhattan skyline disappearing into the fog

 

It was a bit cold on the boat

 



Ah well - you gotta laugh

 



So this is what it is supposed to look like!

 



Unveiling day - wet and foggy

 



The original torch, which had to be replaced when bits of copper started to fall off

 



Looking up the statue's skirt

 



Finally ... a half decent view

 



Never mind - we'll do our own version

 



The view looking up from the pedestal

 



 

 

Our journey continued to nearby Ellis Island, the first landing point in New York for thousands of immigrants. It was fascinating to imagine the huge, lofty halls full of tired, scared and excited people who had travelled thousands of miles to meet up with family members or to follow their own personal dreams.

 

Approaching Ellis Island



 

The Registration Room

 



Imagine a US Immigration official sitting at this desk

 



Outside the main registration building

 



A "Titanic" moment on the boat back to Manhattan

 



 



 

A short walk took us to the 9/11 Memorial site. It would be good to be able to say the weather was improving but sadly that wasn't the case. It had started raining before we entered the security building and as we came outside the other end to walk towards the site we heard an enormous bang. With a mindset in 9/11 mode my immediate response was that a bomb had exploded somewhere close and for a split second I was terrified. It was, of course, a crack of thunder but it left me shaken, nonetheless, and it added a certain eeriness to the whole experience. The torrential rain and thunder and lightning continued as we walked around the site, the main features of which were two large sunken squares, the foundations of the two towers, which were filled with water from waterfalls cascading down the edges. The low walls surrounding the square pools were topped with plinths engraved with the names of all those who lost their lives, including the people in the towers and the emergency first responders. It was extremely poignant, especially when we learned that the few white roses which had been placed by various names on the plinths were there to mark the birthday of those people, a particularly sombre job of the Memorial's custodians. Isabel, of course, was born on 9/11 so we felt it was important to visit the site. It is something Isabel has become increasingly aware of and she has been keen to find out as much information as possible. She was very quiet through the whole visit and said she felt a mixture of emotions.

 

 

The new World Trade Center tower

 



A white rose to mark a birthday

 



 

 

 

So, our New York leg over, we boarded another train at Penn Station and headed towards Washington DC. The weather improved steadily as we travelled south and by the time we disembarked at Washington DC's Union Station it was a glorious day with clear blue skies and plenty of warm sunshine. I cannot describe to you how that felt after a Boston winter. Suffice to say we all spent the rest of the day in an excellent mood with a smile on our face.

 

After dropping our bags at our hotel we jumped on the subway towards the White House. Seeing the White House and the Capitol Building in Washington is one of those surreal experiences when you see something so familiar from TV and photographs in real life for the first time. I remember feeling the same thing when I saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Everything in Washington was gleaming in the bright sunshine and we had the added bonus of minimal crowds because of the time of year. The only things we missed out on were the water features - very few of the fountains and "reflecting pools" had water in them, presumably because the water would have frozen through the winter. We thought it was a small price to pay for the lack of other tourists.

 

We wandered around the edges of the White House, not quite sure which was the front and the back, and surprised by how close we could get to the building. After taking lots of photographs we started to walk straight ahead towards the Washington Monument and noticed that the road we were walking along had just been closed by the police. Within a minute or two a cavalcade of black vehicles with darkened windows sped past towards the White House. Who knows who was in the cars - it could have been the President himself, a lower ranking politician or it could even have been a decoy - but it was still exciting. We would have taken photographs but we were afraid of being arrested by one of the scary looking policemen.

 

The Washington Monument had scaffolding around the base, evidence of the end of a major restoration project. Usually it's possible to climb to the top of the Monument for views over the city but the ongoing restoration has put a temporary halt to that. We can testify that it is very tall - it can be seen from most places around the centre of the city.

 

From the Monument we turned right and continued along the Mall, the central grassy strip which runs the mile or so from Capitol Hill at one end to the Lincoln Memorial at the other. We were aiming for the Lincoln Memorial, a huge colonnaded monument at the top of several flights of steps sheltering an outsize statue of Abraham Lincoln looking stately and thoughtful in a large chair. It was almost majestic and was made out of the same white stone as the White House and the Capitol Building so was dazzlingly bright in the sunshine. At the far end of the plaza in front of the Memorial is the World War Two Memorial, commemorating the American armed forces who perished in the Atlantic and the Pacific campaigns.

 

From the Lincoln Memorial we walked along a bridge crossing the Potomac River, heading for what was by then the nearest subway station. Across the river from the city was Arlington Cemetery, the national war cemetery, and the Pentagon. As we were walking across the bridge we noticed a few helicopters in the distance. We stood and watched as the helicopters turned to fly along the river and before we knew it five large military choppers thundered over our heads. It was like being an extra in Apocalypse Now! Not something that happens to you every day.

 

Some views of the White House (just like being on Google Street View!)

 

 

 

 

The Washington Monument

 

 

 

The Jefferson Memorial (taken with a long lens - we didn't manage to walk there)

 

 

An arty shot of the US flag

 

 

The World War Two Memorial

 

 

Looking along the Mall from the Lincoln Memorial towards the Washington Monument and behind it to the Capitol Building

 

 

 

The Lincoln Memorial

 

 

The Lincoln Memorial steps were about the only crowded place we saw

 



 

 

Abe himself

A side view of the Memorial

 



 

 

The helicopters approaching

 

 

Duck!

 

 

 

 

 Day two in Washington DC and another glorious day. We headed to Capitol Hill and stood in Capitol Square admiring the Capitol Building, the Supreme Court and the National Library of Congress surrounding us, all of them beautiful buildings. The plaza in front of the Capitol Building was almost deserted apart from the occasional jogger, a few stray tourists and some security guards. The building itself looked so clean and perfect it almost looked like something made from Playmobil. Unfortunately the visitor centre was closed on Sundays so we had to make do with walking around the building, which wasn't too hard in the warm sun. Again, we weren't sure which was supposed to be the front and the back of the Capitol - we assumed the front faced onto Capitol Square and the back faced along the Mall towards the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial but it could just as easily be the other way round.

 

The Mall is lined with the Smithsonian Institute Museums, some of the best known and most respected museums in the US. We dropped in to the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of Natural History. The Air and Space Museum was jam packed with everything from famous early aircraft to air missiles and space modules. Isabel and Rachel had a go in a flight simulator, spending most of their time spinning upside down. We could hear lots of laughter coming from their simulator so we think they enjoyed themselves. We watched an IMAX 3D film about a space crew carrying out repairs to the Hubble Telescope which involved lots of amazing 3D footage drifting into the Hubble's photographs of space.  The big hit in the Natural History Museum with both Isabel and Rachel was the gem room. The exhibition featured many incredible gem stones including the Hope Diamond, the world's largest blue diamond. The security there must have been intense, although it wasn't at all obvious.

 

On the subway on the way to Capitol Hill

 



 

 

The National Library of Congress

 

 

 

The Supreme Court

 

 

The Capitol Building



 

 

 

 

The Capitol Building from the back (or the front, maybe...)

 

 

 

The National Air and Space Museum

 

 

 

The Natural History Museum. The Hope Diamond ...

 

 

 

... and a small selection of the many other priceless gems

 

 

So that's it. We flew home the following morning and threw ourselves back into our daily routines of school, work, music lessons, play practice, basketball. A week has passed already and Barry is now in Salt Lake City. He has just enjoyed two days skiing at the local resorts with some of his work colleagues before having to work hard for the next three days. Rachel's show is in less than two weeks so we're looking forward to that and Rachel also starts with a new basketball club this week, the Mass Commanders, with the first big tournament at the end of the month in Rhode Island. There is never a dull moment!

 

By the way, belated St David's Day to all my family and Welsh friends. I would have worn a daffodil had any managed to push their way through the snow!

 

 



 



 















A few more photos to catch up on before I start today's entry, now that we have finally transferred them from the camera to the computer. Below is the lovely little hotel we stayed in when we went to Mount Sunapee ski resort in New Hampshire a few weeks ago. We arrived in the evening and found the hotel floodlit and festooned with fairy lights and snow. Very pretty.

 .

While Barry and the girls skied at Mount Sunapee with Rachel's friend Sydney and her Dad Marvin, Dougal and I spent the day with Sydney's "Mom" Jami. We went for a walk through some woods and it was sooo beautiful.

Bringing us a bit more up to date, Isabel had her cello recital a week last Saturday at the Brookline Music School. She played beautifully, performing The Elephant from the Carnival of the Animals and Family Portrait, one of John Williams' pieces from the Harry Potter film series. Barry accompanied her beautifully as well!

A week last Sunday we hired a Zip Car and zipped off to Wachusett Mountain, a small ski resort just an hour's drive out of Boston. It's not particularly challenging but was ideal for a day's skiing in the cold and Barry and the girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I was quite happy holed up in the ski lodge with a book and a coffee in the morning and watching them whizzing down the slopes in the afternoon. The New England ski resorts are not particularly high but seem to have an excellent snow record as the temperatures are so cold at night that they can make as much snow as they want so the pistes are always in a good condition the next day.

Enjoying a hot apple cider (that's non-alcoholic, just in case you're wondering!) in the ski lodge after a cold day's skiing.

To bring you up to date, we had a routine week and a relatively quiet weekend, just the usual RAFT (teen) activities on Friday night for Isabel and basketball matches and violin lesson on Saturday (including keeping an eye on the Wales v Italy Six Nations score via The Guardian's live blog on my phone). Isabel brought home her second quarter report card from school on Friday and has once again made the Honor Roll, so we're very proud of her. Barry flew out to San Francisco on Sunday - he's there until Saturday with most of the other IHI Fellows visiting a variety of hospitals and health care organisations and fitting in a bit of sightseeing including a trip to Alcatraz. I'm not jealous...

We watched a bit of the Superbowl on Sunday because we felt we should. American football (or simply football, as it is known here) hasn't lit our bonfire in the same way that the baseball did in the summer. Our local NFL side, the New England Patriots, is one of the most successful NFL sides of the last decade but didn't quite make it to the Superbowl this year, losing out to the Denver Broncos in the American Football Conference final. Having all the good players bar the quarterback Tom Brady injured and another player in jail facing murder charges probably didn't help this year.  It was probably just as well that the Patriots didn't make it as the Broncos were utterly humiliated in the Superbowl match by the Seattle Seahawks, the National Football Conference champions. (The NFL is comprised of two conferences, the American and the National, each of which is sub-divided into four divisions. The Superbowl is contested between the two Conference champions.) It's a huge event though. There was TV coverage throughout the day, building up to the 7pm kick off, and at half time there was a concert in the stadium featuring Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Maybe the FA Cup organisers should take a look. 

Our other bit of news is that we have booked our next trip. We're off to New York and Washington DC in a couple of weeks' time, during the school February break. We have booked tickets to see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway so we're all very excited. Lots of photos at the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty and the White House to follow, I hope. The Obamas did invite us for afternoon tea but we had to tell them we would be too busy sightseeing. 

Finally, on to my regular weather update. After a pretty frigid couple of weeks of sub zero temperatures (and this wasn't even a polar vortex!) we enjoyed a couple of days when the temperature crept above freezing. It felt positively balmy and spring-like outside!! But the winter has returned. We had an inch or two of snow yesterday, probably the edge of Winter Storm Maximus which dumped around six inches of snow on the Mid West, Pennsylvania and New York. We have Winter Storm Nika arriving in the early hours of tomorrow with the forecasters predicting anywhere between six and 10 inches of snow through the day so we're expecting another school snow day tomorrow. Then, the next weather system is expected to move in on Sunday with the potential to be the biggest storm of the week. However, the forecasters are not committing themselves yet as there is a chance is could bypass Boston.

I am learning from talking to Bostonians that we are experiencing an unusually cold winter. Billy bargain, as Barry would say. Just our luck. I think I'm right in saying that we have had more snow than usual too. I'm told that the snow and the cold weather don't usually start until February but we've had them this winter from the middle of December. I'm starting to understand why many animals hibernate. However, there are some positives - for example, I now really appreciate it when we get the occasional overcast, damp, drizzly but mild day, the sort of day which is typical of a Welsh winter and makes everyone miserable. Believe me, it's much more pleasant when put in the context of a Boston winter!

Some photos. Not quite up to date, but it's a start.

Firstly, Rachel's violin recital at the Brookline Music School. Spot who's accompanying her!

Some of the mansions in Newport, Rhode Island. These were photographed from the cliff walk.

This is "The Breakers", the Newport  mansion we visited to see the Christmas decorations. Sadly, taking photographs inside was banned so we had to make do with external shots. This was the family home of the Vanderbilts.

A gratuitous picture of Dougal looking cute and getting ready for the cold weather.

Christmas Day morning, about to open stockings.

New Year's Eve in Boston, known as the First Night celebrations. There were ice sculptures dotted around the city. This one was outside the Prudential Centre and showed Buffy the Puppy (whoever he is).

The baseball World Series trophy, currently in the hands of the Boston Red Sox!

Santa's sleigh!

Our ride for the New Year's Eve Mayor's Parade - a Chinese Dragon-style Green Line T train.

Some of the other puppets being carried by other passers by who volunteered to take part in the parade (or were press ganged into taking part).

It was cosy inside our Green Line T!

Izzy driving.

The New Year's Eve fireworks, viewed from Boston's Public Gardens.

Winter Storm Hercules arrived the afternoon of January 2nd. This is the view from our living room window the following morning.

School was cancelled so we went out for a walk in the snow.

Washing the ice and salt off Dougal's paws afterwards.

We've ended up getting Dougal some little rubber boots to wear when it's snowy and icy so his paws don't get sore. He's very unimpressed when we put them on him but is much happier outside with them when there's snow and ice around.

Another week, another snow storm, another school snow day. It's getting slightly tedious now. At least Winter Storm Janus, which hit Tuesday evening and overnight, didn't turn out to be quite as bad as forecast with only about 10cm of snowfall instead of the 20cm plus forecast. The school snow day on Wednesday was therefore unnecessary as all roads and public transport seemed to be running smoothly but as it had been called on Tuesday evening it was too late to change their minds on Wednesday morning. Ah well - the girls enjoyed it. It's gone very cold again though.

Not much else to report otherwise, apart from a girly shopping trip on Monday. Monday was a public holiday - Martin Luther King Day, which the school recognised last week with a special assembly which made a big impact on the girls. Most of Isabel's friends in school are Afro-Americans and, as she pointed out, had it not been for Martin Luther King she may never have had the opportunity to meet these girls and become their friends. Their minds are being broadened this year - this is not an issue which raises its head in Porthcawl.

The girly shopping trip was very successful. The girls had some pocket money burning a hole in their purses and wanted to hit the clothes shops. As Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch had huge winter sales a relatively small amount of money went a very long way and two very happy girls (actually three happy girls!) sat on the train coming home clutching several bags featuring photos of semi-naked men on the outside (those of you who've shopped in these stores will know what I mean) and an assortment of new clothes on the inside.

Plans for the rest of the week: Rachel has more Wizard of Oz rehearsals after school; basketball matches on Saturday; Isabel has a cello recital on Saturday evening and hopefully a day's skiing in one of the local ski resorts on Sunday.

We're in the "January Thaw" apparently. The polar vortex seems to have settled over Michigan and the Great Lakes and left the rest of us to enjoy some milder weather. It's much more like a UK winter now and we can go outdoors without feeling like our faces are going to fall off in the cold.

So, to catch up after Christmas. On Boxing Day (a holiday not recognised here in the US) we had our friends Peggy and Deon and children over for some food, drink and chat which was lovely and their daughter Megan slept over which kept the girls happy. A couple of days later we went with them to watch the Boston Celtics, the city's basketball NBA team. Through his work Deon has access to a box at the TD Garden, the stadium where the Celtics and the Boston Bruins, the ice hockey team, both play their home games, so we were very well looked after. It was a great atmosphere and involved lots of chanting of DEE-FENCE when the Celtics were trying to defend their basket.

On New Year's Eve we went into Boston in the afternoon for the First Night celebrations. Starting in the morning and running throughout the day and into the evening were lots of events and attractions, a lot of them aimed at families, to help celebrate the New Year. There were fantastic ice sculptures dotted around at various locations, lots of street entertainers, a family festival with circus acts, puppet shows  etc, and many other things going on which we didn't manage to get to. The Mayor's Parade was due to start at 5.30pm, travelling from the Prudential Centre to Boston Common and we managed to get ourselves involved in the parade! A community puppet workshop had created lots of carnival-style and Chinese dragon-style puppets and were inviting passers by to carry them in the parade so we thought, "why not?" and managed to secure for ourselves a Chinese dragon puppet decorated to look like our local Green Line T train. The four of us stood in the cold for about an hour beforehand as the parade was being set up and then carried our Green Line train in the parade for about another hour, weaving our way across the road and into the crowds watching. It was tremendous fun, if a little chilly, and we were able to finish with a welcome hot chocolate before dashing to the public gardens next to Boston Common to watch the 7pm fireworks display which was spectacular. There were more fireworks at midnight but it was much too cold to stay out any longer (the polar vortex was on its way) so we headed home and saw in the new year watching New York's celebrations on the TV. What a great New Year's Eve - definitely one to remember.

The girls were back at school and Barry back at work on Thursday January 2nd, which was when the snow started so they all had a day off again on the Friday when we waded through the foot of snow which had fallen since Thursday morning. Sadly, we were due to go to watch the Boston Bruins with Peggy and Deon in their box at the TD Garden on Thursday evening but we all decided it was too much of a risk in the snow so we had to pass. Hopefully we'll find another opportunity to go as watching ice hockey (or just hockey, as they call it here) live is great fun. On a sporting note, we've been keeping an eye on the progress of the New England Patriots, the local NFL team, who are due to play the NFL final against the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Should they win, they go to the Superbowl. Denver are probably the favourites but not by much so it could be exciting. I can't say we've got into American football (or just football here) in the same way that we enjoyed the baseball but we will watch the match on TV on Sunday and hope the Patriots win. It would be great to have the local team to support in the Superbowl.

The girls did manage to get back to school the following Monday and have had no further snow days, although it stayed very cold for several days afterwards. At least we weren't suffering the gales and rain storms that the UK was experiencing. You were in our thoughts!

We managed our first skiing trip a couple of weeks ago at Mount Sunapee in New Hampshire. We drove up on the Saturday afternoon after Isabel's basketball match and stayed overnight in a nice little hotel with Dougal. Barry and the girls met up with one of Rachel's school friends Sydney and her Dad Marvin for a day's skiing and I spent the day with Sydney's Mum Jami and Dougal, walking in the snow and generally pottering around. It was very pleasant and absolutely beautiful scenery.

Marvin and Jami have taken us under their wings and decided we all need feeding up, I think. Marvin is an excellent amateur chef and we have been over their house a couple of times for food. The first time we were served the best, most tender beef I have ever eaten and the second time it was a seafood fest and, despite not being a seafood enthusiast (ie I don't do seafood) I ate almost all of it as it was delicious. I passed on the oysters, only because the meat didn't slide out of the shell into my mouth so I took that as a sign and gave up. Barry was in his element and was most impressed with me! Apart from feeding us they have also entertained Rachel on several occasions, including taking her ice skating.

Finally, to bring us up to date, we had a great night out last night eating yet more wonderful food. Marvin and Jami had invited us along to a dining event at a cafe up the road from where we live, where a local chef was preparing a seven-course tasting menu. Barry mentioned it to some colleagues at work and we also mentioned it to Peggy and Deon and we ended up turning up with a big gang of friends and had an excellent evening, eating all sorts of interesting and unusual foods (have you ever eaten fluke before?Apparently it's a fish and it was lovely - very delicate).

Before I continue with our daily doings here in Boston, a word on the weather.

Boston is used to harsh conditions in the winter but the weather of the past week has been extreme even by Boston's standards. Temperatures started to fall around New Year and many people (including us) decided not to brave the midnight fireworks on New Year's Eve for fear of finding the conditions too unpleasant.

Snow had been forecast for Thursday but the forecasters had been playing it down, saying that there may be a few inches but nothing out of the ordinary for this time of year. However, by New Year's Day it was being given a name, Winter Storm Hercules, and was getting the forecasters much more excited. The Mid West was already bracing itself for snow but the problem for Boston was that two cold fronts were due to merge over the coast north of New York, bringing the worst of the storm to Cape Cod and north to Boston. Temperatures across Canada, the Mid West, New York and New England were reaching record lows for the last couple of decades and there were warnings against staying outside for too long for fear of frost bite. Even states as far south as Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama were seeing snow and sleet. Another concern was coastal flooding around Boston as a result of seasonal high tides at midnight Thursday and midday Friday combined with strong winds.

The girls were due back in school on Thursday after the Christmas break and Barry was back at work. The Brookline schools decided to open for business on Thursday despite all of the schools in metropolitan Boston staying closed. It was snowing on Thursday morning when we woke up. It wasn't particularly heavy but obviously it had been snowing steadily through the night as there were already a couple of centimetres on the ground. It was very cold when the girls went to school at 8am. The temperature stayed well below freezing all day and it continued to snow. By the time the girls finished school at 2.30pm the wind had picked up and a few more centimetres of snow had fallen. They had been told there would be no school on Friday and had done very little work all day as apparently the teachers were none too impressed at having to be in school so the girls were very happy!

By this stage the Mayor of Boston and the State Governor were requesting motorists to stay off the roads partly for safety reasons and partly so the snow ploughs could get to work. There were many concerns that the extremely cold temperatures made the salt on the roads ineffective. Barry managed to finish early and get home before any traffic chaos started and was relieved that the IHI had declared a snow day for Friday too so he was able to stay home. Unfortunately, our planned trip on Thursday evening to watch the Boston Bruins play ice hockey in Boston with Peggy and co had to be abandoned. The match still went ahead but as the heaviest snow was due to start at about 6pm we all decided that it wasn't safe to drive and we didn't want to have to rely on what was likely to be a busy and much reduced subway service to get there and back. So we stayed in and watched the Weather Channel instead (and some of the ice hockey on TV).

Friday morning was a winter wonderland. The snow was at least a foot deep and was very dry and powdery due to the cold temperatures (I learned an enormous amount about different types of snow and the relationship between moisture in the air and the amount of precipitation thanks to the Weather Channel and the local Boston TV news channel). It was very beautiful but bitterly cold - the warmest temperature recorded all day was -10C, plus the wind chill factor. Dougal ended up with an ice-encrusted beard and fur coat after his walk. Rachel still managed to have a play in the snow with her friend Alex in the school's playing field which has a small slope perfect for sledging and bum boarding.

The snow stopped about lunchtime on Friday but the temperature stayed several degrees below freezing through Saturday before warming up a bit on Sunday, just in time for a day's skiing. Today it's (relatively) mild and raining before freezing again overnight and back to a top of -8C for the next couple of days so everywhere will be like a skating rink tomorrow. Apparently North America is in the grip of a "polar vortex" at the moment. We chose an interesting winter to be in Boston!

In the midst of all our weather, we have been hearing about the UK weather and the ongoing storms there. Apparently they are a knock on effect of the cold weather in the US so many apologies.

Girls back in school today after the Christmas break so finally I have some time to update our blog. Apologies for the long break - December was a busy month. I'll have to do it quickly though - it's likely that the girls will have a snow day off school tomorrow as Winter Storm Hercules hits us. More on the Boston winter shortly ...

When I last left you we were about to visit Newport, Rhode Island. We had a lovely day - Newport is a beautiful town which needs more time to explore than we had in one day. We had a cold but exhilarating walk along the coastal footpath, the highlight of which is peeking through the fences and hedges at the back gardens of the mansions. In the afternoon we dropped into The Breakers, one of the most famous of the Newport Mansions, which belonged to the Vanderbilt family. It was like visiting a British stately home, if a little more ostentatious, with the added bonus of extravagant but tasteful Christmas decorations. The centrepiece was a 12ft poinsettia tree in the cavernous  marbled hallway. Sadly, we were not allowed to take photographs indoors but if you go to http://www.newportmansions.org/events/christmas-at-the-newport-mansions you'll get a picture of what we saw. The day finished with dinner at the house of one of Barry's IHI colleagues. Gareth was a UK Fellow at the IHI about 10 years ago and returned to Boston about 8 years to work at the IHI. He and his wife Donna live in Brookline and their daughter Ellen is in Isabel's grade at school. We had a lovely evening reminiscing about all things UK and wondering at some of the weird and wonderful things US.

The girls had a busy December at school. Fiddler on the Roof was performed Thursday 12th to Saturday 14th December. Isabel's cast were on stage the Friday night and the Saturday afternoon so Barry, Rachel and I were in Friday's audience. The show was absolutely brilliant. The standard of singing and acting was as good as any youth theatre show we've seen and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Isabel had a ball and has made so many new friends - not bad for someone who almost didn't audition because she was worried about singing in front of other people. Rachel ended up going to watch both shows on Saturday with a variety of different friends and Isabel went to watch Saturday night's show with the other cast so I think the Appletons showed their support!

The following Monday Isabel's school Chorus had its Winter Concert in the High School auditorium. All the children at Pierce School have two music sessions a week, one of which is known as "Conservatory". During this session the children can join their grade's string orchestra, wind band or chorus (choir) or if they are completely non-musical, they can do music appreciation instead. Isabel chose to sing with the chorus rather than play in the string orchestra. The Winter Concert featured the chorus groups from grades 5 to 8 and the grade 6-8 wind band and was very enjoyable. The standard was variable - we felt that the West Park Primary School choir was better than most of the choirs in the concert - but it was fun nonetheless and Isabel enjoyed it. The 20-minute wait for the T (train) back home standing on the outside station platform in the snow was rather less enjoyable!

In the midst of Isabel's shows, Rachel had an audition for the school's grade 5 and 6 show, The Wizard of Oz. The children had to audition in groups of five so Rachel and her team of cronies arranged to go together. They were given some sections of script to practice and were told they would be asked to sing Over the Rainbow and a song of their choice. Rachel set her heart on the part of the Lion, which she performed hilariously whilst practicing at home. Luckily in the audition the section of script the group of five were asked to perform involved the Lion so Rachel had the opportunity to do her Lion thing. The parts were due to be revealed at the first rehearsal the following week and we had the tip off from the producer (who is the Dad of one of Rachel's friends and basketball team colleagues) that Rachel had done very well in the audition so excitement mounted as the rehearsal approached, only to be dashed when the rehearsal had to be postponed due to snow. However, the rehearsal was rearranged for two days later and Rachel was over the moon to be given the part of the Lion! As in Isabel's show there are two casts who will do two performances each in mid-March. Most of Rachel's friends are in her cast although she seems to be the only 5th grader to have a major part. Rehearsals proper start next week and Rachel can't wait to get started after lots of practice and learning lines over the Christmas break.

In the midst of all of these cultural pursuits the girls have started playing basketball with a local Brookline league. Rachel plays in the grade 4/5 league and Isabel is in the grade 6/7/8 league. They train once a week with their team and play matches on Saturdays. Both are doing really well although Isabel hasn't had a great start not managing to make any of her training sessions so far because of other commitments and only playing one full match, having to miss one match because of her show performance and then getting injured in another match (bruised finger - more sore than it sounds!). However, matches and training resume this Saturday so we're hoping Isabel will get the chance to fulfill the potential she showed during her one match. They are both really enjoying playing and Isabel is even talking about pursuing basketball rather than netball on our return to Porthcawl. We'll see!!

So, onto Christmas. It's been an interesting experience! Christmas is a word not heard very often around here - Thanksgiving to New Year is referred to as "the holidays" as it also includes Hanukkah, the Jewish festival, at the beginning of December and with the large Jewish population in Brookline it seems safest not to mention Christmas. Certainly, the school didn't seem to have any Christmas celebrations and it has been strange not to have any Christmas concerts to attend. Even the Chorus Winter Concert made no reference to Christmas. At least Christmas trees were readily available - the Elks Lodge opposite our apartment block sold Christmas trees which made it very easy for us with no car, although I was wondering about the sanity of getting the tree whilst Barry was away at a conference in Orlando as Isabel and I struggled across the road and up the stairs to our apartment with a 7ft tree! The bigger problem was finding a stand for the tree - I travelled around Boston without success visiting various shops which seemed likely to sell stands only to end up eventually at a hardware store in Brookline which the nice men at the Elks Lodge suggested. It's the most unlikely items which cause problems when you're away from home.

So how was Christmas in the US different from back in the UK? I've already mentioned the sensitivity towards referring to Christmas and this translated to Christmas cards as well as school and general conversation. However, the most noticeable difference to me centred around food. As the Yanks have turkey at Thanksgiving they tend to go for ham on Christmas Day. We stuck to turkey but had the ongoing gravy problem - no gravy browning to give colour to home made gravy and no gravy granules. The only gravy options seemed to be anaemic home made gravy which went down badly with the girls at Thanksgiving, buying it ready made or in a powdered form in packets. In actual fact the packet powder made very acceptable gravy but it needed a packet per person to make enough to go around so it wasn't the cheapest option! I missed many of the other foods which we associate with Christmas. Mince pies were virtually non-existant - some friends managed to track down a couple of packs in one of the supermarkets which has a small section of British food and very kindly donated a pack to us which we have gratefully consumed. Christmas cake and Christmas pudding are also conspicuous by their absence. I bought a "holiday fruit cake" which was the nearest I could find but it's not the same. No pickled onions or pickled red cabbage (usually provided by my Mum!) and no Stilton cheese. Shortbread biscuits can be found but are expensive. Non-food but essential for Christmas are crackers. These are not a US tradition but can be found if you look hard enough. Again, they are expensive and charmingly are labelled as "a British tradition" and come with instructions. The ones I bought did the job though. Christmas dinner wouldn't have been the same without the paper crowns, silly jokes and useless toys!