Stretching Our Summer Vacation

It's Sunday night and we're still on the Cape. Guy came and went and I decided to stay down here with the boys for at least another night or two. The weather has been pretty perfect so I figure, why leave yet? The boys are in heaven.

Guy arrived on Saturday, mid-afternoon. We took the boys to Cold Storage for about an hour and they frolicked around on the beach. Guy dug them a big hole in the sand, filled with water and they had countless jumps into it. They also had a good time rolling around in it.....lets just say that they were completely covered with sand, everywhere.

Guy took Christian out on the jetty and they walked the rocks to the end. Christian had not done that before, so that was quite an achievement. Connor and I met them on the wall, but we only did a few rocks, he's way too little, but don't tell him that.

We had an 8PM dinner reservation at the Lighthouse Inn with the boys and with Mom and Dad. They met us there. The kids loved wandering the grounds, playing in the playground, going near the water, etc. It's fun for us to go back there every year to celebrate yet another year of being married. We had a table on the water which was perfect because around 8:30, West Dennis Beach had fireworks as part of the Dennis Festival Days Celebration. We could sort of see them from our table, but could also go out onto the deck to watch with everyone else. Connor was hysterical. They were pretty loud, and he just kept saying "Boom! Boom! Boom!" Christian also liked them better his second time around.....July 4th was quite an experience for him.

This morning I took Christian up to Hyannis for a swim lesson with Dana. He's doing terrific, starting to swim with her without his bubble pack on. He loves his lessons with her and tells me that they are so much fun.

While we were gone, Guy and Connor went on a bike ride down to Chapin Beach. They were gone for a while and on the way back Guy told us that Connor kept nodding off in his seat. He kept feeling Connors head bumping into his back. Poor little Connor must have been so tired, but I'd imagine that getting biked around could lull me to sleep too.

Later this afternoon Guy and I took Christian mini-golfing. Have I mentioned that Christian's new favorite activity is mini-golfing? We've gone 4 days in a row now!!!! He loves it. We move thru the 18 holes pretty quick too. We followed mini-golf up with an ice cream at Holiday Hill, and a visit to their arcade. Does life get any better for a 4 year old?

Guy headed home tonight and the boys went down to sleep a little while ago. Tomorrow sounds nice, so I'm sure we're going to make it a beach day.

Back On The Cape

We're on the Cape again. Christian came down a day early with Grampy, on Tuesday and had Grammy and Grampy all to himself for an entire 24 hours. He was in heaven. I think that is an understatement! That also means that I had a lot of quality time with Connor and boy did he miss his big brother. They may not always play wonderfully, but I would definitely say that Connor missed Christian. He asked about him often and I think that he's happy to be around him again, even if that means a lot of intervening on my part.

Last night Zac and I went to the Saw Doctors www.sawdoctors.com concert at the Cape Cod Melody Tent. They played an amazing concert. I am thinking that it's about the 10th time that I've seen them over about 10 years, and they never get old. It was Dad's 2nd time. He was actually up in Hyannis getting tickets to a show for tomorrow night and he randomly ran into the band in the parking lot. Go figure his luck....Luck of the Irish??? He went over to them and asked them 'who the Saw Doctors were???' and they told him that they were. Well, once he told them that he saw them back at the Roxy in 2007, they got his joke. They are from Tuam, in Galway, the same town and county that my fathers grandmother was from. Without a doubt, I'd bet they know the family farm. He was upset with himself later on, for not asking them. Anyhow, he bought a pair of tickets and we went off to the show last night. They sold the concert out and it was so much fun! They have such a mix of listeners, old, young, Irish, American it makes for a pretty amazing time. Can't wait for next winters show in Boston.

Today I got to sleep in and when I got up, I put Connor in for a nap. My dad stayed home with him and Christian and I joined my mom at her pool. It was delightful! The water was warm and Christian had himself a blast swimming. When we were done, we stopped for a round of mini-golf at the same place where Christian and I golfed yesterday. He is completely obsessed with mini-golfing these days. He already has plans to do it tomorrow.

We also stopped off at Seagull Beach in Yarmouth for a little while late afternoon today. It was nice. Not too crowded but there was a ton of seaweed on the Nantucket Sound side, like always. I wouldn't have wanted to step foot in that water, the seaweed is just too much. Anyhow, we took a nice walk out to a jetty, then came back. I carried Connor most of the way, so my right arm is quite tired tonight, but it was very peaceful. We collected a lot of shells.

Christian and Brian played for a while tonight before dinner. They rode bikes and then played baseball and tee ball in Brian's yard. They are both quite good hitters. Enough so that I think by next summer, I might not want to pitch the ball to them in fear of getting hit.....hmmm.

Guy has decided to join us down here tomorrow, so we are all looking forward to his visit. He hasn't had much down time this summer. He's been pretty busy. We'll have a lot of fun while he's here. We were going to go to Uncle Kevin's party to see Kevin now that he's back for a visit from FL, but I think we'll have to squeeze in a visit to him sometime this week instead.

We're going blueberry picking in the morning! Should be wonderful and yummy :-)

Treasures:

*Watching Connor stuff seashells into his pockets today at the beach. Grammy taught him where his pockets are.

*Taking the boys to the trampolines.....they absolutely love that!

*Swimming with Christian in the pool today.

*Sleeping In. It's one of my favorite activities :-)

*Getting to see one of my favorite bands live again with my Dad. We both truly enjoyed it.

Gorgeous Summer Day

Gorgeous summer day.....well at least it was until this evening when yet another rainstorm moved in. It's crazy how many thunder and lightning storms we've had in the past few weeks. It seems like it is becoming a daily occurrence and frankly I'm tired of it.

We had an early start today. Both boys walked into our room bright and early this morning at 6 am! Christian was leading, Connor following. Christian announced that they were awake, so it was time for us to wake up. Unlike most other mornings, I let Guy sleep in and I got out of bed. I have a feeling that Connor was the ring leader of the early wake up. He's just loving all the freedom that comes with getting rid of the crib.

We spent quite a bit of time around the house today just hanging out and catching up. Guy cut the grass - not a small job - and I played many innings of T-ball, complete with base running. It is actually pretty amusing, especially when you see Connors version of it. We also had many races in our back yard. I'm sure to be sore tomorrow! Christian is quite fast and loves the challenge. We have many fun exchanges about who is the fastest. Perhaps he'll have a future in it, he's certainly got the energy. Then there's Connor. He wants to play too but is still too young to understand the "ready, set, go" part. So we're at the finish line and he's just started.....but he sure is proud of himself.

Treasures:

*Playing with the boys in the yard today.

*Visiting Hanson Farm. We love getting our weeks fresh veggies there and it's such a fun outing.

*Relaxing time with the kids in the hot tub today. They were both going under & Christian is now wearing goggles :-)

The Party

Since I last posted, all of the out of town visitors arrived and we had quite the little party here at our digs. It was really a ton of fun and for being such a mix of relatives and friends, I think everyone mingled well.

Christian, Dad and I went to pick up Julie, John, Liv, Maddie and Thomas at the airport. That was super fun for Christian. He loves the entire ride, tunnels, tolls and train spotting to boot. Then it's just super cool for him, once we are actually at Logan. They arrived no problem and we headed home.

When we got back, Justine, Julie and Lily had already arrived with Aunt Marige and Uncle Dick. It was wonderful to see Justine again and to finally meet and put a face with Julie and Lily after hearing about them for quite a while. Julie was really nice and Lily extremely cute - they all seem so happy together!

Slowly but surely everyone came and the afternoon was fun, despite a bit of rain mid-afternoon. The kids all played well together and had a chance to go in the pool with Justine (despite her saying how cold it was), then the hot tub.

I posted a bunch of photos, of which I have tons more. I love our family parties because there is always so much going on, lots of laughter and joy and lots of little jokes. This time around I especially enjoyed one joke between Uncle Kevin and Chris.

More pics to come of our visit with J & J and J & J on the Cape.

Julie and Justine

Grammie and Thomas

The 'Cool' Sunglass Group

Uncle Dick and Donald

Aunt Charlene's Birthday Celebration

Judy and Joann and the baby

Grampy and Thomas....Gotta Love the Saw Doctors Tee, All The Way From Taum

Maddie, Christian, Olivia and Connor...Of many photos, this was perhaps the best of the group

In the Hot Tub

The Young Contingent

Julie and Lily

Treasures:

*Seeing lots of my family and friends.

*Getting a new look at Joann's ever growing baby belly!! Can't wait for November 8th :-)

*Finally meeting baby Thomas - such a cutie.

*Finally meeting Julie and Lily.

*Seeing my brother and Julie and the girls after 2 years....that's a long time.