After our annual visit to family in New England, I'd be happy to not leave my house for the next three months; but I can simultaneously say that I really enjoyed myself. In fact, I'd go so far as to say this was the best one yet.
Getting here was not the best though, at least not for me. Tim was pretty confident that we would have a 12-13 hour day since that's how it has gone for him and the kids the last few times (Thomas and I have been flying since he was born). But this time we had the girls fly up a few days ahead of us, and we made the drive with the boys. It took us SEVENTEEN hours. It was a slog from about New York City on, and this was due to a lot of road construction. But we ate well throughout, thanks to Tim, and the kids--including Thomas--did incredibly well. I started to go a little bit insane myself towards the end, and when I got out of the car, my feet were swollen and sore in my new Birkenstocks. That really helped to break them in!
This was at a Wawa in Maryland or Delaware. For a place that sold so much food, it had no place to sit down and eat (very inhospitable!). So we got gas, used the bathroom, and then partially unpacked the car in order to have a picnic.
On Friday we had our customary wiffleball tournament and pizza, with the addition of a few more Bradys: Aunt Chris, Joe and Melissa, and their two kids.
The next morning we went to Hopkinton State Park for some paddleboarding, kayaking, and just poking around the beach (Thomas, Grandma, and I). It was a little chilly that day, but for me it is a nice change to be chilly in the summertime, and I'll take it.
I could not get enough of the hydrangeas. They are all over in North Carolina too, but not in so many shades and in such vividness and abundance. This has been an exceptional year for hydrangeas everywhere, due to a mild winter. The ones in the second picture are Tim's parents', and they were really just starting blooming while we were there. In another week or two, they will really dazzle.
Karen hosted a Just Dance party for the cousins. Thomas was in his glory.
He also enjoyed his downtime with Grandpa.
We went to Karen and Matt's one night to celebrate Tim and Carolyn's 80th and 75th birthdays, as well as their anniversary (let's see, which one would this be?...the 55th, I'm pretty sure). We took family pictures in the back yard as we've done the past couple years.
The phone was hanging on a tree branch with the timer on.:)
You can probably imagine my reaction when I saw this table. Well done, Karen!
This called for sparkler candles!
Natalie and Annie--twin cousins
We took the train to Boston one day. Some of the group went to TD Garden to see Celtics and Bruins stuff. We toured a Bruins heritage exhibit which was to commemorate their 100th anniversary, I think. The rest of the group went shopping at Faneuil Hall. Then we all met up for lunch at Legal Seafood, then headed home. I remembered that the last time Tim and I ate there, I was eight months pregnant with Delaney, and we ran to the car in the rain afterward. She turned 17 a couple days ago!
What I enjoyed most of all was the scenery, being outdoors on a mild summer day, getting exercise, and of course all the beautiful plants.
There was a lot of silliness on the train ride home.
And there was some napping.
And there were a couple of us who were wishing for a nap.😴
This summer has been pretty great so far, I have to say. We had our annual beach vacation a couple weeks ago, and we were only missing Sophie and her family this time. They are in the process of buying a house, so it's an exciting time for them, but they and their sweet boys were missed. Now it's almost the end of June, and I am enjoying a few slow, lazy days before we make the trek to Massachusetts.
Sunrise--a view that I never saw with my own eyes because I like to sleep too much. Fortunately Tim is an early bird, and so I have pictures like this.
They were laughing because Tim was telling us that she had tried to greet him with a handshake when we'd all arrived.
We brought one of Annie's best friends, Annabelle, who was visiting from Texas.
This was our first time renting a triplex. and I think almost all of us loved it. We loved having this big common area, and the option of a pool. The little kids were in that pool every day for hours, and there were pool guys there every morning keeping it clean. The one drawback to being in the triplex, as one of my brothers-in-law pointed out, was that because we were not as spread out along the beach as we always have been, we had less of the beach to ourselves. A minor annoyance.
Thomas and Israel played together well.
I loved having coffee in the morning with views like this--Elise loving on little Forest.
They had a lot of fishies in this bin.
It wasn't me!
The hot tubs were a huge hit, most of all with the teen boys. A couple people witnessed my dad, Robert and big Joey in a hot tub together one night, but alas, no one took a picture.
I was loving their style.
We liked our unit. There was lots of comfy furniture, all of the stuff we needed in the kitchen, and adequate bedroom space for all of us. Our room got very bright in the morning, which kept me from sleeping in too late.
We had balconies on the street side, probably for the sole purpose of watching the sun set over the sound.
Thomas is still avoiding being in water, but on the night of day 5 I think it was, he was having so much fun on our beach walk, he ended up a little wet. It's pretty hard to resist the ocean when it's a beautiful day and the temperature's just right. I said to Tim, "Remember how when the big kids were little, there was no such thing as just dipping their toes in!"
Once our week at Topsail was over, Mom and Dad stayed at our house for three nights, and that was really nice. The last time they stayed in New Bern, it was at an Airbnb down the road, and it just wasn't the same. I hope this can be the start of a new tradition.
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