Ok, so this is a quick post, but I am in the process of reviewing and editing my numerous shore photos which is taking a while… I will start posting them next week. In the meantime, I thought you all might get a kick out of this comparison. On the left, Justin at the shore in August of 2007, around 1 year old. On the right, Brian on the same porch swing at the shore in July 2010, around 10 months old. Think there’s a family resemblance between these brothers? :)

Over the fourth of July weekend, Aaron and I went to Amy and Joe’s for a cookout. Nothing out of the ordinary, some playing in the sprinkler, frisbee, grilling – just a fun summer Sunday. Click on the photo above to see the album.

At the end of June, Aaron and I drove down to CT to spend a weekend with James and Chrissy at their condo. We had a relaxed weekend of good food, games and spending time together (which of course included a lot of mocking James :) They took us to a great tapas place called Barcelona which was particularly delicious. For anyone who hasn’t heard by now, James and Chrissy are excitedly expecting a baby this fall – hence the above photo. We are of course very happy for them and can’t wait to watch this baby wrap James around its little finger.

Those of you who know me well, probably know that I truly appreciate beautiful yards and gardens, but that I don’t quite have the knack for it, or the resilience required to create and maintain such a yard. Fortunately for me, Aaron’s Mom seems to be “green” from her head to the tip of her toes. She’s like a plant whisperer and even better – she likes to garden at our house. So earlier in the summer (before the conditions were drought like and everything started to look brown and unhappy) Rita came up from the Cape for a visit plus gardening session and brought Lisa’s dog Lindy along. In her short stay we visited a couple of garden centers and Rita managed to charm one of the staff into locating and delivering some plants we wanted that were out of stock. She’s good with plants and people – it’s crazy! There may be some “Nonnie-charm” (my grandmother Nonnie can get anyone to do anything) growing here.

We spent a good portion of the visit working in the yard together, but also squeezed in some dinners out, a movie, some games and of course a lobster/steamer dinner for Rita and Aaron (I’ll stick to my chicken salad, thanks). It was a fun and productive weekend.
Now if she could only control the weather…

In June, Aaron and I joined Amy, Justin, Brian and Mom for a visit to the Strawberry Festival. It’s a local get together – a craft fair with games, music, farm equipment and of course, strawberry shortcake. We spent a few hours walking around. Justin enjoyed the tractors and trucks. In fact he and Uncle (Aaron) plowed an entire imaginary field together. Aaron rode shotgun of course. Click on the image above to see the rest of the photos from the festival.

Back in early June, after a particularly tough day at work, we decided to take a spontaneous drive up to Plum Island to spend some time by the ocean – the perfect remedy for a stressful day. We made a quick stop at home for flips flops, books, a blanket and a kite and headed for the beach. We spent a couple of hours just lounging – Aaron flew a kite – we watched local fishermen… We stayed until the sun went down and the bugs moved in. It was a lovely evening and reminder that our shore vacation was just around the corner.

Here is a small album of photos from various visits with Amy, Joe, Justin and Brian across the months of April and May. You’ll notice most of the photos are of their boys. It’s hard to believe Justin is almost 4 and Brian is already coming up on 1 – makes me feel old. (Shut up Peter :)

Shortly after I returned from the Florida Keys, I flew out to Portland, Oregon for Bonney’s west coast baby shower. She asked Laura and Courtney (friends of hers from college) and me to fly out a few days early for a little get away to the coast before the shower. After we all arrived in Portland we drove to a little coastal town called Manzanita where we stayed in a great cabin that was walking distance to the beach. We watched movies, shopped, walked on the beach and just relaxed. It was great! We all had a great time together, but felt it was much too short. Above is a photo of the four of us outside our cabin. After a couple of days, we headed back to Portland for Bonney’s shower that was being held at her house and co-hosted by her niece and a friend from soccer.

At the end of March Aaron, Rita and I spent a week together in the Florida Keys. We all flew into Miami, and elected to rent a car to drive down the full length of the Keys as we had heard about the beautiful vistas. That turned out to be a slightly overrated experience – although there were some moments where all you could see was beautiful water in all directions – the views were mostly of strip malls, tattoo parlors, liquor stores, etc. – but the rest of the trip was just what we were hoping for. We rented a house on Sugarloaf Key (about 15 minutes outside of Key West) that was on the water and had a pool. We spent the week relaxing at the house, reading, playing games, going out to eat, swimming in the pool… Our one big activity for the week was a private charter and snorkeling trip out of Key West with Dream Chaser Charters, who we would definitely recommend. We had a great day being out on the water, snorkeling and they even served us a delicious lunch. At the end of the week we drove up to Miami and spent a fun night there in The Angler’s Resort. It was a fun and relaxing week. Click on the photo above to see the album from our time in the Keys.

Aaron and I spent a day with Justin and Brian back in March. It probably won’t surprise anyone to hear at 3 years old, Justin has mastered the iPhone. He got the whole slide to unlock thing, and the drag finger to change screens a long time ago – but now he’s using apps, playing games. We keep telling his parents he needs one of his own, but their not going for it – yet :)
Here’s a small album of photos from hanging out with the nephews.