Early in the summer Rita came up for a weekend to visit. Amy and Joe and Justin joined us for a lobster dinner one night over the weekend. Actually, half of us had lobsters and the other half had delicious panini. Justin was fascinated with the lobsters, but kept a safe distance – and as you can see above, he kept the shell crackers handy.

At the end of March Aaron’s Mom came up to visit us for a weekend. While she was in town, we caught up with Leah, a cousin of Aaron’s who we were surprised to learn lives in Brighton. The four of us met at Wu Chon House, a Korean restaurant, for dinner. Aaron estimates that he was about 13 years old the last time he saw Leah and I of course had never met her, so it was really great for us all to be able to have dinner together.

For Aaron’s birthday this year, I took him to New York City for the weekend. The initial inspiration for our trip was Will Ferrell’s Broadway show, You’re Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush . I bought us tickets to see that show and then planned the weekend around it. We ate lot’s of interesting and good food: Turkish Friday night at Ali Baba, Saturday lunch at Katz’s deli (where Aaron had the biggest pastrami sandwich I have ever seen), Saturday dinner we had Korean barbecue at Madangsui and finally a crazy brunch (huge portions – way too much food) at Norma’s. We walked the city a bit, explored some neighborhoods and stayed pretty low key. We had a very relaxing weekend away – a successful celebration if I do say so myself.

Andrew and Rita came up from the Cape to spend the weekend of July fourth with us. We had a cookout on Friday night and Mom, Amy, Joe and Justin joined us. Andrew and Justin were fast friends and it was fun for the rest of us to watch Justin run around the house saying “Andy coming” which is his way of saying ‘come on.’ For the rest of the weekend Andrew and Aaron played video games, watched movies and ran a few errands while Rita and I kept busy in the garden. It’s nice for us to finally have a place where people can come and stay comfortably. On Monday, before Rita and Andrew headed back, we had sundaes at Putnam Pantry, a local candy and ice cream parlor that features a smorgasbord sundae bar. The above picture of Aaron and Andrew enjoying (?) their ice cream was taken there. Click on the photo to see the album from the weekend.

If Aaron needed any further confirmation that the house we bought last fall is the right place for us, he got it in June when a Chipotle, Aaron’s favorite chain restaurant, opened less than 3 miles, and less than a 10 minute car ride, from our house. They don’t recognize him as a regular yet, but I think they will soon. And I’ll even admit that the food is pretty good.

Back at the end of May, Bonney and Emily came east for the second annual Girls Weekend. Last year they came and stayed with me in Salem and we had so much fun, we decided to do it again, but this time to go somewhere new – so the three of us ventured north, to Ogunquit Maine. We rented a 2 bedroom cottage at The Dunes, which was perfectly lovely. It was nothing fancy, but had a small full kitchen, living room with fire place and TV, bathroom, 2 bedrooms, screened in porch and some Adirondack chairs outside from which you could see the ocean. It was pretty sweet. We got pedicures, watched movies, shopped, chartered a sailboat, took a walk along the shore, lounged outside, read books and ate lots of yummy food. Here were some of our favorites:
- The Silver Lining – the sail boat we charted – it was great to be out on the water and we had the boat to ourselves, minus the crew.
- Harbor Candy Shop – an amazing home made candy store – Emily in particular was thrilled to find some candy called divinity? And Aaron did enjoy the fruit slices I brought home for him.
- Caffe Prego – casual pizza/salad/gelato place – we had dinner there one night. Good pizza.
- Barnacle Billy’s – dive fish fry place on the water with outdoor seating. Bonney must have eaten 4 or 5 lobster rolls over the long weekend and claimed theirs was the best.
- MC Perkins Cove – pricey, but good food, beautiful views, nice ambiance.

We had a great time. Next year Girls Weekend might be extended to Girls Week :) Click on the above photo (sorry the colors a little off) to see the album of photos from our trip.

At the end of September Amy, Joe, Justin, Aaron and I went to the Topsfield Fair, a local agricultural town fair. It had everything from farm animals to the world’s biggest pumpkin and entertainment ranging from kids climbing greased poles to amusement park rides. We spent an evening there, wandering and people watching, but really we were there for the food – which for the most part, was totally delicious. Between the four of us we had corn dogs, German potato fries, fried dough, sugared nuts, soft pretzels and the biggest turkey leg I have ever seen. Justin, who has a thing for lights, loved watching the ferris wheel and all the rides that lit up. At the end of the night Amy bought him this toy that had spinning lights inside a clear globe. The above photo is of him playing with it in the car ride home. Click on this picture to see the small album of photos.

Just over a month ago Peter and Maria made it official and were married in Boston. It was a weekend celebration and I think anyone who was there would agree it was a fun time. The weekend started with their rehearsal dinner on Friday night at Maggiano’s . We feasted on family style Italian food and were entertained by James with help from Jen (Maria’s cousin) and Megan (a friend of Peter and Maria) who reenacted the milestones of Peter and Maria’s relationship. This was followed by a slide show that James and Chrissy put together of photos of Peter and Maria from their childhoods to the present. Then on Saturday we checked into our rooms at the Hotel Marlowe where we the reception was going to be held that night. The ceremony was that afternoon at a church in Medford, and then we returned to the Hotel Marlowe for the evening’s festivities. The hotel was great and the reception was a blast. In addition to the traditional eating, drinking, toasting and dancing we were treated to a couple more performances: Peter, James and their friend Bob performed the Apache (jump on it) dance of Youtube fame, which was quite entertaining and later James, dressed as MJ himself, performed a dance to Thriller that Peter, Maria and Maria’s mom joined in on. The retelling and the pictures really can’t do it justice. Needless to say we all had a great time. Sunday morning we had a yummy brunch at the hotel before saying our goodbyes and heading home. Congratulations to Peter and Maria!

Click on the photo above to see the album from the weekend.

This past weekend, Peter and Maria’s friends and families got together for their wedding shower. We were treated to a yummy brunch and got the opportunity to visit and catch up with each other as the guests of honor opened a “few” gifts.
One of the funniest moments of the afternoon came when James “tagged in” for Peter and took over opening presents with Maria for a few rounds. What a good sport. Click on the photo above to see the album of pictures from the party.

Last weekend it was actually warm enough to be outside, and for Amy and Joe that means one thing – grilling. Aaron, Mom and I spent Saturday night at their house for a great cookout. The weather was perfect, so we brought out blankets and Justin’s toys, and had a lovely evening outdoors. We played Frisbee and bocce until the mosquitoes drove us inside, and then Joe grilled us up some dinner. Click on the photo above to see the album. Happy spring!