Vacation!

Well...it has been a while since I blogged...we were on vacation.  In the past when we have gone on vacation, I bring my camera and try to capture every single detail.  This time, I decided to enjoy my family. Take photos occasionally, and give myself a break.  I took photos, uploaded them onto my computer and have not edited them yet.  I have some really great shots and we got some great family photos as well.  This is rare since I am never in the photos, I am always the one taking them.

Friday night we got to NH.  Our friends joined us with their girls and we surprised Ava by not telling her that they were coming.  Her face was so surprised to see it was them who pulled into the driveway!  The girls stayed in the bunk room that night and were up until 11pm talking!  The next morning we headed straight for Storyland!  We got there around 10:30ish and closed the park at 6.  The kids had a great time and we even met up with some friends at the park as well.  It was so fun to have a bunch of people there that we knew.  It gave us parents some time to chat with each other while the kids went on rides or while we went on rides with the kids.  We headed back to the house and all had some Flatbread Pizza.  The pizza was delicious and the kids were up until 10pm talking in bed that night!

Sunday we headed for Echo Lake.  I hadn't been there since i was a kid myself.  As I get older, I become increasingly more afraid of bears.  I have never come across a bear in the 40 years I have been going to NH, but I have heard stories of people who have seen them around and even in our neighborhood!!  Because of that, it has really limited where I will go when we go up there.  (Hence the not going to Echo lake for years) but, I braved it and went to the lake.  The kids had a GREAT time swimming, making friends with other kids there and playing.  Manny sat in the lake and splashed and laughed...we have some great photos of him doing this, my friend has the images.  :-)

Our friends left us on Sunday night and Monday we did a little outlet shopping for back to school.  Ava's clothes still pretty much fit her and since last year we made it through about 3-4 months of her not repeating an outfit, we didn't have to buy much.  Her feet however grew two sizes!  We also got Manny his first little pair of Robbies with little puppies on them.  I really like the shoes...they stay on his feet and let his feet grip the ground naturally.  It has been too hot for shoes and he hasn't worn shoes really at all yet.  It will be fun to see him dressed in the fall with a complete outfit on.

Tuesday we headed straight for Santa's village!  They added a new waterpark to the park and they have improved on the entertainment.  They have people walking around the park singing and telling stories.  Ava loves to feed the raindeer and she was very excited to see the giant nativity scene.  I swear sometimes I think she is going to be a nun someday.

Wednesday we had breakfast, packed up and hit the road to come home.  It was nice to be on our way back and I was looking forward to spending a couple of days with Kathleen and Beth.  Kathleen is visiting from MN this weekend and she brought her daughter Kylie with her.  Beth was spending a few days on Nantucket and was going to join us for a big girls sleep over and we were to head to the beach the next day.  Unfortunately, I received some very bad news that my godfather passed away and our plans were canceled.  I did manage to see Kathleen and Kylie and we had a nice lunch at Bertucci's.  My old stomping grounds.  The past couple of days with the wake and the funeral have been really tiring.  It is hard for me to see the street I grew up on change.  So many people have passed away, it really makes me want my childhood back for even just a minute when I wore my bathing suit all day in the summer, hopped from pool to pool...even a sprinkler or two in there...my mother calling me in for supper, and staying out until the street lights came on.  I am lucky that I had a great childhood and many family members and close friends were part of my street.  A lot of them still live there and that makes me so glad.

Today it is a beautiful day and I have the windows open.  I am catching up on laundry, housework, and actually looking forward to going to the grocery store alone to stock our cabinets that right now have cobwebs in them.  This afternoon we are off to a cook out with some of Jose's close friends from his high school.  They are all super nice people and I know we will have a good time.

I think this is the most I ever wrote at one sitting...blogging or otherwise.  I will post photos later.  Now, get out there and enjoy this beautiful Saturday!  Get off your computers!