Super Summer: Part I- Lake Michigan Adventures

Summer at the Rock with Nana! Whoohoooo!!!



Cousin love. There is nothing like getting together with cousins to ratchet up the excitement of a summer trip. They wake up with us, they eat breakfast with us, they have temper tantrums with us (usually after the sugar cereal rush has peaked), they go on adventures with us, they swim with us and encourage us to go out deep, they bathe with us (to a point), they talk us into ordering exotic foods we normally never would have chosen (fried chicken wings for dinner? superman ice cream?), and they stay up way too late with us. Pure heaven.













Although the Michigan trip started off with a rough weekend as we got the sad news of Grandma Rita's death, we carried on with the spirit of triumph over tragedy that she would have insisted upon. There were so many great stories to tell about Grandma's antics....all of which made us laugh. One of my favorites was the story about how she slid down the banister at Julie & Judd's wedding at age 79, but denied it until we bluffed that we saw it on a security video.

Of course, the major upside of the weekend was getting the opportunity to know Scott's girlfriend, Susan. Excellent baker? Six dozen chocolate chip cookies devoured by the gang in less than 36 hours says YES. Smart & gorgeous? Check and check. Creative and fun? I think talking Carly out of a personal Katrina and proceeding to play a lego game with the cousins for an hour counts for both. Cool hidden talents? Well did I mention that she was on a waterskiiing team growing up and can waterski while doing tricks? I mean seriously! Forget about the lake or beach, Carly wants to know when we'll see Susan again. Me too!



And it was great that Greg finally had a chance to relax. I mean relax. Hell, he deserved it after the long drive, the bonus roundtrip flight home, and the 5 days to himself at home. Okay, perhaps I'm just bitter because I couldn't partake in his tequila party this year. More like party of one!






We will miss the Rock...

Florida 2011

Florida in March is always fantastic. It's great looking forward to the warm sun and even better once we land and see Nana's ridiculously tanned and smiling face awaiting us.

We get to try out our swimming skills that have been dormant all winter. In Teddy's case, we quickly realized that a lifejacket was a must.

We loved the beach. It loved us back. In fact, it followed us home. We are still finding shells in random places.




We braved the parking lot at the local geriatric ice cream shop to enjoy our own scoops.


And then there were memories to make on our first trip to Disney.





There was a bit of confusion when we first sat down on the teacups.


And then Greg took over the wheel and we couldn't stop laughing. Of course, I was laughing less at the excitement of swirling around at 86 mph than I was at Greg looking like a fool working so hard to go fast.








The evidence of a great Disney adventure:


A few more days in Naples before heading home to what would become one of the rainiest springs of all time.

March Visitors!!

Who do you think had fun with their cousins Colin & Michael? Actually, this little big wheel competition was organized by Uncle Kevin, so I blame him for the competitive bug he planted in both Carly and Teddy. It has haunted me at this playground ever since.

Boston Xmas Party & Teddy's Bday 2010