Summer, Summer, Summertime!

It's a rough life, but somebody has to do it.....
Two of my lady friends and I, chillaxin' in the pool in Cape Cod, MA


I feel like I've been on a Blog Vacation, because it was Summer and I was busy doing a million (other) things. I guess that's a good thing, right?


Here is a photo montage of our Summer:

Pal with cousins and friends on July 4th in N.H. - What is better than sparklers???


Pal being cocky after catching a frisbee in Vermont



Just some of the beautiful balloons that were about to fly - Vermont



Vermont again - our ambitious group of bike riders ready to hit the trail!



Pal and his cousin DD taking flight in a tethered balloon - Vermont



Exhausted at the end of a long day in Vermont (rough life this kid has, huh?)



Pal with his cousins and Hubby going for a canoe ride in N.H.



Pal and his best buddies - camping in Maine



Okay, lightsticks in Maine *might* be as cool as sparklers in New Hampshire!



A bluebird eating breakfast at our feeder in N.H.



Our last hurrah - Florida in August (and our sweatiest vacation ever!)



The building of "Harry Potter" exhibit at Universal Studios in Florida - we cannot wait for this to open!!!



Pal with Shaggy and Scooby Doo at Universal Studios.



Pal getting eaten by Jaws - Universal Studios.


Shamu show at Sea World, FL



The new "Manta" roller coaster at Sea World, FL. Possibly THE best coaster we've ever ridden!



Dinner with Minnie and cousins at Chef Mickey's in Florida



Mom and Pal with their favorite mouse in the World!



This was our dessert at "T-Rex" in Downtown Disney!



I will leave you with this gift - the sun setting over our hotel in Florida:




I hope you enjoyed the pics from our Summer. I realize how blessed I am to live the life I do, and I am thankful for it.


On to the school year....here comes 5th grade!

-G

We're Off To See The....Mouse!

No wizards for us - we're Mouse fans!

Tomorrow we are headed to Florida for the family trip with Hubby's side. This is an Anniversary celebration trip for Hubby's parents who were married 40 years in June. We didn't go in June because it would've been too hot for my in-law's. Or rather, too hot for me!!! I hate the heat, so why would I leave New England to go to Florida where it's even HOTTER??? 13 of the 15 immediate family are traveling together, so this should be interesting!

This will be Pal's 5th trip to WDW (I know, spoiled brat!). I lost count of how many times I've been there...I know it's over 10 at this point, and that's only since 1990.

My first trip was with my brother and his (then girlfriend) wife, and my (at the time) boyfriend. It was a great time because I was experiencing Disney for the first time, but I should've left the at-the-time-boyfriend at home!!!

After that trip I broke up with the boyfriend. On my husband's birthday. Ironic?

I continued my newfound obsession with Disney by going with my new boyfriend, now Hubby, along with his sister and her (then) boyfriend, now husband. Hubby and bro-in-law would drive his Grandparent's car down to Florida for them so they could fly down, and then his sister and I would fly down with them and we would take our vacation from there. A couple of times we went to Disney, but a couple of other times we went on a cruise and to Marco Island. Those were the greatest times - no kids, no marriage, no worries! Hubby and I refer to those times as "Glory Days".

I also went in 1997 with Hubby's sister, and we rented a convertible sports car! We thought we were hot sh*t!!! We did everything from Busch Gardens to Disney to visiting the Grandparents and some other retired people we knew down there. It was an awesome trip.

Today marks the 10 year Anniversary of my Disney trip with my siblings. We went for 5 days and had a lot of laughs (and a few fights). We still giggle every time we mention certain things about our trip like "Who's that lady?"; "Disney is obsessed with water!!!"; "our brother's clipboard"; "I don't have a mug. Still."

We started taking Pal when he was 2. It was right after 9/11 so there were no crowds. He was in awe of all the activity and we loved watching him. He loved the Playhouse Disney show, until Winnie the Pooh and Friends came on...he turned to me with his nose all scrunched up and said "Can I play with my trucks now?"!!! Too funny, he never did like Pooh. Poor Pooh.

We went back with Pal when he was 4, with my in-law's. They had taken the other 2 grandsons when they were each 4, but we weren't comfortable with them taking Pal by themselves...he would be too much for them to handle. Well, that turned out to be the best decision we ever made, because Papa had a heart-attack about 2 hours after we landed. Luckily, we were with Hubby's cousin who lives down there (and happens to work for Disney!), so she knew the closest hospital and we got him there within minutes of the first chest pains. Thank God he was okay, it was so scary. Papa never did make it to any of the Parks. Then, in the same trip, Pal got bronchitis and we spent 7 hours at the ER with him, and I came down with the stomach bug and missed an entire day at the parks. I was too busy "riding the porcelain bus". Sorry, there's the poop talk again.....

After the previous trip from hell, and after Papa recovered nicely from his heart attack, we decided to give it a go one more time. This time we invited my oldest sister who loves Disney, and hadn't been since our siblings trip in '98. So, it was Hubby, Pal and I, my sister and my in-law's. We had a fabulous time, and Papa even surprised my sister by telling the waitress at "Whispering Canyon Cafe" (an oxymoron) that it was her birthday - they put a brown paper bag over her head because she was so mortified, and the entire restaurant sang Happy Birthday to her!! We laughed so hard because she was so embarrassed. Good times.

And then last year, Hubby kept bugging me to take Pal again, and I kept saying no...until I caved of course. So in 5 weeks time we booked, planned and executed our 4th trip without Pal knowing...We showed up at his school on the last day, dismissed him early and drove straight to the airport - he had NO idea before hand! The look of shock on his face was priceless - it was an awesome moment.

So now here we are at Pal's 5th trip to Disney. He will have his 4 cousins from Hubby's side to play with: 2 older and 2 younger. I'm sure we will take lots of pictures of all 5 boys and I will post one when I get back. My in-law's are excited to travel with (most of) their family. Now all I have to do is survive (most of) their family!!!! Just kidding. Really.

I'll say hi to Mickey Mouse and friends for you all!

G

But I'm NOT Bitter. Really!

So every year, Hubby goes on a "guys trip" with my brother and his friend. They've gone to all different places: Florida, Vegas, Florida, Arizona, Florida...see the pattern? Their denial that they just want to go to Disney World without their children manifests itself with the statement "But we go with them, too....". My husband has even been known to mutter "Disney is no place for kids." This makes me laugh every time I am in Disney World and see parents of miserable children trying to assuage their overtired, spoiled kids with a Mickey Mouse shaped iced cream...OH WAIT, that was ME. Last year! And the year before that, and the year before that!!! Just kidding...it was a bag of popcorn...

But seriously, all kidding aside, I don't really care where Hubby and my brother and their friend go on their trip. I think it's great that they get a chance to get away and just be, well, guys. I think it helps them appreciate what they have at home a little more. This morning Hubby called to say hi and said he was ready to come home. I asked if it was because he was sick of my brother and his friend. His reply was "No, I just miss you and Pal." It was nice to hear that.

Although I have enjoyed my weekend too, I missed having our family unit together. Pal and I went out with my mother-in-law on Friday night, and on Saturday my brother's wife (a.k.a. My Fave Sis-in-law, D!) and I took our 3 kids to the movies and out to lunch - here they are at the restaurant:


After the movies, we were on the way home and Pal asked if he could have his Best Buddy over for a sleepover. I waivered between wanting to have a quiet night alone, and giving in to Pal because he's an only child and I have guilt for that (I lied down until that feeling went away again!!) So in true Mom fashion, the guilt won and we picked up Best Buddy on our way home. This was both Pal and Best Buddy's FIRST EVER "friend" sleepover! It went very well, they went to sleep about 10:45 and slept until 7:30 this morning. Can't complain for a first time deal!! Today Pal's Cub Scout group went to the Harvard Museum of Natural History for their geology requirement. Our requirement was getting in for free before 12 p.m.!! And lunch in Harvard Square of course.

So it was a crazy busy weekend, and the main thing I missed was having Hubby on laundry-duty!!! But now it's Sunday night and the laundry is almost done, Pal has taken a shower, the Red Sox are about to play Game 7 of the ALCS, Hubby comes home tomorrow and I am sitting in my recliner blogging for the first time in a week. Life is good.

Before I sign off, I'd like to ask that you keep Hubby's Nana in your prayers - she's 90 and was just admitted to the ICU. After losing Mrs. D last week I'm not sure Hubby will handle this news too well...thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Have a great week!

G

Good cop, bad cop....

If you read my "One Word Meme", one of my answers refers to an incident involving the police being called to our friend's house. Here is the whole story:

Pal's friend calls and invites him over for a playdate. When it was time to pick him up, I went over and started chatting with the Mom & Dad about their upcoming Disney trip (as you get to know me, my family and my hubby's family - you'll learn that we are all Disney Fanatics! Any chance to share the excitement of going to Disney is relished!) Well, Pal's friend has a little brother who also likes to hang with the "big boys", so when the 3 of them were playing outside, something happened to little brother that sent him inside crying, and Pal's friend followed his little brother inside. Pal was left outside alone, and the doors were shut with the A/C running, so obviously the Disney chatter drowned out any sound from outdoors.

About 5 minutes goes by, and Pal comes in crying hysterically, saying "Why didn't you come and help me??? I was stuck in a thorn bush!!!!" He had little scrapes all over his neck and a few on his back and leg. Of course, I felt horrible for not hearing his cries for help. We cleaned the cuts and he went into the living room with friend and little brother.

Disney chatter resumes....until loud KNOCK - KNOCK - KNOCK on door. Friend's Mom opens the door and there is a POLICE OFFICER standing there. She opens the door and says "Can I help you, officer?" He wants to know if we happened to hear any "frantic calls for help" coming from the area!!!! OH.My.God-in-Heaven. I nearly fainted.

A concerned neighbor of theirs apparently heard the unanswered cries coming from somewhere around the area, but couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from, so the Police had done a house-to-house search for the victim!!!!

Officer was very understanding, but also wanted "a look at the boy"! I had to call Pal out to the kitchen for the Officer to check our story out!!! Oy Vey. And this is NOT the first time our town Police have been involved with Pal. I'll save the details of that for another time!!!

I can't stop apologizing to friend's Mom & Dad for embarrassing them!!!!

I swear a year is shaved off my life when I think of the teenage years. Hopefully they won't involve Police Officers.





G