Short Week in Massachusetts

We just got back from a short week in Massachusetts - drove up on Sunday and back on Saturday. My mom and I were talking this week about how years ago when my kids were small, I used to stay up there with the  kids for 3-4 weeks!  Mark would drive up with us and then fly back home to work, then fly back up to spend the last couple of days before driving us all home. Then as the kids got older and there were jobs and sports and classes and missions trips to work around, the trips got shorter.  This time, it was just 3 of us for the first time ever-  me, Mark, and J - so we didn't even need to drive the big van!  That felt really strange.

We stayed with my parents and got to visit both my and Mark's family, since we grew up in neighboring towns and went to the same high school.  My  niece, who is 10, slept over at Grammy and Grampa's for the week so she could hang out with us.  That is the one good thing about living far away - when we visit, we LIVE together for days and days.  It doesn't really make up for the time spent apart, but at least it helps.  We had perfect summer weather all week -  mid-80's, with 60's at night. So much more comfortable than the 100's that were baking things here at home! 

J and Mark got to go to an afternoon Red Sox game at Fenway Park, which they both LOVED.  They also got in some good games of badminton in the backyard during the week, and J and I played bocce on Grandpa's real bocce court!

On another day, the 3 of us, my mom, and my niece went out on a Whale Watch with Capt.John Boats, out of Plymouth, MA.  I had done that with my 3 older kids when they were young, and now J got to see the humpback and minke whales spouting, surfacing, and diving all around us.  The naturalist on board the boat narrated the whole time, telling us exactly what we were seeing and also interesting information about the whales, their habits, and the things that she and other researchers are studying and learning about them!  It was VERY cool! 

Going to the Drive-In movie was another treat that we look forward to every summer. It brings back memories of me and my 2 brothers and my sister, clad in pajamas, laid out with our pillows and blankets in the back of our family station wagon with popcorn and drinks brought from home, watching "The Sound of Music" or "Fantastic Voyage" or "The Pink Panther".  Later, it was me and my friends or me and my date....
This time, it was me, Mark, J and A,  watching "Captain America", still eating popcorn and drinks brought from home.