Grateful Friday

Today I give thanks for...

The ice cream man (despite the fact that every freezer burned treat costs $2.50).


Dessert before dinner.

Peanut's idea of being a part of the action...keeping an eye from a safe distance. In his defense, there were 5 kids in the house and 8 in the yard!

Friends...tweens...twins.

Taking my daughter to see her first musical last weekend.

Wicked. I got the chills when Elphaba defied gravity and my tears were flowing during For Good.

Mah Jong.

24 hour play dates. Miss Bit went to swim at her friend G.'s and then they came to our house to play for a few hours and have dinner before going back to G.'s house to spend the night and swim in the morning.

My hubby is now on board with the 2 year Disney plan. He confessed this week that Disney was THE best vacation and that 4 years will be too long to wait to go again.

My hubby brought me flowers just because this week.

Birthday celebrations that last all week. Miss Bit's 6th birthday luau is tomorrow in our back yard. Yikes!

Grandmas and Grandpas and Aunt Jess for coming to help contain the chaos that is sure to be caused by 17 kids.

Playful kids and kitties. T. Bone and Miss Bit giving little Geno "social work."

Photo sessions with Miss Bit.

Tigger's idea of being in on the action...being right in the thick of things. He's taking a turn pretending to be Tony Hawk!

(And here he is watching hubby and I play- I mean watching me backgammon my hubby.)

Scarfs. It may be in the 90s, but this girl has a new found obsession with scarves!

T. Bone made his own (frozen) waffles the other morning and then wanted me to take a picture of them for my blog. Ta da! He also learned how to make a frozen pizza. I think he's about ready to get his own apartment.

A walk this morning before the heat and humidity set in.

Our air condo is fixed. Now onto the dehumidifier, phones, microwave and kitchen fan! When it rains it pours!

Losing our power for 24 hours this week. It was a rather rude awakening for the kids...especially T. Bone. Instead of playing on the computer, they played games together. I read and napped. When the power went on, he was over the moon and on line in nano seconds.

Deep Woods Off!

Pretzels with cheese.

Barbara Kingsolver has a new book out.

It's a Feeling I Know All Too Well

At 11:15 last night Miss Bit called home. She was having a sleepover at her friend, G.'s house. She wanted to talk to me because she just missed her Mama. I was fast and deep asleep when she called and a little disoriented in the moment, but something I said made her feel better.

This morning G.'s Mom called to tell me that the rest of the night went like a dream. She thought it was so sweet that Miss Bit missed me and told me that she asked her if there was something she could do to help her last night when she felt sad. Miss Bit said, "No. I don't know why, but sometimes I just miss my Mom so much and I just need her. Can you just call her?" Sometimes mamas just need to hear that. I tell mine every night.

Wicked Wet Weekend

It was my second time seeing Wicked. I contemplated passing up the production this time around, but I'm glad I didn't because I really enjoyed it again, and it moved me - at times to tears. The tears came because I love the message and the music, and because I wished my Mom was there sharing this girl's day out with Miss Bit and her other Grandmas. I wished that she was there to share it with me. I quite simply missed her more than ususal.

I got serious chills at the end of the first act during Defying Gravity. I thought that the way they pulled it off was poignant and powerful. During intermission, Miss Bit revealed to no one's surprise that her favorite character was Galinda. I surmised aloud that her affection for the Good Witch had everything to do with her beautiful dress, and my girl quickly corrected me, "She had FOUR beautiful dresses Mom!" Guess the costume designer is earning her paycheck.

She proclaimed that her favorite part was when they (Elphaba and Galinda) become friends during Popular. She made me lol the other day when she reenacted Galinda's flirting tips: "Toss (hair), toss (hair), hehehehehe (giggle)." So, of course, she's been doing it ever since. My girl loves an audience...makes me think it's no coincidence that I got the schedule for acting classes in the mail Monday morning. Before the show, we curled her hair, did her make-up (lip gloss and powder), painted her nails and put on her fancy Elphaba green dress, shoes and jewelry. She spent the next hour while I got ready going from mirror to mirror admiring herself adoringly.

In all seriousness though, I was most impressed by her interprtation of the message of the show. Her own words when asked were, "To be a good friend to everyone even if they're green." I chimed in saying, "I agree...it doesn't matter what you look like." She added, "What matters is what's in your heart." She may be only newly 6, but sometimes she is so wise beyond her years.

In fact, she turned 6 on Saturday, and we spent the day celebrating at one of her most favorite places...the beach with some of her favorite people. There were chicken fights to wage, rafts to swim to, sand castles to build, handstand contests to win, slides to go down, tubes to take a rest on...just good, old fashioned fun to be had. I don't think T. Bone or Miss Bit got out of the water all day except to grab a quick snack every once in awhile, and there were plenty of those thanks to my Aunt and Uncle who bring everything but the kitchen sink to the beach. In fact, we were all a little water logged, but we dried off, packed up and headed over to my Aunt and Uncle's to continue the celebration with a steak dinner she just whipped up, birthday presents and adorable cupcakes if I don't say so myself. My girl had a great time! She ate half a rib eye, devoured a cupcke and loved every present she opened. She is so happy to be the proud owner of a pink DS and she will without a doubt be the best dressed kid in school!

She's the best gift of all though! Happy birthday Cutie!

Grateful Friday

Today I give thanks for...

This girl. She turns 6 tomorrow. She's made our lives richer, brighter and far more beautiful.

Dreaming about where we'll go next...the travels that await us in the future.

The way my kids love the ocean and how spending time in it reveals so much about their personalities. T. Bone is cautious and careful, and Miss Bit is absolutely fearless.

T. Bone got up our last morning of vacation and went over to make himself breakfast. He is a wafflemeister for certain. Now if he would just do that at home.

Chivalry.

The amazing weather we had in Cape Cod. It truly could not have been more perfect.

The beach houses. They all are similar, and yet so unique. I wanted to see the insides of many of them, and coveted all of them.

My happy tavelers. They go with the flow and have so much fun on the go.

Priorities.

Little girls in pearls. The pretty set was her gift from the brides.

In the middle of the Jack Johnson concert a couple weeks ago, Paula Fuga joined him on stage to sing Country Road. I was so surprised and so happy that I wasn't in the bathroom. I'll never, ever forget it!

Lobster Rolls.

Clean laundry and clean sheets and sleeping in my own bed in my own quiet house. Our first night of vacation, the people above us kept us up from 1-4 a.m. Don't worry...when we verified their room number early the next morning, we gave them a wake up call (or 2)!

The beach stains came out of Miss Bit's flower girl dress.

Miss Bit was a dancing maniac at the wedding. She stepped off the floor at one point and Grandma asked her to dance. She declined because she was already dancing with someone. She thought better of it, and came to invite Grandma to dance with them. Her partner divulged to Grandma that Miss Bit asked her if it was ok if her Grandma joined them. What a package...cuteness, compassion and manners.

Playdates for T. Bone and Miss Bit both days they were campless this week. Miss Bit also had a mid-week sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's and a day at Camp Grandma.

My fil is doing really well after having his knee replaced.

Tomorrow we are going to the beach. We didn't get enough of it last weekend. It's going to be a perfect day.

Sunday the girls are going to Wicked!

Anatomy of a Way Beyond Wonderful Weekend

I'm up much earlier than I need to be this morning. I just saw T. Bone off for an exciting trip to an "Awesome" water park he's been talking nonstop about all week. There hasn't been time to write about our equally amazing trip to the Cape since we've been back. Looking at the rest of the week...the fast approaching weekend...heck, all of the month of August...it appears that there's no time like the present so here it goes.

Cape Cod, specifically Provincetown, is in the same good company as the other places we've been lucky to visit this year: there was too much to see and experience in the busy time we were there. It was another vacation that left me scratching my head as to why we didn't tack a day or two more on before or after the festivities that brought us to the tippy top of the peninsula in the first place. Forget work, don't remind me about vacation time, or mention cats and budgets. I have great memories of Cape Cod and Provincetown, which is a colorful city bursting with energy, yet chill at the same time. Such it is, I surmise, when your city is surrounded by the sea. We could have spent the whole summer there and still not shopped in all the stores, sampled all the restaurants, browsed all the galleries or beach combed all the shores. The narrow, cottage lined streets are a constant parade of dogs, people, dogs, bikes, dogs and more dogs while the beaches offer a serene respite from the flurry of activity. Driving on Commercial Street is more harrowing than getting behind the wheel in Manhattan at rush hour, and pedestrians have to be bold and brave to claim space on well traveled main drags (no pun intended).

We traveled with my Dad and Step-Mom so I had one of the most enjoyable, relaxing flights ever since having children. Grandpa and T. Bone played Uno and War while Grandma and Miss Bit played Tic, Tac, Toe and Hangman. My hubby and I were able to read almost uninterrupted for 2 hours straight! Everything went off with nary a hitch and before long we were packed like sardines into our "elite" rental car driving up to the Cape. It may have seated 7, but did not have room for as many suitcases.


We stopped not far out of Boston in quaint, historic Plymouth to see what's left of Plymouth Rock, view a replica of the Mayflower from a distance and eat copious amounts of lobster washed down with Sam Adams at a waterfront establishment. I was thankful that my Dad, the history major, didn't harass me too much for telling T. Bone that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella commissioned the Mayflower. Hello, 1620 is clearly engraved on the face of THE rock. I don't think my boy was listening though because both he and his sister had one thing on the brain...the beach: getting to it, getting in it. We ordered so much lobster that I'm ashamed to say we couldn't possibly finish it. We did eat every last noodle of our lobster mac and cheese dish, nonetheless, because even though it was 95 degrees and 95 percent humidity, there was no way we were leaving a single buttery, creamy, belly bomb of a bite.

Before we could even take stock of our quaint (as in closet-sized) rooms (at least they had ocean views), T. Bone and Miss Bit were bathing suited up and ready to take a dip. First they hit the beach and then they christened the pool. They were so exhausted by the time we went next door for dinner after dark that they ate a couple bites and then put their heads down on the table to take ten. Grandpa took mercy on their beyond tired souls and walked them home while the rest of us finished our tasty pizza carbonara. I think that maybe Grandpa was a little tuckered out too after all those cards.

Every morning started the very same wonderful way: breakfast on the patio followed by a walk on the beach followed by a swim. Low tide left the beach strewn with creatures and treasures much to the kids' delight. My hubby had just as much fun catching crabs and eels as the kids. Miss Bit was particularly fond of the mussels. T. Bone's best find was a starfish.

Unfortunately, once I saw what was crawling all over the ocean floor, I couldn't get in the ocean above my shins on the harbor side anymore. We made our way over to the ocean side one day and enjoyed the bigger surf and sandy bottoms at Race Point Beach. Although a sign posted warned of the seal pups, we didn't see any. Thankfully, we also didn't see their main predator: the great white shark. I'm glad I didn't know that 20 were spotted not far from where we were over the weekend until we were Boston-bound again. We did see a dolphin though. We had fun playing frisbee and football, and also free floating around in the waves.

Friday evening we attended the rehearsal for my cousin's wedding. Miss Bit was honored to be their flower girl. The dinner following the dry run was at a local inn and I'm almost sure that we were served everything on the menu. We were convinced that the ample number of substantial appetizers served was the meal, and then out came everything from lamb chops to scallops to plantains to cous cous to chicken piccata to pasta to grilled vegetables - and everything was delicious. (My cousin is part Italian perhaps you should know.) We were beyond full. The kids were thrilled to be served pizza at the kid's table. Shhh...so were we. I almost forgot I had kids. After the lovely dinner, toasts and dessert, we continued the evening's celebration in the front garden of The Prince Albert where many wedding guests and the brides were staying. The adults visited with each other and interesting passersby while the kids ran through the Inn and around the gardens making their own fun. I was surprised that nothing was broken considering the number of antiques and tchotchkes all around (see picture below).


The next day was the day of the big, beautiful event. Really everything and everyone was beautiful...the day, and even the light rain that fell for a few moments while we waited in the dry trolley. Just a little rain on the wedding day signaling good luck for the newlyweds.

The flower girl...

The family...

The wedding party...

The brides and their heartfelt vows...

The flowers...

The cake...

The venue - overlooking the water seemingly in the middle of nowhere, crisp white tables scattered with shining sea glass, simple hydrangea centerpieces, colorful paper lanterns, romantic white lights and candlelight. Table #3 was the kids table and it had the best centerpiece of all...a galvanized bucket filled to the brim with toys. Can you say brilliant?

After a delicious dinner everyone loosened up. I love this simple shot of T. Bone getting casual.

The dancing began. There's nothing kids love more at a wedding than dancing. There's nothing little girls love more than dancing with the bride. Miss Bit hit the jackpot...she got two of them and was absolutely awestruck. She boogied most of the night with whoever would twirl, swing or dip her. She was a riot during Single Ladies pointing to her ring finger whenever the chorus came on. Her new favorite song is Bad Romance. The boys took turns break dancing in between games of poker. The pit boss...my Dad, their chips...sea glass. At the end of the night they took handfuls out onto the deck and gave the brilliant aqua, azuline, celadon, citrine, topaz and teal treasures back to the sea making wishes as they released them. I hope they all come true because I'm quite certain my kids were wishing for more vacations on the Cape.

Hubby and I enjoyed our Cape Cod Cranberry Cocktail wedding favors on the deck after we tucked the kids in. Morning came early...especially since we set the alarm for 7:30 so we could get maximum beach time before heading back to Boston mid-day.

The vacation ended much the way it began: we drove down the Cape, stopped in Plymouth, but this time for ice cream, and then the boys played poker in the terminal before take off, but this time the chips were pistachios.

I could have taken at least one hundred more photos, but all I can say is that the wedding...the weekend is indelibly etched in my mind. I will forever cherish the memories shared with the ones I love made there. I'll forever remember that Cape Cod state of mind, and all of the big and little touches the brides added to make the experience just so special.

I'm in serious wedding withdrawal. Anyone need a darn cute flower girl?

Next family wedding...Miss Bit, Bermuda? Cape Cod? The beach, groom and date TBA.