Monday, August 8, 2011

Martha's Vineyard

I'm still trying to catch up on blogging all of the wonderful moments from when we were in the northeast earlier this summer! Thanks to my mom's husband Bill (his family owns a house on Martha's Vineyard), we were able to spend 5 days on Martha's Vineyard, a small island off of the coast of Cape Cod. The picture above was the view from a restaurant that we ate at. Seriously, I could sit and look at that view all day. There's just something so New England about it!
We drove to Cape Cod and took the ferry from there. The kids really enjoyed the ferry ride, especially the sea gulls that flew alongside the boat. Once there, we were able to relax on the porch a lot. My brother Gary and his wife Katie were able to come for a few days and it was awesome to be able to hang with them and catch up on life.One of our favorite places to go is Menemsha Beach where there are loads of amazing rocks to look at. I have to admit that I did bring some rocks back to California.Sky enjoyed looking for critters hiding among the rocks. Another one of our favorite stops is Beadniks, a really cool bead shop. Sky made a bracelet for Aunt Katie and Uncle Bill and Grandma B made an amazing cat necklace for Sky. We had lots of beads left over that we were able to bring home and play around with. And then there were the lobsters! My brother Gary bought a bunch of fresh lobsters and we had them one night for dinner. There is nothing in the world like New England lobsters. Here in California, I think the lobsters come from Australia or something and there is NO comparison.
We enjoyed our wonderful dinner on the front porch in the rocking chairs. There is a very old (the country's oldest?) carousel on Martha's Vineyard and the kids took a few rides on it while we were there. There are metal rings that you have to try to grab as you go around and if you get a brass ring, you get another ride for free. Lila was sporting her Martha's Vineyard shirt which had actually been Sky's from the last time we were here.On the way home we had lunch at the IHOP on Cape Cod. Sky loves IHOP!Brad wanted his picture taken with this whale outside the IHOP.The ride home was brutal because the car we were borrowing didn't have air conditioning and it was a very hot day and a very long car ride. For a portion of the ride, it was 103 degrees as seen on the car dashboard below. Everyone was miserable especially the people in the backseat. But we made a few stops for drinks and cooled off in some air conditioned restaurants and we made it back safely.

Lenny and Joe's

Chances are, if you live in Connecticut, you've heard of Lenny and Joe's. It's a great seafood place by the shore. Most things on the menu are fried and absolutely delicious. I had fried clam strips and they were amazing. I had forgotten about New England seafood...
We got Lila a Lenny and Joe's tshirt and everyone enjoyed their meal. The 45 minute drive from my dad and Jeanne's house to Lenny and Joe's is such a beautiful drive with beauty that is just so New England.There is a carousel there which the kids had fun riding after we ate and then we paid a visit to the ice cream shop there.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Quassy!

While we were in CT, my dad and his wife Jeanne took us all to a wonderful amusement park called Quassy. I remember going here when I was a kid! It was perfect for our kids as the rides were all very tame. Brad's favorite ride was the train. He rode this thing around the park about 5 times.
The nice thing about the rides was that the kids could ride on them without the adults! I totally remember some of these rides from when I went here as a kid myself.
They just built a new wooden coaster called The Wooden Warrior and Sky and Jeanne went on that one together. Sky loves roller coasters and fast rides. She also went on a pretty fast water slide!
After lunch the kids had fun playing in this play area.

This was a smaller roller coaster in the kiddie area that Sky rode about 7 times. Lila even rode it with her twice. The boats are just classic!We also saw an amazing acrobatics show!It was such a beautiful day with such great scenery. I really miss this kind of landscape which is virtually nonexistent in California. Pepere bought some fish food and enjoyed feeding the fish with the kids.Sky and Brad went down this huge slide a few times. The saddest moment of the day was when Brad was turned away from riding the bumper cars because he didn't meet the height requirements. He had been looking forward to the bumper cars all day and was very upset. Everytime Sky and I came by him in our bumper car he would start crying louder. I made a joke out of it and eventually we were all laughing about it, even Brad. Lila fell asleep toward the end after a thoroughly exhausting, but very enjoyable, day.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Happy 2nd Birthday Lila!

Ken's mom and her husband, Gene, graciously hosted a wonderful birthday party for Lila.
We had a plastic bug hunt and everyone took home a bug catcher and some plastic bugs as a goodie bag.
Lila enjoyed it all-her cake, presents, friends, and family.Here are some of the kids who were at the party (Brad is missing from the picture because he was inside crying about an earache):
Two days later we went to a walk-in clinic and found out that Brad did indeed have an ear infection and Sky had walking pneumonia! They both felt better after the antibiotics started working.
Sky really enjoyed her time with my friend Jessica's daughter, Julia and cousin Ayla.

Ken's mom had so many fun things set up at her house-bubbles, water table, swingset, slip and slide, etc. The kids (and grownups) had a blast. My dad and his wife Jeanne had bought a bunch of balloons for Lila on her birthday.
My grandparents were even able to come to the party!

Thanks Mimi and Grandpa Gene for a wonderful party!