Other July 2020 Fun

We did some other things in July!  

We actually went out to eat!  Like at a real restaurant!  But this one was outdoors and the table was like, 30 feet away from the next table over.  If you're in the Boston metro area, you MUST visit Belkin Lookout Farm in Natick. 

They brew their own beer and cider, and their food is farm to table and OUT OF THIS WORLD.  

I had the chicken sandwich, which sounds pretty plain but they put HONEY BUTTER on it and it was definitely the best chicken sandwich I've ever had.  The kids had the burgers and devoured them.

We are definitely looking forward to going back!

After lunch, we swung by our old place in Holliston to pick up some mail and to see our best bud Seamus!  Grant was VERY happy.

Pardon me, are you Aaron Burr, sir? We also FINALLY got to see Hamilton!  It was everything I hoped it would be, and more.  We immediately bought the soundtrack and that's pretty much all we've been singing ever since.  

And of course, since it's summer, we had to have fresh berries and whipped cream.  We've had this a few times this summer, as it's pretty much the only way I can get Natalie to eat ANY fruit.

This summer has been really hot (I hope that doesn't mean winter will be really cold!) so Todd got out the slip and slide at one point.  I think slip and slide's should be longer than this!

Todd also FINALLY got our home gym set up!  Actually - we discovered that we CANNOT FIND the clips that hold the barbell on the rack, so the rack is pretty useless at this point.  Todd contacted the company and they just shrugged and said, "We don't make that type anymore. Sorry."  Super disappointing.

We were also able to meet up with the LEGENDARY Mikey at Jack's Abby in Framingham for a brew or two.  He paced himself this time!

Mikey starred in one of my previous posts that you might remember - Adult Oktoberfest! 

Early July was beautiful, and my hydrangea looked SO pretty.  And then it got super hot and we went into a drought and now it looks so sad.

But does your Amazon guy ride a skateboard when he makes his deliveries?

Another thing that happened in July was that we got a new couch!  New rug and new throw pillows to follow.  And I need to have the walls in this room painted because it just doesn't go with my aesthetic.

Time for your monthly total death count in the United States, as of July 10!

I love this picture of my neighbor Jen on her daughter Kelsey's birthday.  The kids had some fun in the pool and we were happy Grant could enjoy birthday treats because Kelsey is allergic to peanuts, too, unfortunately.  That's a good neighbor to have - one that understands!

We also made a new discovery in July.  This is seriously one of the best whiskeys I've ever had.  Goes great in coffee!

As you already know, we took a long weekend trip to Maine to stay at my sister and brother-in-laws house there.  As we were packing up the car, I heard Natalie say, "Ummm, Mommy?  There's something!"  I'm like, "What Natalie?  I don't understand what that means? Like a bug?" And she said, "More like an animal!"  So for the second time in our lives, we had a BAT in our house!  So our trip was delayed by about an hour while we had to call a wildlife control guy to come by and retrieve it.  I couldn't even watch, so Natalie and I locked ourselves in her bedroom.  Todd said the guy took a long pole and gently nudged the bat who just gripped onto the pole and he was able to get him off with an oven mitt of sorts.  Then he drove him down the street and released him! I couldn't help but thinking of Clark Griswold and the squirrel scene... "GONE!"

Every year, Todd's office does a 5k run, but in a Covid world, they decided to scrap it.  Instead, they gave everyone 4 hours of leave to go do something active.  So he and Roger (a guy he works with) went to play golf!

No carts for this guy though.  He had to carry his clubs the whole time!  Phew!  (He said he had Roger take this picture because he knew I loved purple flowers!!)

Summer happy hours on the back deck are the best.  

Lastly, Natalie and I had to go to Newton Wellesley for a cardiology appointment.  Natalie has something called Supraventricular Tachycardia.  It's not dangerous, but it may need some treatment.  Sometimes, when she's just sitting or standing there (as in, not active), her heart starts racing VERY fast for no apparent reason.  It lasts a minute or so, and then it abruptly goes back to normal.  The cardiologist said this would probably get worse as she gets older (with hormones).  Of course, since she can't just make one of these episodes happen on command, they sent us a heart monitor to record it.  Within a week, she had an episode and they were able to verify that it was definitely Supraventricular Tachycardia!  Now we wait for a follow up appointment to see how we will proceed!

And we're on to August!

Summer Trip to Maine

Since we pretty much have to stay away from other people all summer, we decided to take our big summer vacation to.... Todd's sister and brother-in-law's cabin in Maine!  First, let me tell you... we NEVER have a bad time in Maine!  But, last summer we were in Russia, and Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, among many other great countries.  And this summer, our only trip was a 2 hour drive to Maine!  Talk about different times.

We decided to stop at UNH, Todd's alma mater for a picnic lunch on the Thompson Hall Lawn.



I ordered some subs from JP's Grill when we were driving up and Todd ran in to pick them up while we waited in the car.

And then we went to the Thompson Hall Lawn, spread out my favorite picnic blanket from my favorite Scottish friends Pamela and Magnus and we had a feast!



Family selfie in front of Thompson Hall.



We walked around the campus for a little bit and then wound up back in front of Thompson Hall and we took pics in front of the UNH sign that sits in front of the doors.  Maybe one of these kiddos is a future alum?

 And then we continued on to Mousam Lake - and Natalie took this picture as we crossed into Maine.  Breakfast in Massachusetts, lunch in New Hampshire, dinner in Maine!  

Of course, as soon as we got there and got unpacked, we immediately went out in the pontoon boat!

The lake was pretty calm and there weren't a whole lot of people out (it was Friday so that accounted for some of it.)  

Grant was totally ready to go swimming, wearing his goggles on his forehead.

After a quick trip around the lake, we went back to do a little swimming off the dock.  They lowered the level of the lake last winter to work on the nearby dam, so everyone cleaned out the areas around their docks and put in sand.  The muck that used to be there was gross and creepy (and still exists farther out.)

Grant was so funny.  He saw the kayak and decided he wanted to try kayaking.  So he went over to the rack that's next to the shed and got the kayak down all by himself (it's a wonder he didn't hurt himself.)  Then he just hopped in and started kayaking!

I still couldn't believe he just went out and did this.  He did really well and never turned over!

The only downside of the new sandy beach and rocks are that there are some leeches in that area now, which Natalie found out the hard way.  

Of course, we had to get in a few good games of cornhole.  Me and Natalie vs. Todd and Grant.  Natalie was pretty good at it.

Grant though? Not so much. We celebrated when he finally got a beanbag on the board.

After grilling out a yummy dinner, Gordie set up the fire in the pit for some s'mores.

Ahhh, a relaxing end to a beautiful day on the lake.  Goodnight, Moon!

We woke up and everyone had a big breakfast before we went out in the pontoon boat again.  The kids have been begging to go tubing so here we go!

Grant's hair!

Having fun trying to hang on.

Uncle Gordie taking the kids for a ride around Mousam Lake.

Natalie up on her knees on the tube.

Grant said, "Wait, if you can do it, so can I!"

It was a beautiful, warm day on the lake - and there really weren't too many people out.  Probably because people aren't traveling too much right now.

AIRBORNE!

I liked Natalie's face - sheer joy! Or maybe she's screaming?  (No way, she loves this!)

Ha ha, Natalie fell off!  Hands up!

Finally the kids were tired, so we towed them back to the house to drop off the tube before we headed back out on the lake.

Route 109 separates upper Mousam Lake from lower Mousam Lake and it's a TIGHT fit here. 

We wore Grantie out tubing and he just laid his head on my shoulder to take a quick snooze.  Boats do that to me, too. I'm so comfortable and relaxed that I can fall right asleep.

We cruised all the way up to the most northern part of the lake where we decided we were hot and needed to jump into the lake to cool off.

Cooling off in the water gets a big thumbs up from Grant!

Oh you thought since we no longer lived in Europe he would stop doing this?

Bailey's in bathing suits with beers and their babies on a boat in a breeze.

On our way back, we had a planking challenge between Grant and Natalie, right before Helen decided she was going to throw her work phone, credit card and driver license overboard. 😬

Well, there's no retrieving the phone, so we might as well head back under the bridge.  It's so low that everyone can touch!

Still raising the roof even though we've exited the bridge!

We spent much of the rest of the afternoon lounging around in the water off the dock.

Grant did a bit more kayaking, even towing his dad on a tube behind him.

Natalie also tried some kayaking.  Please don't run over your brother, Natalie.

Not quite as confident as Grant, but I'm proud of her for trying!

Then there was the MOST EPIC game of Jenga EVER!  While tall Nauni had to squat to make her moves, Natalie had to eventually get on a chair to put her blocks on top.

It was a family battle between Natalie, Helen and Lauren!  Impressive squats, Helen!

This is where it got dicey for Nat because she was having trouble putting the block on top.  Shorty!

We had another fabulous fire going that evening-  Grant might be dancing here?

I ran down to the dock to get a nice quiet evening pic of the lake.

Meanwhile, Uncle Gordie, Nauni and Natalie were jamming out with some sparklers!

We were fortunate to get THREE great days of weather so of course, on Sunday we had to head out in the Supra!

Here we go!

The Supra isn't as tall as the pontoon boat, so no one could touch the bridge!

This girl is happy on a boat.

Some things NEVER change.  Grant always loved driving Uncle Gordie's boat, or Uncle Dave's boat, or Pop Pop's boat.  He still loves it!

We were disappointed with the crowds at Blueberry Island, which we renamed Covid Island... so we passed on a visit this year.

Of course, there was more lounging in tubes off the dock and a big bonfire after dinner (baked Ziti made by Lulu!)

Uncle Gordie and Grant having deep conversations about geography and history. (I'm not even kidding!)

Our last evening provided us with a beautiful Shapleigh, Maine sunset!

Grant always gives s'mores a thumbs up!  (Note to self, more chocolate and graham crackers next year!)

All good things must come to an end and on Monday morning, we had to head back to Massachusetts.  We had a blast at Mousam Lake and we won't let it be five years before we visit again!

Until next time, Mousam Lake!