Memorial Day Weekend

Since Todd and I were both fully vaccinated (plus two weeks for both) and Natalie had at least one vaccine (plus almost 2 weeks), we decided to go down to Plymouth for Memorial Day weekend to see Todd's parents and (one) sister for the first time in about 8 months.

Big hugs for his Dad!  Bean, are you on your tiptoes to hug Todd these days??? 

KK came by in the morning Saturday and Todd took this picture as I strolled out of bed, probably around 9-10 am ha ha.  Todd is perfecting his mad scientist look!  Or by the looks of what is on his computer... his mad Dungeon Master look!

We had a nice family dinner with Todd's parents, sister Kathleen and Aunt Betty on Saturday evening. I'd like to say we got a picture that was better than this but, nope.  I think we took 8 pictures, and Aunt Betty was cut off in half, most were too dark, and KK was hiding behind Bean in the other half.

Close.  But we lost a KK, Grant looks terrified, and Grammi looks like she's crying.

This was, most unfortunately, the forecast for Memorial Day weekend.  Upper 40s on Saturday and a TON of rain all weekend.  Not exactly a stellar weekend. But, in my best dad voice, we needed the rain!

On Sunday morning, we went to in-person church for the first time since last March!  They still had rows roped off and we were a large enough family for one row.  After church, Grant had mentioned that he wanted to see Plymouth Rock, so we swung by downtown for a 5 minute visit to the rock.  It was FREEZING.

Todd and Natalie at Plymouth Rock!

Rather underwhelming, but it makes for a good story!

Kids, stand here and learn some history while we freeze our tushies off.

The wind was really whipping in off of the water. It felt like a Nor'Easter!

Leaving the downtown area by Plymouth Rock, we saw a statue of William Bradford. He was the first governor of Plymouth Colony, and was originally from West Riding, Yorkshire.  I actually have some family from that area!

After church, we went over to Aunt Betty and Shirley's house for a big lobster dinner.  Don't worry. Aunt Betty employed the kids to get cracking (pun intended) on these lobsters!

Natalie, of course, was super into it. She was happy to help, and excited to eat lobster. No task is too daunting for her!

Grant, on the other hand, looks at me and says, "I didn't sign up for this!"  He didn't like the smell of the lobsters, and he didn't like the taste.

Natalie was in charge of separating (and shaking out) the bodies and claws from the tails.  Grant was in charge of taking off the rubber bands around their claws.

He had a little trouble because it's hard to remove the rubber bands when you have gloves on!

Nat, meanwhile, was loving it!

I can just TELL from Grant's face here that he is so grumpy about this, but trying really hard not to show it!

Adriel and Shirley are inspecting Grant's work after cleaning off the counter to make room for some lobster bodies.

Grammi is here to give him a few tips on how to eat a lobster and what the best parts are. (Claws, duh).

Here buddy, try some lobster.  I think he was about 4 seconds from a meltdown here.  He really didn't want any part of this.  He did try it though!  He got a nice piece from a claw, but still didn't like it.

Nat says, gimme all da lobstah! 

This guy ALSO loved the lobster!

At some point, when I was talking to my new friend Adriel (who lives in DC) about work and life and hanging out with former Presidents, apparently Todd was introducing Warren to SnapChat. 

We had a lovely time at Aunt Betty's house, as usual.  Always grateful for a fantastic meal, great conversations, new friends and our wonderful family!

Thankfully, it won't be so long before we go to Plymouth again!

May 2021 Bailey Fun

 The month of May in Massachusetts was WARM!  And that means we went out and did things!

Todd has been growing out his long, flowing locks which he hasn't cut since October.  When he puts a baseball hat on, he could pass for a member of the Red Sox.

EXACTLY two weeks after my friend Heather (not pictured here cause she was sitting next to me) got her second vaccine (which was the day after me), we met up with Sara and Michele and we FINALLY got to hug each other AND eat INSIDE OF A RESTAURANT. 

THIS was the moment I had been waiting for.  Finally, someone brought me a beer that I didn't have to pour myself!

Meanwhile, the kids had a sleepover in the back porch of the Tally house.  At one point, they all came outside and jumped on the trampoline!  Let's just say, it was a LONG night.

In May, I also got the garden all cleaned up and ready for some mulching.

YOU GUYS IT'S GETTING WORSE.

We ALSO finally had 8 windows replaced in our house! We ordered these windows in October, but the supply chain has been so backed up, we didn't get them until May.

Out with the old metal, difficult-to-open, potential fire hazard windows!

I went for a midday walk around the neighborhood and they were trying to get our living room window out.  Apparently, they said it was quite difficult to pop these windows out!  It took a long time, and a lot of loud power tools!

We had to clean the house pretty good after all of this because the open windows just let all the pollen in. Thankfully it wasn't too hot outside yet.

I spotted a turkey on another one of my walks!

He finally met up with his turkey friends for a stroll.

My evergreen azaleas were blooming nicely this spring!

One of the COOLEST things to happen to me (and a few other friends) in May was that we became Maker's Mark Ambassador's For Life.  Unfortunately, my barrel matured during Covid and I couldn't go to Loretto, Kentucky to tap it.  I think it's time for another barrel!

I was gone for actual Mother's Day because I was in Florida visiting my own mom.  BUT... when I got back, this was waiting at my dining room seat.  Notice how Todd gave me the crossword and Sudoku from the Sunday Globe!

Todd also finally got fully vaccinated!  Two out of four are done!

However, it pretty much leveled him (as it did me) the day after he got the shot.  No worries, he definitely hated laying on the couch and watching TV all day.

And THEN they approved the Pfizer vaccine for kids ages 12-15!  So we literally went on the second day she was eligible to get Natalie her FIRST Covid vaccine!  We're almost there!  Poor Grant though. He isn't eligible yet!

One evening in May, Grant and Kelsie were out all evening filming a movie trailer for their movie, "Luck Lunch 3" (whatever that means!) on the iPad.  It turned out so well and was hilarious!

The house was really starting to come together by mid May as we finally had some mulch delivered (and installed... I ain't messing with all of that!) It really made the front yard look so much prettier.

They cut a border on the left here where the garden meets the grass.

One day on one of my walks, I spotted some virga in the sky.  Virga is just rain that evaporates before it hits the ground.

And on yet another day while I was walking, I came across this little guy WAY down at the corner of Brimstone and Carriage House Path, well away from the pond where they all live.  He got nervous and froze when I approached him.

Fortunately, my neighbor Lauren and her curious dog Jasper were on their way to the pond, so she grabbed the little guy and took him home.

And of course, the return of warm weather means the return of the ice cream truck!  Natalie, Kelsie and Grant got some treats on this particular day.

But of COURSE the Bolts are back in the Stanley Cup playoffs.  This was just the first round, but it was a good series with many fights!  You can tell Todd cares little for the Bolts as he was busy building his D&D world.

I mentioned it was quite warm in May, too.  Warm enough for Todd to make a pollen-y sweat angel in the front driveway.

We also got to go to Ashland Middle School and see a Midsummer Night's Dream that Natalie and the drama club worked so hard to put on.

They only allowed each student to bring 3 family members, and we were all spaced out by rows and had to wear masks.

Natalie was, of course, the star of the show.  She played both Theseus, the Duke of Athens and Oberon, the King of the Fairies. 

You can see how everyone was spaced out here.  The high school drama students helped out with set design.

When Natalie came out first as Theseus, she spoke with a British accent... and of course, Todd and I looked at each other like, "What??"  But as soon as she came out later as Oberon and spoke in her normal voice, we realized she was doing that to show that these were two different characters.

Titiana says, talk to the hand, Oberon!

Demetrius was insistent that he could love none other than Hermia.

Natalie with Puck, and the rest of the fairies.

Theseus comforting his dear Hyppolyta.

It was a really good play!  These kids worked hard!  Take a bow, Natalie!

It's always tradition to give the star a bouquet of flowers.  We made Grant give it to her because we knew he would love that. Ha!

After the play, we celebrated with some s'mores on the back deck!

The day after Natalie's play, we all went to Lookout Farm for some lunch.  Notice one person isn't wearing sunglasses like the rest of us - so here, I present, "Natalie in a Series."

It's too bright!

She couldn't even keep her eyes open!

Prost, to a beautiful May afternoon at Lookout Farm!

Of course, Todd sent this one to his buddy Kern.

Best. Chicken. Sandwich. EVER.  It has a gooey amount of honey butter on it.

It's bigger than my head, and I ate the whole thing.

My cuties at Lookout Farm in Natick. I love how they space everyone SO far apart here!

Mama's boys.

Then, for some reason, we decided to arm wrestle before we left.

I only wanted this picture cause my arm looks jacked.

Todd's hair is finally long enough for a pony tail!

After lunch at the farm, we went on the back deck and played a little giant Jenga. Grant doesn't play very often, but he and our neighbor AB played a couple of rounds with us.

Lunch at Lookout Farm and Todd's crazy long hair is great, but let's get back to important things like the peonies blooming in my garden!

Here are your late May US Covid numbers.  Booo.  We went over 600,000.

I took this picture one evening of our house and the "runway lights" that Todd had installed down the driveway. I think they're funny, given our love of traveling.  But our neighborhood is incredibly dark at night, so this helps me find my way home when I'm out past sunset!

Last but not least, there is an ALL OUT WAR going on here at the Bailey house.  These little guys, as cute as they are, are digging up my newly mulched garden!  They're digging big tunnels both under the gym garage and over near the front door.  If you hear explosions coming from my house, just ignore them... I'm blowing things up, Bill Murray style! BOOM!