July Chaos ... I mean... Fun!

Ok a couple of these first pictures were at the end of June (like the very last day) but they seemed more at home in the July post.

 

Natalie and Grant didn't have the same last day of school this year (maybe next year when they're both in high school) so we had to recreate the "last day of school" photo like a week after school got out!

Natalie also attended the sports broadcasting summer program at UMass in July which was a two week on-campus program. It really gave us a taste of how things will be next year if she goes away to college!  Before we got her checked in, we grabbed some pizza at Antonio's in Amherst - YUM!

Natalie was assigned to Elm Hall, which is one of the honors dorms where they house the summer program kids. 

The room she was in was a suite with three other girls. It was definitely nicer than Knapp Hall at Auburn!

The room had a living room area which we never had at Auburn, but the bedrooms were a bit smaller.

We got her all unpacked and got her bed set up before we walked around campus a bit.

We took some pictures in the Student Union with a gigantic UMass Amherst sign.

And then went to sit in a gigantic UMass Amherst chair!

I had heard some pretty bad things about the UMass campus but it was surprisingly very pretty!

Of course, the best part of UMass is the Dubois Library which is the THIRD tallest library IN THE WORLD! Superlative, check! Natalie kept saying she wanted to go to the very top floor and check out a book ha ha.

We can't forget to take a picture with the Minuteman Statue!  It was a gift to the school from the class of 1950, which was largely made up of veterans from WWII.

In the evening, there was a welcome presentation to introduce everyone to the professors and the RA's, and to ease the mind of nervous parents who were leaving their kids behind for the first time.

Then we all got to go eat dinner at one of the world famous UMass dining halls.  UMass has won the best campus food award from the Princeton Review for the last 7 years!  And then we had to say goodbye :-(

Bye Nat. We will miss you!

But we won't miss you too much because Todd, Grant and I immediately had plans to visit Charlestown the day after Independence Day to check out the Bunker Hill monument! This monument is 221 feet tall and was dedicated in 1843.  The Marquis de Lafayette laid the first cornerstone of the obelisk which actually stands on Breed's Hill (not Bunker!)

And we ACTUALLY climbed to the top, which was not easy. It was so hot and humid, too - but the views of Boston and the Zakim Bridge are worth it!

From the Bunker Hill monument you can see both the North End (in the distance on the right) and Logan Airport (in the distance on the left). You can also see the USS Constitution and the USS Cassin Young in the middle of the picture.

We were sweaty after climbing 294 steps to the top!

And we were hungry too, so we walked to the nearby Warren Tavern for some lunch.  On the way there, I saw this house for sale - I want this house SO BAD! It's so cute! I mean... it's only 1700 square feet and it sold for 1.7 million but WHATEVER!

Alas, me and my boy made it to the Warren Tavern!  This tavern has been around since 1780 - and even George Washington used to drink here! In fact, his funeral speech was actually given here.  Paul Revere was also known to put back a few in this tavern.

Todd and Grant in front of the OLDEST tavern in Massachusetts! Superlative, check!

Our next stop after lunch was the USS Constitution!

Grant on the deck of Old Ironsides. Total construction for this ship: $302,000. I think we got our money's worth on this one!

The USS Constitution is an active Naval ship that was first launched in 1797!  Of course, people were shorter back then...

Now that Grant is about 5'10", he has to lean over like his dad does!  The last battle that the USS Constitution saw was against the HMS Cyane and HMS Levant in February 1815 off the coast of Madeira, Portugal. The USS Constitution's "heavier guns and heavy construction" (aka: Old Ironsides!) led to a victory in battle. 

After our visit to the USS Constitution, we sat down under a shady tree and watched Natalie do a live sports podcast from UMass!

And when that was done, we went over to check out the USS Cassin Young. Too bad Grant will never be in the military because of his peanut allergy.

But he can pretend like he is! The USS Cassin Young saw 7 battles in the Pacific in World War II. The ship is only one of four Fletcher class destroyers still around - of 175 commissioned by the Navy in the early and mid 1940s.

Todd tests his feats of strength against one of the big guns on deck!

The three of us attempted to recreate a photo we took (when it was four of us) back in 2011 but Grant wouldn't sit in my lap! Can you believe him!?

Because this is the photo we were trying to recreate! Look at those babies!

On our way back to the car, we swung in behind what seemed to be an abandoned warehouse because I knew this little historic site was there - the spot where Paul Revere landed after he rowed across the harbor to Charlestown to set forth on his famous midnight ride!

There's a really nice view of the USS Constitution from this spot, too.

They have to move the USS Constitution every 6 months so that the roughest weather doesn't consistently hit her from the same side. "To weather evenly on both sides of its hull, a wooden vessel must shift its position at least once a year," according to the USS Constitution Museum website. This keeps the ship from disintegrating (pretty smart, and obviously it's working!)

On our way out of town, we stopped by the house where Grammi's mother and grandmother used to live! Isn't that crazy!?

Meanwhile, our girl sent us a selfie on the day that they did a studio shoot! She really enjoyed this part of it. I told her to go over to that green screen and give me a weather forecast!

Then we FINALLY got to go pick Natalie up from UMass!  I still can't believe she left me alone with these two boys for two weeks... 

Nat and I wanted to sneak into the UMass football field on our way out of town, but they were having practice out there and we didn't want to get arrested!

Nat was home a whopping four days when I had to fly to Florida because my mom was in the hospital (she's ok! It was touch and go but she's ok!)  On night # (I don't remember, it was all a blur), when we finally felt my mom was out of the woods, my brother, Aunt Sara and I went to Bonefish Grill for some dinner.

And after dinner, I went to Publix to grab some stuff and WHO DO I SEE HERE RANDOMLY ON A SHELF BUT SHOOKY!!!! Like, no other BT21 characters, just my man, Shooky. Sitting here among the vegetables. Looking at me like, listen lady, just keep me away from the milk! (IYKYK!)

A few days into my extended stay in Florida, Natalie went to the Cape with our neighbors.  So Todd and Grant went to see Grammi and Bean and took a few hours to spend at White Horse Beach.

Cap'N Mike's showed up with some lobster rolls and drinks which Grant thought was pretty funny.

Then, because I was still in Florida, Grant got to take my place at Fenway Park for the Foo Fighters concert!  He and Todd went to Yard House for some pre-concert snacks (after a slice at Regina Pizzeria of course).

Jordan and Natalie on the Cape.  Jordan and her family are LITERALLY the nicest people ever. It totally cracked me up when Jordan was like, "Natalie you should be my guest at our Cape house because you are my least dramatic friend!" (Oh Jordan, if you only knew!) They kind of look like they could be sisters here!

Grant had fun with his dad at the Foo Fighters concert at Fenway Park - but he did say it was loud!  ("It's no Playboi Carti but it was fun")

Everyday at my mom's house, it rained. Like a LOT.  No surprise there as it was summer, but I think after 30 years away from Florida, I tend to forget what torrential downpours these summer storms produce!

I was lucky enough to see my sister-in-law (not pictured! Why do we always forget to do that!?) and my cutie nieces and nephew who are about to start 5th grade, 4th grade and KINDERGARTEN! Don't blink, people!  This was the funniest moment of the night because the three of them were hanging around just like this and I said, "DO NOT MOVE! I want to take a selfie!" So Greta had this look of steel on her face and her mom was like, "Greta, why aren't you smiling?" and she responded with, "Because she told me not to move!" So we were genuinely laughing here!

These girls are just so adorable. I was so thankful to Andrea (Jordan and Leah's mom) for sending me some pictures of Natalie's great trip to the Cape because she certainly didn't send me any!

Finally, my mom was discharged from the hospital and I was able to spend a couple of days with her after she was "set free" which was nice. But eventually, I had to get back to the grind... and Tampa Bay sent me off with the most beautiful sunrise.

And we're on to August!  Just wait, it's gonna get even better!