August Chaos... I mean... Fun!

We started off the month of August very broke!

Because we got a new car for this driver!  She was very excited, but not as excited as I was because now I can have my car back!  Ok ok... her car is not a NEW car. But it's new to us!

AND THEN... I had to turn around and go to Kansas City for work like a week after I got back from my mom's. BUT... I was able to drive over to Kansas and have a cappuccino to mark my 40th state! I've been sitting on 39 states for almost a decade. I think it's time to travel more within the US!  Thankfully I was able to visit KC with a cool coworker, Alexis who celebrated this momentous occasion by taking this silly picture of me!

After I had coffee in Kansas, Alexis and I went down to Country Club Plaza, which is a Spanish/Moorish themed "car centric" (their words!) shopping center.

Country Club Plaza is considered to be the "first planned large outdoor suburban shopping center in the United States" - ok, that's good enough for me! Superlative, check! Kansas City is also known as the city of fountains, and we sure found a few at the Plaza!  This is a statue of Neptune, which was cast in 1911 in England for the President of the Baldwin Locomotive Company and eventually brought to KC in 1953.

This bad boy is one of three replicas of the "Wild Boar of Florence" of which the original sits at the entrance of the straw market in the Italian city.  The original was carved in marble by the Greeks before Jesus was born!

At one point, I felt like I was actually IN Florence!  (Ok ok, this is more Spanish tile work but still, it felt similar!)

There was also a small church being torn down in the Plaza area, which was a former Church of Christ, Scientist (that's not to be confused with scientology - this is the one of Christian Science Monitor fame.)  This religion was founded by Mary Baker Eddy (of the famous library in Boston) back in 1879.  I found the whole idea of "God is love" funny here as they are tearing down the church!

After the first day of my workshop, we all went out for BBQ at Jack Stack Barbecue!

And it did NOT disappoint! I had the "BIG PIG" (which don't worry, I said repeatedly because how funny is "BIG PIG"???)  What's on this ginormous sandwich?  Well... it's Pulled Pork, Smoked Ham, Bacon, Smoked Provolone, Fried Onion Ring and Mustard Barbecue sauce. SO GOOD. We all had the best conversations about traveling too - and I sat with three people I didn't know at all, and one woman that I have met a few times... but we all discussed our upcoming travels! We were heading to Hawaii, Croatia and the Czech Republic, Kenya and Tanzania, and Argentina!  How cool is that???

And thankfully the restaurant was within walking distance of my hotel because I needed to walk off THE BIG PIG!  On our way back, I spotted Slowpoke Rodriguez on the side of a building!

We had a lovely sunset when we passed the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts - which reminds me a bit of the Sydney Opera House.

And we just had a lovely evening, even after the sunset!  Had to capture it from my hotel room!

For the second day of our workshop, Alexis, Lori and I grabbed some Insomnia Cookies when we went out for lunch.  Of course, I had the peanut butter one (what? Grant wasn't with me!) and it was insanely good!  Love the little hamburger heart in the background, too.

And after the workshop was over, Alexis and I drove down to see the Kansas City Royals play our Boston Red Sox! You can see Arrowhead Stadium, which is right next door. (Booo Chiefs, Go Bucs!)

But I have always wanted to go to Kauffman Stadium because of the gigantic crown in centerfield and the fountains in the outfield that dance throughout the game.

I finally made it to see the fountains!  This stadium has been around since 1973, and it was a dream of mine as a kid to visit and see the Water Spectacular.

It's the largest publicly funded fountain in the world (which makes sense that it's in the city of fountains) so hey... superlative, check!

Who could forget old scrappy 3rd baseman and 13 time All Star George Brett, who is one of only five people in MLB history to have 3,000 career hits, 300 homeruns and a better-than .300 batting average?  He joins Stan Musial, Willie Mays, Miguel Cabrera, and Hank Aaron in that category - not bad company to keep!

LET'S GO RED SOX!

It didn't turn out well for the Sox, as they lost 8-4, with Bobby Witt, Jr. hitting two home runs for Kansas City. Oh well, at least we got to see the fireworks go off!

And we had our FAVORITE weekend of the summer... Mousam Lake, Maine!  We had planned on going Friday-Sunday, but with the remnants of Hurricane Debby coming through New England, we shifted the trip by one day and drove up on a Saturday.  We were surprised to see our nephew GoGo there for the day!  We were excited to head out on the boat and got to jump into the water up in the northern most park of the lake. The water wasn't too cold!

Gordie: Ummm, is anyone paying attention here? Please turn the boat to the right. 

Grant getting some driving tips from his cousin GoGo.

We passed by Blueberry Island where Natalie always gets nostalgic to go pick blueberries like she did when she was little. Unfortunately, other people have discovered this spot over the years and the blueberries are wiped clean.

Back on land, Grant and Todd played a little game of corn hole.

This year, Grant really enjoyed using the kayak! He dragged it into the water, grabbed the paddle and (eventually) a life vest and headed out into the lake.

Todd enjoyed lounging around. This is far more satisfying at our age than physical labor in a kayak!

Grant always loves a good weekend at the Blue Moose!

After a fun day on the water, we all sat around the fire pit.

And what's a fire pit without s'mores!?  

We had even more beautiful weather on our second day there- so of course, we went back on the boat.  And I FINALLY saw my very first bald eagle! Next up, I just need to see a real, live moose (preferably not on the highway)!

We stopped for a quick swim south of the bridge, on our way back home. The water was weirdly much colder here than it was the day before on the north side of the pond!

Helen took a cute picture of the four of us floating around!

We weren't out on the lake too long, so we came back and floated around the dock area of the Blue Moose. Here is a bathing beauty, enjoying Mousam Lake.

Then Grant picked Natalie up and chauffeured her around the lake with his kayak.

Drag me around, clown!

Mousam Lake is always so peaceful in the evening after the boats have returned and children are no longer in the lake yelling at each other (and by children, I mean mine). 

Now it's time for a smack talking rivalry among siblings!

Game time continued into the evening. My mom got us this game and we think it's SO funny!  Gordie and Helen were MUCH better at this than me! Think beer pong, but harder.

Todd floated in the water after dinner but Nat and I sat on the dock and he took this cute picture of us!

Later in the evening, we enjoyed another fire pit and this time, we had a visitor.  I thought he was cute!

On Monday, there was time for one more dip in the lake before we went drove back to Massachusetts.  I had to work a bit Monday morning, so when I finally got down to the lake, this is what I found.  Grant dragging around BOTH his sister and dad. Ha!

Until next time, Mousam Lake!  Until next time, summer!

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!