Home again

After we finished looking round Boston we had a day of relaxing before setting off on our travels again. Dan & Philippa Storr arrived at the cottages we were staying at on the Saturday so we had a couple of drinks with them and caught up with all their news before they return to Britain after spending this last year in the US. It was great to see familiar faces again, we miss all our friends and family so much.
After Massachusetts it was off to Rhode Island for lunch in Newport (a lovely little town) and then overnight in Connecticut. Monday saw us arrive in New York and get upgraded to a suite at the Hampton Inn on Staten Island. We had a very busy day in NYC, the photo above is taken on top of the Rockefeller Centre, thanks to Phil & Dan for telling us to go there instead of the Empire State Building. We also had time for a walk through Central Park, a walk across Brooklyn Bridge, a visit to the big space & science museum and for Nick to get on a subway without us...this left the children in tears and very distraught however I managed to keep my head and met up with Nick safely about 15 minutes later (Nick had not only got on the subway without us, he got on the wrong subway without us, doh!)

A beach on Cape Cod.

The beach outside our cottage in Massachusetts on a rare sunny day!

Next stop or state was Pennsylvania, we had lunch in Philly (no cheese steaks, though) and then overnight in a lovely old hotel in Abbotstown before arriving at Gettysburg for a very interesting and moving piece of history. After that we were back in the car and on to Maryland for a cup of coffee before heading into Virginia where we visited many colonial sites. I am afraid to see that Tom, Lily and I had lost interest in all things colonial and historic by this time and left Nick to get on with it himself. Sorry Nick.

We were finally coming to the last week of our holiday, a week at the beach in North Carolina where the sun shone every day and we did nothing more onerous than build sandcastles and sunbathe. Nick & Tom visited a big battleship and Lily & I went for a potter around the shops one morning and then we drove home today.

So we started out in Alabama then drove through Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York State, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and then back to finally back to Sweet Home Alabama.

Approx 2100 miles later

Whale watching off the coast of Gloucester, Mass.

Niagara Falls.

After leaving Alabama last Tuesday, we drove north through Tennessee and Kentucky where we stayed overnight and visited Mammoth Caves. Then the next stop was Cincinnatti, Ohio for lunch and a walkabout before ending up at Niagara Falls, NY. Fantastic.

Next we drove through Vermont and New Hampshire stopping off at the Ben & Jerry Ice Cream factory for a 30 min tour and a free sample of ice cream. Delicious.

Next up was Whale watching in Massachussets before finally arriving at our first week long stop just outside of Boston. So far we have visited Concord, Lexington, Salem, Plimouth & The Mayflower II and spent all day in Boston taking in the sights. Today we had a trip out to Cape Cod and tomorrow we are back to Boston for some museum visits. Phew.

Friends

Nick got home on Friday and we had a quiet night in preparation for our busy weekend of socialising that lay ahead of us.
Saturday night, Kate, Anthony and Ben, Alex & Maddy came round for a barbecue and a farewell drink. It was a lovely evening and I think we all managed to say goodbye without any tears. They are heading back to Australia now so we don't know when we shall see them again.
On Sunday Tim & Deanna came round with Ethan & Willa to look after Tom & lily while we went to the theatre to see 'A Comedy of Errors'. Very funny. After we got back from that Marie & Shaun came round with Jess & Bethan and Tom & Sian came round with Johnathon & Matthew.
The children had a great time in the pool and got to bed very late again.
So that was our busy weekend and thankfully no hangovers - just very tired yesterday and okay so far today. Today I need to clean the house and pack for our holiday which starts tomorrow and Bethan & Jess are coming round while Marie goes to Maxwell to watch Shaun graduate from his course. See ya when I get to a computer again.

A busy week

Thursday night we all went round to Kate & Ray's for a British barbecue. Thankfully there was no rain and we had a great time with the new Brits (Tom & Sian Burke with 2 boys Johnathon & Matthew, and Phil & Barbara Jones.)
Nick & I went to see The 3 Musketeers at the theatre on Friday night, I thought it was brilliant and am looking forward to 'A Comedy of Errors' this Sunday. Nick enjoyed it but not as much as me. We had a busy Saturday starting at Craig & Bernice's for a barbecue to say goodbye to everyone who was leaving Maxwell then we went on to Tim & Deanna's for another barbecue and birthday party for Ethan & Willa.

Aurelie, Olivier & Nick watching the water fight.

The children had a great time and so did we.

On Sunday Nick went off to Florida again on another course so the children and I spent the rest of the day lounging. Thankfully the weather has finally arrived (although as I write this it is raining again) and we have spent most of the week swimming and lying around relaxing. Yesterday we went to the cinema to watch 'Up'. Enjoyable, but a bit sad in places. Should have saved it for today as I think it is going to rain all day.

Week One of Summer Vacation completed

After saying goodbye to my parents we had a day at home to ourselves before Nick Drew & Daymion arrived for the Memorial Day Weekend. Nick is currently on a course in Oklahoma with Daymion, so they kindly drove 900 miles to visit for a couple of days. We had a lovely time drinking wine and relaxing, unfortunately the weather was still a bit rubbish but we did manage a quick splash in the pool on Sunday. It was a bit cold though. Not like last May at all. Obviously, since they left on Tuesday we haven't really had any rain since and the temperature is getting back to normal.

Nick got back from Poland on Sunday night and seemed to have enjoyed his trip there, now he is home for a week before heading down to Florida this coming Sunday for another course.

Holiday's over for some and just starting for others.

BBQ in the back garden with Tim & Deanna.

Nick in an arty sunset shot at Destin.

After all the rain we escaped to Destin for a weekend of sun, sea, sand and lunch at Dewey Destins. Gosh, we are so predictable. Came back on Sunday in time for a barbecue with Tim, Deanna, Ethan & Willa.

Then the sunshine kind of went away after that. The weather has been a bit dreary while mum & dad have been visiting so there hasn't been much lounging about around the pool going on.

We have had visits to the park to feed the ducks, fish and turtles. We also went to Jasmine Hill gardens for a walk around their park, the flowers that were out were pretty but we missed the best display by about 2 months. I shall get there earlier next year.

Tom & Lily missed their last day of school today so we could all drive up to Birmingham via The Cheesecake Factory for lunch before saying our goodbyes to Granny & Grampa for another year.

So while mum & dad head back to Britain today at the end of their holiday, Tom & Lily start their long summer holiday today.

Parents & the rain arrive

We have had another quiet few days with not much going on.
Yesterday I travelled up to Atlanta to pick up mum & dad from the airport. After an accident (not involving me) on the Interstate I arrived an hour late and bursting for the loo only to find their flight had not arrived yet. It was due in at 2.20pm and I arrived around 4pm, I finally met up with them at around 6.30pm after they had been diverted to Charlotte to refuel. Due to their delay it did mean we missed all the really bad weather yesterday when we drove back to Montgomery, however....
we had plenty of rain today, over 7 inches fell this morning. Luckily we were at home and were able to bail out the sun room otherwise the family room and our bedroom would have flooded too.

I had to drain the swimming pool 3 times and we emptied many many buckets of water ( I lost count after 10 but it must be somewhere in the region of 20 bucketfuls) out of the sunroom, braving thunder & lightning to do so. All very tiresome. Now I just want a sleep.

Tom having fun last weekend when the weather was nice.