A Homecoming

The weather has been terrible ever since we got back from our vacation. Saturday, however, was a great day and we had a party for Doug and Julie to celebrate their nuptials which took place on June 5, in Blowing Rock, NC. I met Julie's family for the first time; nice people who enjoy shrimp and pie! Even the elusive Matte attended, with his girlfriend Caroline. We had fun drinking together into the night. It was a nice time, and Doug gave a sappy speech about how blown away he is by all the hullabaloo the family gives him and Julie when they come home. Hey, what are homecomings for?

"B" Women

Laura, Me and Julie.

Here is Doug being very serious, but only for a minute!

Fred and Shirlee, Doug's (and Mike's ) parents, enjoying dinner.

Julie with her very good friend Becky, who I might say, loves margaritas!
She's a fiesty one!

Brandon my nephew and his mom, Laura (Mike and Doug's sister).

Doug, Julie and Adam.

A gang of B's goofing off.

Julie and her son Adam were inseparable! It's so sweet to see him with her!

This is the JD logo that Mary came up with, very cool! Maybe I'll have it made into stationary for their first anniversary....paper is the gift, right?

The theme was surfing, since both Julie and Doug love to do it! So me and Laura came up with the idea to make a surfboard cake. Laura baked a carrot cake, (Julie's fave) and I cut it into a surfboard shape. Laura frosted it, and my very good friend and neighbor Mary K, did all the decorating. Amanda put the sand down with the shells and pineapples and palm tree pieces.

This is Julie and her brother Rick with his girlfriend Liz, stepdad Dick, and mom Shirley.

Julie and Doug came home from NC for a graduation party, so we B's decided to throw a congratulatory soiree to celebrate their nuptials that took place June 5.

My Bro Hangin' with Blues Traveler

(L-R) Tad Kinchla (bass guitar), Bubba (as if you didn't know that), Chan Kinchla (lead guitar), John Popper (vocals & harmonica), Petzing (Bubba's friend).

(This Tad guy is a cutie!)

It's been almost two years since Bubba has has hung out with the guys. 

Bubba and The Popper

Here is my bro Scott (aka: Bubba) hangin' with John Popper from Blues Traveler. They played in town on Monday.

A spitfire? Mike's not sure. But it looks cool.
                                                         

Planes hang from the ceiling in every postion, giving you a great view that you wouldn't get walking around them on the ground.
            

the Enterprise.

Air France jet.

The East Coast is Toast Tour Stop - Washington, DC

And now back to our regularly scheduled boring vacation photos. Be polite and look at them, please. We will update you to current life happenings as they....happen. Thank you!

Ok, I left off in BENtown. From there we traveled to Washington, DC for the July 4th weekend. I blogged earlier from Washington, as our hotel had wireless connection, so you can check out those pictures.

Our main motivation for coming to DC during the holiday was for what we thought would be an awesome fireworks display. On my early morning jog, I chatted with one of DC's finest, and asked him what location would give the best view of the fireworks. He said, 'park it right on the lawn next to the Washington Monument, then you can lie back and they're right over you head, but it's very loud'. Well, there goes that option, since Emma can't stand the noise. So instead, we decided to watch the 'works from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial; plus we hadn't see it yet.

As luck would have it, it was raining on and off all day. Mike even had to buy 2 umbrellas. We weren't even sure there were going to be any fireworks, as it was raining right up until 9 pm. By the time we got back to our hotel from the Air and Space Museum, it had stopped raining. We had a quick bite to eat and headed out, clogging our way up the mall. It took forever to get to Lincoln, since we had to walk all the way around a fence to go through a check point. Austin almost got lost after going through security, as Mike thought he was with me and visa versa.

The fireworks had already started when we were crossing to get to the steps. I guess me and 134,567 other people had the same great idea, since we had to squeeze near the fence on the lawn. You could see the Washington Monument in the distance. I must say I was rather disappointed in the display, as it didn't seem as grand as I expected. It was a very humid night, and the smoke from the fireworks hung in the air and obliterated the view of the coming rockets at times. I was waiting for the grand finale and expecting the sky to be just full of huge color puffs, but the finale was only a whole bunch of boomers at once. Not that the fireworks weren't beautiful, it's just they seem so much bigger and better on tv! We decided we wouldn't do this town for fireworks again. Boston's Harbor fest is supposed to be good, maybe next year...

Anyway, we walked up the steps and into the Lincoln Memorial. I remember doing that when I was a kid, and feeling like I was going to fall backwards. I remember stopping halfway and looking up to the man in the chair, and feeling like he was going to fall right on top of me. Funny how it doesn't seem so imposing anymore. The kids really liked it anyway, that and the reflecting pool, which we were unable to see from our fireworks spot.

Our last stop on the way out of DC was to the new National Air and Space Museum, called the Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center and no, it is not at Ronald Reagan International Airport, like Mike thought it was. It is instead located at Dulles Airport, very far from everything! Needless to say, we spent an hour on a lovely train to and from RRIA (which isn't so bad since the trains are immaculate and smoooooth). Besides, what would a vacation be without an adventure or two? Very impressed by this museum. It had the space shuttle Enterprise (no, not Captain Kirk's), the Enola Gay which dropped the A-bomb on Hiroshima, a Concord Jet, and the SR 71 Blackhawk which is the fastest jet fueled airplane. Austin like this museum the best, even more than the Natural History (rocks and bones) Museum.

Finishing up at the museum, we drove for 6 hours to get to our friends Julie and Marty in Stokesdale, NC. We'll pick up with there later!

This is a picture of Zack and his lovely fiance Jamie. A very nice couple whom we met through Chip and Jenn. (Doesn't he look like Jim Carrey?)

Freaky Tiki Party

And now a small programming change from the editor:

Today's regularly scheduled update of the B's "East Coast is Toast Tour - Summer 2004" will be delayed due to a more exciting and current life experience. I am sorry for any inconvience this may cause, as it is too darn bad. You really aren't interested in our vacation photos anyway, and were just being polite, as are most people when they are forced to succumb to boring vacation photos and/or videos. You may watch this space in the coming days for the resumption of our boring vacation. Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,

MinnieDoodle Kerri, editor-in-Chief

Wow! We were invited to a Tiki Party! Friday night was Tiki party time on Chip and Jenn's new patio. Apparently this was a work "tech-ie" party, which included Mike who has known Chip since his computer geek days in the Webster School District. Being that I'm married to the "Tom Hanks but I'll pretend he's Ben Affleck" look-alike, I was invited as well.

So of course, being the fashion-ista that I am and figuring this is as close to an Academy Awards night as I'll ever get, I decided that the occasion called for a new outfit$! After all, this was even bigger than my bowling banquet - I knew that I would be seeing my husby's co-workers, and the last thing I wanted to look like was a frump. Besides, I thought it would be fun to get into the "Tiki" party theme. Oh yeah, and it was a good excuse to buy some new clothes.

So after a day of dragging the poor kiddies around the mall, (now before you go feeling all bad for them, they got pretzels, and dragged me into every kid store on the way to and from Bon-Ton), I put together the perfect outfit from H&M, which I never shop at, in a matter of 20 minutes. This after 3 hours between 3 other stores....go figure. A very cute hot pink skirt with bright flowers, (but not so bright that it can't be worn again in a real-world situation), a yellow tank, and a green long-sleeved shirt to top it off after the sun goes down. I already had the tiki themed purse, and my $6.00 Avon platform daisy/straw shoes were the perfect finisher. I put on my gaudy, bright, very dangly earrings from Turning Stone Casino, and I was all set.

Mike and I haven't been to a couples/grown up party in so long, we've forgotten what it's like! Not that we don't get together all the time with our very best neighbors and friends Mary and Paul K, but we still have to stop the momentum to put the kids to bed, which is a major buzz kill. So we were very excited to be leaving the house/kids/Dad will feed them dinner/ to go to a party. (It's so great when Dad babysits because he doesn't care what time we get home - "As long as your home by noon tomorrow" which really means come home anytime, I'll just be sleeping here on the couch).

We arrived right on time, and were able to help Jenn get some last-minute things ready. Mike stepped in and looked right at home behind the bar mixing up the first batch of frozen margaritas. We had a really good time.

The food was from Dinosaur BBQ and was very tasty. Jenn did an awesome job with everything, and really outdid herself with the dessert table. Mike the bartender started serving the shots when it was down to the final 7. That Golshlager stuff is nasty, but not half as bad as the caramel apple thingie that Chip made me. Now I like sweet, but even I couldn't drink that one. Maybe on an empty stomach....nah, not even then. Anyway, it was a great party, and we very happy to be invited and in the company of nice people. Thanks for letting us hang witchu guys!

Now check out the pictures below. These are the ones I could post, after all, this is a family blog.

Once pooping monkey was out of the tree, Zack was able to wrestle it into submission using Jenn's bra. However, Zack then developed an unhealthy relationship with monkey...

Monkey Business

Zack liked pooping monkey so much, he was making out with him (her?).  Now it seems as though his wedding to Jamie could be in jeopardy...

Chip and Dale

"Ya see it's like this Rick, I didn't know you were going to wear that shirt, but if it'll make you feel better, you can borrow my pants anytime!"

Good Ben Hunting

What trip to Beantown would be complete without checking out the stomping grounds of my favorite male actor, Ben Affleck.  Don't get me wrong, we didn't go to Boston just to stalk, I mean see, Ben's favorite places.  They all just happen to be on the way to Harvard Yard!
 
Starting in the harbor, we finally got a tour on the USS Constitution, aka: Old Ironsides, which we had missed by a half-an-hour last year.  Very cool tour.  The rigging on the ship is phenominal.  The kids were trying to lift the deck ropes, which are as thick as a fire hose.  The movie "Master and Commander" depicts life on a ship like Ironsides perfectly.  See that movie if you haven't; it's awesome.  Austin loved it.
 
We crossed the river into Cambridge and found the house Ben Affleck grew up in (his mom still lives there and he sometimes comes home for a visit....I was kinda hoping he might be visiting...but alas, much to my dismay he was not there.)  Of course I made Mike take a picture of me mugging in front of it!  ( hee hee!)  We did see someone let the cat out right as we were walking by, and Austin almost chased it, not even knowing who's cat it was! The neighborhood is cute, with well-kept old homes that are close together.  The atmosphere kind of reminded me of the village of Webster. It has a suprising quiet, suburban feel, especially considering how close it is to the hustle of Central Square.  
 
We saw some of BA's jaunts, all of which we actually saw by accident (no, really!) on our walk to Harvard Yard.
 

• The hamburger joint he visits when home, (I just happened to be looking in the window while waiting for Emma to catch up, when I saw a picture of Ben in the front window with someone I assume is the owner):

"If you’re looking for a cheeseburger and fries, the absolute best place to go is Leo’s. The double cheeseburger plate there is one of the most sinfully exquisite treats you’ll ever know in your life."    

• The Dunkin Donuts he says he always stops in to get a coffee:

"When I go home, the first thing I do is go get some coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts in Central Square. There is something absolutely magical about Dunkin’ Donuts’ coffee that you can’t get on the West Coast. The coffee there is clearly the greatest coffee on earth. I wish they were in more places."  

• A Bohemian shop he frequents:

"There’s an amazing shop in Cambridge called Nomad. The owner is a woman who buys art in places like Africa and Afghanistan. It’s all handcrafted stuff and really beautiful. There’s no other place that I know of quite like it. It’s one of the little secrets of Boston.”

(click on the "what's happening" link and scroll down to see Ben at the store.)

Oh yeah, and we saw Harvard Yard too!  Great architecture samples.  (some of Good Will Hunting was filmed there).

A church is also in the yard, and I just loved the old colonial look of it.

This is a doorway of one of the buildings in Harvard Yard. I just thought it was so pretty. The yard is so quiet and peaceful. We just sat and had a snack.

The cannons are in working order, and some below deck are used during the July 4th celebration every year. They actually take Ironsides out into the harbor in full sails, and do a 21 gun salute. They leave it there for the fireworks, and then sail her back in. We're thinking about being in Boston for that next year.

Some of the ropes on the deck of Old Ironsides.

How they can keep track of all the sails and ropes, I have no idea. It's marvelous to look at.

Rigging and crow's nest on USS Constitution.

This is a wide shot of the house Ben grew up in, and that his mom still lives in. Sometimes when he's home, he'll stay here, like he did in the weeks before we were there.

No, I wasn't lurking in the bushes! (Mike wanted me to stand in front of the steps!) This will probably be the closest I ever get to Ben!

The B's on Tour - "The East Coast is Toast" Tour - vacation 2004

First Stop: The Land of Sand


The B's spent 16 glorious days on the road. We started our vacation with a week on Cape Cod (aka from now on in our home as The Land of Sand,) staying in Wellfleet. Our "Vacation Village" was off of Rte. 6A and had an inground pool (not that you need one on the cape - since there are only about 3 gazillion beaches!). Our cottage was comfortable and well equipped.

On our first full day, we visited four beaches. Wellfleet beach was probably my favorite, because the tide left nice sandbars, some pools for exploring, and the water seemed very warm, especially compared to other beaches on the bay side.

Much to our suprise, we discovered a lovely little beach in Truro, where we watched the sun set. Our adventure started out on a two-way road, narrowed to a one-way with room to move over if anyone was coming in the opposite direction, and ended up barely clearing the brush on the sides of the road. We contemplated turning around, but figured we came this far and we were curious where we were going to end up. The road finally opened up to beautiful large sand dunes, and we had the beach and sunset all to ourselves.

Stay tuned for the day trip to Boston and Cambridge!

A new picture of the sunset, sorry about the repeats of the dunes!

The setting sun cast a lovely pink glow on the dunes.

Emma and Austin reaching the summit.

The dunes don't look so big, until you see the kids on them!

The jewel at the end of our road adventure.

My honey! Our friend's son wondered if Mike was the guy in the Apollo movie, (he's almost 5, but loves space stuff!) We figured out who he was talking about...Tom Hanks! (Kinda, I guess!)

Emma and sunset in Truro.

Austin skipping rocks, on the hidden beach in Truro.

This was taken at a garden shop, but it turned out so good, I had to include it!

Wellfleet Sea Maid, by Emma and Mommy.

This is a panoramic view of the bike trail to Herring Cove Beach (where Mike and kids are stopped for pic under this one).

We biked the Beech Forrest Trail, which starts at the Province Lands Visitor Center. We took the Herring Cove Beach spur, where we ended up looking for beach rocks. The trail is tough, a lot of steep hills, but the scenery is worth it. All said and done, we biked 7.2 miles on that trail.

Truro is a great town for picture taking. The Cape Cod National Seashore makes up 70% of Truro, so there are plenty of salt marshes, like this one.

The beach at Wellfleet. The water was very warm.

Emma's face when she saw the lobster

Here's lobster #3, weighing in at 8 lbs. and as long as my arm.

College Buddies Catch Up

Hi Ho! Fredonia friends (and a few extra friends and family thrown in for good measure) met up for a picnic on June 25, since Julie and Marty came to town. The alumni are: Jules, Marty, Kathi, Rhonda and Kerri. The girls met freshmen year when we shared a suite together 19 years ago! Marty and Julie became a couple in our Sr. year ('89), and they married in 1991. Rhonda was unable to make it to the festivities, since she and Meador and family headed to Long Island from Syracuse for a last minute possible home relocation hunt. The pictures below are for their benefit! (Sorry you guys couldn't make it, but we will definitely catch up with you this summer!)

The kids beat up Boris, the spider pinata, gave us a talent show, and made "kid soup" in the hot tub. It was so nice to catch up with everyone and to see how big all of the kids have grown. Check out the pics below for some of the fun!

Marty with his beautiful daughter, Olivia. Can you say "Clones"?!

Kerri and Kathi enjoying dinner after many a Sangria! We've known eachother 19 years! We look too young to have graduated college 15 years ago!

Austin played the tuba for us, while Emma danced along. Zack was checking himself out in the reflection!

Handsome Zack. Such a nice little man. He loved the hot tub!