Grandma's Birthday on the Vineyard

Sorry it's been almost two weeks since my last entry! We have been house-hunting like crazy (more on that later) and also had a very nice vacation!  On Tuesday night we got back from a great five day trip with my family to Martha's Vineyard for Grandma's big birthday bash.

Allison and Karen planned it all - from the food to the most meaningful gifts. Here is the birthday lady with the gift that brought her to tears - photos, letters, and notes from friends and family all put together in a book. What you don't see is a big box also full of cards and more photos that she received. Happy Birthday, Grandma!

The next day, a few of her friends joined us in celebrating and we had a giant lobster bake. It was full of all sorts of delicious food other than lobster: corn, sausage, mussels, clams, onions, and potatoes.

It required lots of heat (propane flame) to cook and the outcome was delicious.

Karen and Allison also spent all day cooking delicious hors d'oeuvres and sides to go with the bake. It was a deliciously fun time for all.

While we were there, we went to the beach a couple of times. Dad, Jason, Al, Grandpa, and Grandma (with Sam but you can't really see him) enjoy the water.

Jakob's favorite thing to do was dig holes for himself and then try to get out of them without help.

There was a lot of digging by our group. We didn't leave the beach quite as flat as we found it. Here Karen and Abby dig a hole. Emma curled up in a towel and sat with Jason listening to the waves for a while.

Jason had fun building sand castles and digging holes in the water with Abby and Emma.

Abby sits in the sand digging and watching the waves. Sam didn't love the sand very much until Grandma held him here for a good 30 minutes. He got used to it and might actually like it now!

Beach Bells

Jason and Sammy, the blue-eyed boys!

Jammed into the car on the way off of the beach to get to the cars to take us home!

Al, Jason, Jake, and I went to the beach early one morning and had it all to ourselves.

We also did some sailing and sight-seeing of all of the sites we've seen many times before but still love. We watched a bird dry its wings off near the sailing dock. In Menemsha we walked along the dock to look at all of the fishing goods.

I spent a little time trying to get a good picture of this little guy off of the boat dock for my mother-in-law.

The Chappy ferry - the "On Time" ferry.

The water from Edgartown

On the plane home we got a great view of the island - you can see the actual shape of the island like you see on a map!

Big thanks to my parents for taking us with them up to the Vineyard and to my Grandparents for having us stay with them! We love you all!

The July Surprise!

The surprise of July was ERIN!!!

My dearest Erin came into town this weekend to surprise her fiance, Ryan, who is working in the DC area this summer (for NASA of all places - can we say awesome?). He was very surprised so the trip was a success! Here they are. Aww, aren't they cute? We can't wait for their upcoming nuptials NEXT July!

So, lucky me, I got to hang out with her while she was in town. Yay! We drove all around in Arlington, Georgetown, and DC. Some of the highlights include:

• Splitting a peach cupcake (next time we'll try the lemon blueberry one we really wanted that another lady stole right out from under us),
• Cooling off with some gelato (for her) and sorbet (for me),
• Wedding dresses! She tried on wedding dresses and found her perfect dress (it's SO pretty).

Jason also met us for an unsuccessful lunch trip to Good Stuff, which I've been wanting to try for a while now.  While lunch was unsuccessful, dinner was a success! We all made it there for dinner... but not all together. Jason and I stopped to eat to miss some of the traffic back into VA and Erin and crew went later.

Eventually I'll get a burger and a marshmallow shake but I stuck with a chicken breast sandwich, a bite of Jason's burger, and a strawberry milkshake and fries to share. We were STUFFED afterward!

Today, we got to meet Erin, Ryan, and Ryan's sister, brother-in-law, and cute little nephew for lunch today before she flew back to sunny LA. Was so good seeing you, Okie dearest!

I Love Breakfast

Especially when it comes to me in bed. Jason surprised me this morning with a french toast breakfast! He played Jack Johnson's "Banana Pancakes" (the song we cut our wedding cake to) as he carried the tray (aka cookie sheet - sad, I know - someday we'll buy a real one) to me on this rainy Saturday morning. What a great way to start the day! He bought challah bread and peaches from the farmer's market. I even got two different kinds of french toast - one plain and one with cornflakes crushed up on it. YUM.



It was a lot of food so Jason helped me finish it... and Rufus waited patiently hoping for a bite too. Kindly ignore my bedhead.





He's the best (and so darn cute)!

July 4th Weekend in Picture Form

Mmm... Burger.

Quickly, before I get into a giant July 4th picture post, I want to talk about burgers and how excited I am to eat them. Every once in a while I crave a burger. I used to eat them all the time. Before Allison set me straight, I ate them nearly every night for dinner. I loved them. Now I get turkey burgers and while they're good, I know that beef is better. Veggie burgers can be delicious but I digress.

It was delicious. Jason couldn't stop laughing at me because he wasn't expecting my "YUM, that is SO good" reaction. I am very excited now because I know Wendy's does not make the best burgers and it tasted delicious to me. I can't wait to get to the point where I can eat a whole one and not just a bite (or two - as was taken from Jason's burger in this picture).

I can't wait for this.
And this.
And this.
And Obama's favorite.

I'd also like to consume a milkshake with each one, please. That's how you're supposed eat hamburgers, right? Right? Of course.

Peanut butter ice cream, please!

Yesterday I asked Jason to get ice cream on his way home. It was taking him a while to actually get home and I was missing him so this convo went down on gchat:

me: Dear Hubby, Please come home.
Jason: Dear Wifey, Not without the perfect ice cream.

He came home with the perfect ice cream that I asked for and then, when it came time to eat it, I decided I wanted his instead. And he shared.

I love him.

Happy July!

This month will be great.
We're starting it at the lake this weekend.
There will be a surprise that I am very excited about. (You'll hear about it when it happens.)
And last but not least, we're flying up to the Vineyard for my Grandma's 70th birthday party.

Speaking of birthdays, last night was Allison's and Jason and I spent the evening with my family to celebrate.  They told us all about their trip to London and France and there was no shortage of laughter.  First there was talk of the great, exciting things they saw. And then Jakob got his devilish little giggle and began to tell the other stories. Apparently driving was a little crazy around there - and their trip included stories of parking on a sidewalk as well as stopping in the middle of the road in one of the world's busiest traffic circles while everyone honked. In the moment, I'm sure these were very stressful times... but last night the stories made for lots of laughter.

I love my family!