Topic: Vacation 2006
We were supposed to get a fairly early start leaving Anns to go back to my mothers & meet up with my uncle who I have not seen in nearly 10 years. But I had developed a cold & was hacking, coughing & generaly not sleeping too well- & the kids were up late playing video games- their internal clocks are set to night owl- I try at home to get up by 10 am on non work days & am still usually the first one up! By 930 though I had to get up & get them up the re-packing of the car was hanging over my head & so I rousted every one in my family & insisted they come help at the car packing. Once this was done we said our goodbyes to Ann & family headed back to my mothers place.
The Sunday midday drive thru Boston was minimalized by taking 95 for a change of scencery I hadn't been on that road in nearly 10 years. I especially enjoy the part on the way into Boston where you are on rte 1 I remember my father telling us about all the really cool signs that were there & I also remember a few which are no longer there.
We arrived at my Mother's house around 1:30 or so & We waited for my uncle to appear. He lives on an Island & we were supposed to go to dinner. So we thought he'd show up around 4 or 5. at 6 we started to wonder where he was. By 7 my mother decided to call his cell phone. she got voice mail. She left a message & we gave him annother 1/2 hour & went to dinner at the 99 again, which the kids were happy with, my mother & I were mostly just a little worried. The next day my mother got an email from my uncle apologizing for not being able to get in touch. aparently there was a storm which took out phones etc he said he was emaling from work because he had no services at home still. The r
eason he didn't show up was that he just moved there & didn't have his island resident status ironed out & couldn't get a space on the ferry!He did state in his email though that we're welcome to come visit him next year on the island. I'm excited- I've barely even been to Cape Cod & have never been to the islands at all. The only Island I've been on ever is Swans Island Maine.& only for a day!
<< What Miss 16 did on her summer vacation <<
Then a quick stop at BJ'S On the way in we got caught in a large downpour & so we dripped through the store. Ann feeds 5 + her stepson part of the time & she spends a ton to keep them fed- even at BJs! I was impressed & a little scared for my future with my younger kids! I spend at least $150. every 2 weeks as it is - 10 & 7 are practically bottomless worse yet- they don't actually eat a lot at 1 time they eat often instead! Ann cooked out on the grille for us all 3 nights & refused most offers of help. I think, after not having to go to work my favorite thing about being on vacation was not having to cook! It's funny how little I want to cook considering how much time I spent cooking as a teenager & young adult. Now I only want to cook about 3 or 4 times a month & thats even decreased in the summer! a tomato or cucumber, tuna fish or a bowl of microwaved frozen spi
nach is all I really want in the summer.I have to give Ann credit. While I could feed 12 & have done so before I'm so obsessive that I'd have made a menu & bought all the food which could be frozen a month in advance & probably would have enough food for 3 extra meals! Ann made fast delicious food with only as much forethought as we had in the store buying the food!
e went there. I had forgotten the zen of the NH highway system in which you get on a numbered road & follow it miles & miles just trusting that you're still on the right road & maybe every 15-20 miles if you are lucky you might see a road sign with the road's # on it to confirm that you're on the right road! You just have to trust. I trusted a little too much & ended up on the wrong road. So we had to back track to get to 
ly visible- but its still there & still in some use.
sted which were not where they were shown & quite a few which I knew to exsist were not on the map! I suppose that for a dollar at Walmart you can't ask for much! But to find an underused road in the right general direction would have been lovely. As it was it was stop & go the whole way. Friday night at Ann's was uneventful & pleasant. We hung out, checked email & she showed me this website of really cool plus size clothes called:
coldest water & today was no exception. Miss 16 had been freaking out the night before because the news showed footage of a shark which showed up at a beach on Cape Cod on Sunday. I told her the oft repeated & quite true adage that sharks like warm water & won't show up in colder waters & Hampton is cold! Phil has told me how when she'd take her kids to Rockland to visit her in-laws they would always spend a few days at Nantasket beach & her MIL would be embarrassed sitting on the beach because Phil & her kids would often be the only ones in the water because the water was so cold & people would remark on their being in the water. Phil says the col
d water at Hampton & Salisbury inured them to cold water & that Hull didn't feel so cold!The water was that cold Monday & Miss 16 relaxed about the sharks after feeling the water. After an hour & a half of swimming mr 7 was shivering so badly he couldn't speak to protest when I said it was time to take a break from swimming. His sisters were not too pleased with him or I when I said everybody out. They perked up however when I said we would go across the street & shop. 7 was less impressed but cheered up when he discovered there were arcades - he's a skee ball fanatic! 
boogie boards & had a great time riding some of the biggest waves I've ever seen outside of a winter storm & I've lived year round at the beach twice. After annother 2 hours or so mr7 was cold again & so we went back & checked out the rest of the stores. After going through them we went back to swim 1 last time & ended up swimming for 3 hours more! When we were all ready to leave we went to dinner at a place called the Sylvan st Grill. I had been there before once & wanted to try it again. The little ones liked it because the kid's meals came with deserts- Lois & I liked that to because it gave us the option to have desert too- we shared a slice of triple layer chocolate cake & it was excelent. As was the whole meal- I just can't remember what we had! (mr 7 had a hot 
dog though)
Because we were so busy at the beach on Monday I designated Tuesday as a quiet day. we spent the morning with Phil visiting & helping her go through some boxes of craft stuff to eliminate some things she says she won't use anymore {which means we got some new craft stuff & some cool halloween decorations!} Then we went to get lunch at Ari's & got subs- they were too crowded to eat in at though so I drove around while the kids ate & parked at the stadium park & while I ate 10 & 7 played on the playground & 16 complained. About what, I don't remember but bitching was done! Then we went around to the back of the stadium & walked down to the rivers edge. The girls stayed on the steps with me but 7 got right into the mud & would have gone in the water if I hadn't stopped him. (this is the Merrimack river, a river I used to watch from my great-grandmother's apartment & pass time counting the d
& they told us about their trip up to New Hampshire the day before & about climbing mt Tecumphseh {I think thats how you spell it} then we looked at pictures of family & places they've been on their computer & we went through the picture album we brought with us. During all this I also got a bunch of laundry done... We had a great day all together.
wheels. The seats have an armrest & recline back for comfort.For an appetizer we had 'wizzard of Ozzarella sticks' for an appetizer. mr6 had a beef frank hot dog of course & Miss 10 had Spongebob macaroni & cheese, I had french onion soup & a 'Pirates of the Caribean cheese quesadillia' & Miss 16 had a 'Roman wrap' which amounted to chicken ceasar salad in a wrap. When Miss 10 was a baby & we lived up here the ex & I used to go to Chunkys & their food has certainly improved since then! Pirates 2 was excelent of course! & it was was both 10 & 6's first
n on a weekday without sitting for an hour or so in traffic. She was of the opinion that leaving around 10 am was good. I belive its better to wait a little later anywhere from 10 til 230 or so- even later when its not a weekend or a Friday. However I was proven wrong by 2 things- a breakdown on the southeast expressway complete with Mass Statie in full uniform, cute butt & car with the lights running {mr 6 is especially impressed with the police car lights here! 'they don't just go round & round like at home Mom' he says.} & the fact of the I-90 tunnel being closed due to a ceiling tile falling on a woman who was riding to Logan with her husband to get his brother at the airport. The tunnel is closed indefinetley now. Thats screwing up traffic all over Mass! & so we were in traffic for about an hour just getting through Boston!
ld her about it & my Mother , Grandmother & I set off to explore it & just kept going back, they have beautiful home furnishings, little decorations, placemats, clocks, knick knacks, kitchen wares etc. The kids love the place too, which might seem a little odd but the first time we went there it was just the 4 of us, we were on our way home to VA & I wanted to do something more, the trip had been fun but didn't feel finished, at that point, while I had enough money to go on vacation I did not have much else, we were living in our ancient trailer & had very little which was nice or fun, (this was 2002 & we have come an amazingly long way since then) The kids got a big kick out of pretending that different rooms in the place were their houses & really enjoyed the place, this time I was able to get some stuff for my new house, mostly little things like a new sign for my kitchen & new canisters since my old canisters gaskets were wearing out! One big draw for the kids is the player pianos....
to do so....) We walked around there for quite awhile. Then we hung around at my mother's house for awhile. When it was time to go out to dinner, on the way we checked out an upscale shopping area which was built where one of my first jobs was{building #19 as a casheir} We checked out Kohls which I was dissapointed in since they were way too expensive- worse yet they were acting as if the prices were actualy great! after driving around debating where to eat we had dinner out- both my mother & my grandmother prefer to go out to dinner than to worry about cooking & cleaning up afterwards! The country store & the day before in Plymouth are the only things we did with my mother, but she's low energy & we wear her out, I sometimes wonder if I should be insulted by her comment that she's happy to see us come & happier to see us go! 
e haven't been able to find the second {& probably the third, fourth & fifth} hole in the air mattress, which we have to locate in order to patch.So night 2 I took the fold out couch & Miss 16 got the mattress! She wasn't too happy about it. But when I made the deal we agreed that we'd swap back the next day & she was ok with that. While checking my email I found that
n!