What a Week.
Let me start by apologizing for the lack of action on this page over the last few months. I had started this blog with the intention of sharing my stories of Family outings and random good times. After the loss of a good friend, due to a battle with cancer, it became a place for me to let out my emotions. I have not written here in a while because when I read my previous few posts I can’t help but feel sad. Although, when I think about it, my friend Nikki wouldn’t want me to stop writing (something she loved to do) because of her. So here we go…..
Jill and I started our vacation week on June 12, by spending the day with the kids. As evening rolled around Jill and I settled the boys in with their sitters, Grammy and Jeannie, and we headed to South Deerfield, to The Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory for the Wedding of our friends Nicole and Sean. What a great place for a Wedding. It’s indoors but feels like outdoors, it is loaded with all sorts of plant life, a variety of lizards, fish and frogs wander about, and the air is filled with hundreds of Butterflies. The ceremony was held in this part of the Conservatory. After the Flower Girl, Shea, complete with Butterfly Wings, distributed her petals the crowd focused their attention on the path behind them. Walking the aisle to the London Symphony Orchestra’s version of Led Zepplin’s “All my Love” Nicole looked radiant. Her father and her were both smiling from ear to ear as he gave her away to her waiting fiance. The ceremony began with both Nicole and Sean holding separate vases of colored sand, then pouring them into another vessel, signifying their new union. The vows came next, sweet and simple, the way they should be. “I now pronounce you…” was declared a kiss was shared and the family and friends in attendance rose and gave cheer. The new couple walked back through the elated crowd and went off to take some pictures. Jill and I did the same. After seeing the start of something new we happened across the end of something also. While wandering around the Sanctuary we came across a small bridge over a Koi pond. Sitting perched on a rock to the side was a very large frog. Another couple was there talking with an employee, she had told the employee that she wanted to help a butterfly which appeared to have something wrong with its wing, but, was advised to let the animal do its own thing. That is just what it did. Attempting to fly with its visibly wounded wing proved to difficult for this little guy who sputtered to a stop about two inches from the aforementioned very large frog. What happened next is obvious, nature worked the way it does and our wounded butterfly friend became dinner for this patiently waiting frog. I was sure at this point that we had witnessed all that this room had to offer, so we made our way to the Lobby for the Reception. A small cash bar was available, which we made use of, a buffet style dinner was served, which was delicious, and of course there was the cake which was wonderful as well. A surprise was had by most when a member of one of Nicoles favorite bands, On the Drop, played a couple of her favorite songs for her as a gift from her new husband Sean. There was dancing, drinking, laughing and love in the room and we all had a great time.
On June 13, we took the boys to see Max Creek at Bucksteep Manor in Washington, MA. We used to go see these guys all the time, but it isn’t as easy as it used to be with our two little bundles of joy around. So, when they play shows like this one, which went from 2-7 p.m. we are sure to be in attendance. Washington is straight out route 20 through Westfield and a whole bunch of other hill towns. About an hour ride, but a beautiful one. The show was held outside under a large pavilion and due to the fact that it rained a bit this was a good thing. It was too loud in the pavilion for the boys so we set up camp behind the stage under a friends pop up tent. A bunch of our friends were there with their kids as well as Jeff, Dina, Jayden and Marlee, so the boys had plenty of people to play with. Play they did. Riley is pretty good at staying in an area and playing with others, but Brady, not so much. Chasing him around is a full-time job. Always pushing the limit, further and further, constantly going back to the same spots. At least we had a lot of help. They had a Beer stand and some burgers and dogs and stuff so we had lunch and dinner there as well. Our friend Pickle was in attendance also and as you can guess by his name he makes pickles, amazing pickles. I picked up a few jars of extra garlic dills at set break and put them in the trunk of our car so that I would not eat them all day. Creek played a great show as always, inviting a couple of friends to sit in as well as playing a tune called the seven, in honor of another fallen friends birthday. We danced in the rain and had a great time with everyone. After the final notes were played we headed home, it was past the boys bedtime, plus we had a busy week ahead.
On June 14 we packed up and headed out to stay at Jills Aunt and Uncles beachouse in Dennis Port. After I “forgot” something and we came all the way back from Palmer, (I actually didn’t forget anything), we headed back out on the road and were headed to the Cape. The kids are ok in the car, Riley gets car sickness, so we give him Dramamine, and Brady just gets bored. We made it to the house mid-afternoon and proceeded to do the laundry that should have been washed by the previous guests. But, that is story I will just leave out. We took a walk down to the beach where we played in the sand and dipped our toes in the frigid water, both boys would be content just playing in the sand all day, but we figured we would go get some dinner. On our previous visits here we had gone to dinner at Clancy’s which is very close to the house we stay at, so, we figured we would do the same. To our surprise, Clancy’s is now Chapin’s, and we almost drove right past it. We had dinner there anyway and it was delicious. After eating we headed over to the local package store and picked up a few adult beverages for after we put the boys to bed. There is nothing like the cool ocean breeze, a couple cocktails, great conversation and being with the one you love.
We had to make sure to stay very busy while we were at the cape this week, the house we stay at is not very child-proof so we wanted to be away as much as possible. We went to the beach everyday, went shopping in Hyannis, went to the Zooquarium and had a lot of great food. On Wednesday our friend Steve came up and we hit the beach, had a great lunch in Orleans and then wandered around Provincetown, where Riley got his first backpack, a cookie monster one. (he starts pre-school in Sept.) We had an amazing week at the cape, even though a lot of attractions were still closed we made due with what we had and were able to find a few new places to go. I look forward to doing this again very soon.
We returned home around 2 p.m on Friday, pretty exhausted, but content. Although our week was not over yet. Grammy and Jeannie came by at about 4 and Jill and I headed out to see Phish. We stopped by Pananas for a couple cocktails and some dinner before making our way to Hartford. We arrived in Hartford around 6 p.m. To find the main parking lots full, which is not surprising due to the following of this band. We paid a hefty $25 to park our car and began to have a couple more cocktails before heading in. While hanging out we ran into a group of our friends and started wandering towards the show. A couple other folks were collected en route and we were now on our way in. It was very crowded at the entrance gate and they were only letting a handful of people through at a time, we wandered up to the side of the large crowd and somehow managed to get let through very quickly, lucky for us because after we got in and hit the bathrooms the lights went down and it was time to rock. Phish is a great live band and you never know what they will do next, at this show they ended up doing the same song twice in a row, I know it sounds boring but it was actually really neat. We had a great time at this show and hopefully we won’t have to wait until next year to see these guys again.
Saturday was a lazy day not much was done. That’s fine by me, I like those days.
Fathers Day was Sunday so I awoke to a couple very nice cards and an appointment to get some new tattoo work done June 26. I had saw the night before that the band Primate Fiasco was having the cd release party for their new children’s cd, “Wheels on the Bus” at the Taste of Amherst so we headed up to check it out. It was a hot morning with no shade but that was ok, we had just came back from the beach Friday so we were ready. We got there just as the band was starting to play and went up front to check them out. If you are not familiar with the Primate Fiasco I suggest you look them up. Dixieland style music with a lot of twists, very fun time. This show was for the kids so we heard some cool takes on classic tunes, the muppets theme, you are my sunshine, apples and bananas, etc. After, we picked up a copy of their cd as well as their coloring book for later and headed to lunch at the Northampton Brewery, yum. We had a nice lunch on the outdoor patio near the mist machines, which the boys loved. I tried a couple different I.P.A.’s and an Imperial Stout, all wonderful, and we headed home.
I had a truly amazing week with my family and friends and wish that all weeks could be like this. I am blessed to be able to have times like these and I hope that all of you feel the same way.
I wonder what next week will bring?
