My inability to comprehend the passage of time is a common theme in my blogs. I must share this trait with my husband because we are constantly making remarks like "how it is already July" or "seems like we just got here" or, the one that really gets the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end, "the movers will be back in seven months." WHAT?!? I was sure that this was going to be the duty station where finally shed some of our stuff!! I only have seven months - I need to get cracking!
But that will be for a post in the future apparently, because no off-loading happen in the month of July. We weren't home long enough for that.
We had planned on going to a really cool Fourth of July parade in a nearby town. However Jim instead suggested we go to (wait for it ...) BOSTON! I bet you were thinking I was going to say another city weren't you? It is OK, don't be embarrassed, I thought for just a moment maybe I was going to say something else too and I was actually there!
Jim had gotten wind of how you can go see the Boston Pops do their dress rehearsal on the 3rd of July. Everything except the fireworks. So off to Boston we go!! Everything was great, except for one little altercation. The line to get into the area of the park where the rehearsal was crazy long so Jim suggested the kids and I go hang out at a play structure nearby while he waited in line. About 40 minutes later he calls to say we need to start making our way over to him. So I start rounding up the kids which was a huge feat in itself because of course they didn't want to leave. FINALLY we meet up with Jim, who had been letting people go in front of him until we could catch up, and almost immediately I hear some grumbling from the people behind us. About that time a security guard asked how long we had been in line and the twentysomething guy behind me says that "he" had been in line for 45 minutes, but they (and he gestured with his hands towards us) about 5 minutes. WOW!?!? I mean that not in the cool beans way, more like the I-can-not-believe-he-just-said-that-way. So of course I turn around and cheerfully said I would be happy to go back to the end of the line if he wanted to stand with my kids who were levitating off the ground at this point. He said just because I had kids didn't give me the right to cut in front of him. He further added that he had 4 kids himself. My jaw hit the ground!!! When the power of speech returned to me, I mentioned that perhaps he should home with them. Thankfully Jim was oblivious to the situation and then line started moving and we went our separate ways. However, on our way out, we just so happened to be next to them again (I know, right? what are the chances there were THOUSANDS of people in this park). A bicyclist was moving against the crowd heading in our direction. Apparently the bike tires ran over their feet because they started giving him a hard time. Ahh Karma, she does have a sense of humor!
The next morning we headed out to hear the Declaration of Independence being read from the balcony of the Old State House. I must say I was a tad disappointed. I was hoping to have someone in period dress come out and really sell it, but instead I think it was the Fire Marshall. In his uniform. Sigh. To add insult to injury there were no speakers pointing off to the sides so unless you were standing directly in front of the building (girls and I weren't) you couldn't hear a thing! Imagine any adult in the Charlie Brown specials and that would be a comparison. On the plus side, tons of confetti shot out of the manholes at the end, so that made up for it!!
We hurried back home to catch the Newport Fireworks and to pack up the minivan to head to VA/NC the next morning. We spent the night with Jim's brother John and his family the first night. It was too hot in the garage for Oscar so he got an upgrade on his accommodations. John and Bree's dog Cooper kindly allowed Oscar to spend the night on one of his beds, for the modest fee of a bowl of cat food!!
The next afternoon I dropped Jim and the kids off in Victoria and I high-tailed it to Swansboro. As soon as I crossed the Onslow county line I rolled the all the windows down and cranked the AC up!! Nothing finer than breathing "home air" Five days later I met the crew in Raleigh and we all headed back to the "Boro" for some more family time. Lots of boating, visiting, and beach time. The week flew by too fast!
It wouldn't be a trip home in July without celebrating Lucy's Birthday at Mac Daddy's!! She rung in 6 bells in style thanks to all the pretty dresses and games and dolls she picked up for her birthday.
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| Birthday girl Lucy and Will |
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| Gigi getting some of Ben's sugar |
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| Daddy and Ben ready to drive!! |
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| Ben and Stone at Children's Museum |
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| Good Friends at Science Museum in Wilmington!! |
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| Cousins in the bean patch! |
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| Me, Steph & MH |
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| Crazy Crew on a Sandbar |
All too soon it was time to head back to Rhode Island. We made another pit stop in Delaware to visit the cousins. They are going to be sorry they are 1/2 way between us and home! Ha Ha Ha! We had an awesome time as usual, thanks John and Bree!
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| All piled on the golf cart |
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| Stair step cousins! |
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| Halloween? I thought it was July! |
Seems like A LOT of things going on in July, I know. I said it myself, multiple times. But we aren't finished. Not by a long shot. Always the ones to over schedule and push a deadline, we made it home in time to deposit Oscar, wash some clothes, unpack the NEW CAR (oh you read that right, the minivan is HISTORY!!!), pack up Jim's car and head to Cape Cod. Chatham to be exact, as in where all the Great White Sharks had been swimming with the tourists as well as the seals and nibbling on a few of each. The water is super cold and I didn't expect our kids to swim out very far. But just in case I made sure to pull up lots and lots of pictures of what Great White sharks look like to dissuade them from getting in the water. Don't judge me.
At Cape Cod we stayed with Jim's sister Lindley and her Brother-in-law and In-laws. Essentially 17 people in the house. Eleven of which are under the age of 12. Good times!!
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| A typical meal |
Just because we didn't get in the water, doesn't mean we didn't spend our fair share of time on the beach. It was COLD! Or at least to the adults. The kids were running around as if it was Florida, but the supervising adults were huddled under blankets and in jackets. BRRRR! No wonder the seals like this place so much!
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| Ben playing "Sandy Claus" |
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| Most days we picked up 2 more cousins to extend the troupe number to 13 |
The week went by too quickly. All the cousins got along reasonably well. I mean there were thirteen of them so there was bound to be a disagreement every once in a while. Lots of time logged in on a beach, so much so that Ben complained that he was tired of going to the beach. Tired, of the beach? What is wrong with that boy?
Apparently it wouldn't be a trip to Chatham without visiting a particular store - The Candy Manor! Our kids were all over this tradition. So much so we made a couple of trips to said establishment.
It wasn't all beach beach beach, we also staged our own backyard Olympics with two teams dueling it out in several feats of athleticism. I think the overall favorites were: ping pong (there was no table tennis going on here) , capture the flag, hula hoop and the sand castle competition. Next summer when all the Wellons' converge on Nags Head and the Olympic Flame reappears, we WILL be ready!
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| TV time after a long day on the Olympic field |
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| A gaggle of cousins |
At last the month ended. We packed up our sandy selves and pointed the car homeward. Truth be told there are a few days left in July and I have signed the kids up for a camp, but the majority of that week lies in August, so I am going to pretend it all happened in August and end this right now. It is my blog and I can do what I want
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| See you next month! |
