Summer camps have come to an end

Both boys finished summer camp this week.  Bren had a fun field trip to the beach- we got to go by on the boat and wave!  He also had a field day and fun activities.  He had a great time at the Condon Summer Camp.  He had a great summer overall with drama too!  He is still singing Pippin songs!

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Aidan’s last week included races.  He did great!  All of his grandparents were there.  We had a fun family dinner at the yacht club and enjoyed a perfect summer night.  The last day was the traditional shaving cream fight.  Crazy!  I can’t believe they still do it!  The boys both had fun (minor eye irritation).

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It’s so hard to believe it’s almost time for school to begin.  This has been such a great summer!

Childhood Memories

There are two very distinct memories of summer vacation I have from growing up.  One is going to the beach what seemed like everyday with the same group of four families.  Luckily there were kids my age (that is after all how moms become friends and they were all off for the summer- 1 teacher, the others stay at home moms).  We played in the sun, swam and had golden skin by the end of the summer.  It also meant we were in bed when it was still light out (my sister’s favorite story).  But there was a routine to it all and it was fun.

My other very distinct favorite childhood memory is going to York Beach.  My parents would rent a cottage- the same one every year- for the middle two weeks of July.  We would pack a U Haul to get us up there (it wasn’t until I was older and was telling Chris that I realized this is not how most families travel!).  We packed the grill, our bikes, toys plus all the essentials.   And for two weeks we went to the most perfect beach, flew kites, got ice cream and at some point during the two weeks, we went the the amusement park there.  It seemed so huge when we were little, so small now that I am an adult.  The other odd thing about our vacation is that cousins and friends would come and visit us.  I didn’t realize that was out of the ordinary until much later too.

But I can understand why they would.  It is just under 2 hours to get there and it is such a beautiful place.  My sisters and I still go there- for a day, a few days or longer.  There are places we routinely visit- sometimes because it is what we did as kids.  This is our summer.  It would not be complete without a York trip.

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We went to York for only the second time this summer on Monday.  Chris is on vacation this week and not fighting traffic on a weekend was quite appealing.  We had an awesome day.  The boys played in the sand and splashed in the waves.  We buried them in the sand. We had dinner and of course ice cream.  It was perfect.

Chris’ Birthday weekend

James’ birthday is the 16th, Josh is the 17th and Chris is the 18th- so it was a busy birthday weekend!

Unfortunately Chris had to work at 5am on his birthday (but then has a week of vacation!).  We had nap time to make up for it and then family and friends for cake.  Because no birthday would be complete without the Parisi girls!

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Another highlight of the weekend was a boys’ afternoon at the Red Sox game.  Bren won tickets through the Read Your Way to Fenway contest.  So the three of them went to see the Sox beat the Yankees.

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It was kind of awesome Bren won since it took so much effort for him to write his report about his book!  The boys had a lot of fun all together.  What better way to spend a birthday weekend!

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