April Vacation Week

April Vacation Week went remarkably well, considering we didn't have any set plans except for Thursday. The weather wasn't supposed to be that great, but every day surprised us (low expectations = pleasant surprises) and it was beautiful New England Spring weather all week.

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Monday we learned that Brian's Godmother's sister passed away. We had met Irene (pictured sitting in the reddish chair) about a year and a half ago when we went down to visit Joan on the Cape. Brian wanted to attend her wake and so I decided that the kids and I would join him.

After arriving on the Cape we spontaneously played a game of miniature golf which is always an adventure with our kids. 18 holes! I even came within 3 points of Brian. We both got one hole-in-one. Conor and Megan were hilarious as pictured below. They slid their clubs along like brooms, pushing the ball into the hole. When they sunk their ball in at the 18th hole, and the ball didn't come back, they were down on their hands and knees looking for it, yelling to it, and cracking themselves up. (see pictures below)



The deal was this. We'd go golfing, we'd eat dinner somewhere, make a quick change into church clothes, attend the wake briefly, and then go out for ice cream. Conor and Megan made quite the appearance at the wake. The funeral director was enamored with Megan and in love with Conor's handsome suit. The kids were a handful in spite of their fancy attire, but we managed. Both Conor and Megan kept their distance from the casket, but afterwards Brian asked Megan if she saw Irene in the other room. Megan replied frankly, "Yes, I saw her lying in the piano." No emotional scars from bringing a 6 and 4-year-old to a wake......

Family photo with Brian's 2nd cousins who he used to spend the summers with on the Cape.


This is Joan. The kids know her as the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and whoever brings you presents at Halloween. Joan always has some kind of gift for Conor and Megan. She has been tremendously generous to them and to us. It was great to see her. We felt like she was glad we made the effort to come to honor her sister's life.

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Wednesday we headed to our favorite spot: Castle Island. Conor and Megan spent most of their time finding hermit crabs, collecting them in a bucket, making a "school" for them, and then sending them off into the ocean. It was amazing to watch so many kids get along and play together while they were gathering these little creatures.

Megan on her scooter @ Castle Island


Conor on the monkey bars @ Castle Island



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Thursday we invited a group of friends from Conor's kindergarten class to go see Disney's OCEANS with us. It was a great show. Following the movie we ate at Chick-Fillet in the mall and then played at a park up the street.

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Friday we went to Tumble Kids with another family from church and they invited us over to jump on their trampoline and eat popsicles and strawberries in their backyard! FUN. (no camera)

It's been great fun to have very little structure in our lives this week and to enjoy Conor home during the day. He's excited about going back to school, unlike February vacation. I used to get sick to my stomach whenever I had to go back to school --- even in college, and even when I was a teacher going back after school vacation! Conor already packed his backpack with extra markers, colored pencils, and highlighters. He's all set.