The kids and I, after a seemingly interminable flight during which the JetBlue inflight entertainment system was broken, landed in Boston Wed. evening and proceeded to my parents' home in Dedham, where we received a warm welcome and a yummy dinner from my parents and my sister Kristen and her husband Allen. During breakfast the next morning, my brother Paul and his wife Betty arrived, fresh from the redeye flight from L.A. See?
Troopers that they are, they then joined the rest of us (minus our parents) for a sailing trip hosted by longtime family friend Bret Carr, who is, no bones about it, QUITE a character. He'd make a great pirate captain, except that underneath it all, his heart is too soft.
(That's Bret in the blue shirt, and my BIL Allen manning the helm. Paleface skinny character enshrouded in sunglasses and full sunhat would be yours truly.)
I have to say, it's hard to spend hours out on a boat like that, powered only by the wind and with nowhere else to go, and not notice yourself relax. Afterward we grilled hamburgers at the home of Maryanne Champagne, another longtime friend of my parents who lives there on the coast and accompanied us on the boat. Ian was delighted to collect shells and discover a real horseshoe crab on her beach.
Then it was time to head home for the Birthday Banquet. The poor bridegroom had been unable to join the maritime festivities, due to various groomly responsibilities (haircut, marriage license, the like). Fortunately, he has a birthday coming right up this week, and my sister Louisa's birthday was that very day, and Eliza's was three days before, so we were compelled to indulge in a bash of sorts. And isn't this the coolest thing? Even if I did suggest it to them? During present time, Eliza got to open one of the best gifts ever. My parents and siblings had each bought her a new book and then made recordings of themselves (using GarageBand, woohoo for the MAC!) reading it aloud. My parents even did one together, with my Mom reading and my Dad doing pageturn signals with his wheelchair button, LOL! I'm so excited about having all their voices recorded, reading the stories just for HER, my greatest audiobook fan. She seemed to dig it, too. We got more than just the solemn gaze. :-)
After present/cake time, it was time to forge ahead with Mission: Unwind the Groom. Warning: my family is a bit offbeat this way. We have this tradition, you see. It tends to frighten the new in-laws, but Tim's been part of the family so long that he just joins the fray. This particular episode began with Tim and Paul scooping up Peter and depositing his lanky frame on the couch, where we all proceeded to tickle him. Mass chaos ensued. We call it "Making Matters Worse," and it involves everyone hollering and laughing at the same time. Hey, I warned you we were weird.
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