Planes, Trains, Automobiles..an Ode to Summer

This summer we were getting on planes. Personally, I hate to fly but sometimes, there is no other way. Here, I have posted a few pictures from a full summer of fun. I have ignored this blog for a year but I am feeling inspired. I wanted to post some fun fall stuff but felt I should give Summer 2016 some credit. We had our  first frost here in Boston. The snow will be flying soon. I imagine, I will have more inside/down time with soccer wrapping up and garden chores done. I hope to give this sad little blog some attention. So like I mentioned, there was flying on planes.

Here is an aerial shot over Washington D.C.

We were getting on trains. Not this one. This is a cargo train going over the Hudson River in New York.

This a little train ride my boys were on at an Irish Festival that we went to in the Catskills, of New York. There was some really great music but I was disappointed with the lack of Irish dancers. It was at least 95 degrees that day. It is freezing out today. I am not ready for this whole winter thing!

There were automobiles. This was a vintage army jeep that was in a fourth of July parade. They threw us Tootsie Rolls. A candy I would never buy but love them when I get them.

 The boys always love to take a spin in their Grandmothers "car with no top".

There were boats and sailing and wading on floats.

There were lots of picnics on the beach this summer. Sandwiches with sand and warm drinks.

There was hoverboarding and very few scraped knees and stubbed toes.

There was lots of clothes changing. Swimsuits to sweatshirts, shoes to flipflops and then back to swim suits.

There were walks along the beach in the misty rain.

There were patriotic desserts being made on the 4th of July.

Not to mention patriotic candy eating.

There were rainbow cakes. I wish it had a unicorn  on there. Who doesn't love blue frosting?

There was lots of shopping and antique-ing and birthday gift buying for nieces.

There were tantrums over not being able to blow out candles over and over again. Three times is the maximum to avoid major wax build up on the cake. 

There were more artificial snacks on special visits.

There was plenty of  backyard water play.

There were yummy clambakes, sticky hands and yucky clean ups.

There was an over abundance of beautiful sunsets and sunrises, clear starry nights and enjoying nature. It was an amazing summer.

Adios, Summer 2015

 The summer is almost over.  There is always a bittersweet sense of excitement as the crickets song lulls us to sleep at night.  We know Fall is right around the corner. The September mornings are always a little bit cool.  I go back to starting off my day with several hot cups of tea and the children insist on having a warm breakfast. Pancakes, oatmeal, toast or scrambled eggs. I always bring out my treasured egg cups, mostly from Denmark and some vintage, when summer ends.

These fresh eggs are from my sisters beautiful chickens. The shells are a pale green. They are so lovely and I don't feel bad eating them. Her chickens are spoiled rotten, not to mention demanding. I never realized how picky or opinionated a hen could be but hers definitely are.

 The end of the summer brings with it harvest fairs and carnivals. This is a great time of year for junky treats like fried dough, candy apples and cheese fries. The picture below is a glimpse of the attractions at the Marshfield Fair from the perspective of the Ferris Wheel. Yikes.

 There are a couple of classic rides my kids always insist on going on. First is Crazy Bus. It goes up and down, pretty classic for little kids.

 Of course , there needs to be a water gun game.  Three dollars a try was so over priced. Every kid won a prize though. I really would have preferred that they didn't all end up taking home a plush banana with eyes, but hey, they were happy.

 Bumper cars. Not much driving going on, or socialization. They only bumped into their brothers. Again, they laughed a lot and were happy.

 There was this tug boat ride which was cute. It seemed a little unstable and dangerous but I guess that is the chance we take when we put our beloved offspring into the trust of the carnival folk. Actually, they were all really nice and pretty safety conscious.

 We ended this super hot day after the fair, at the ocean for a swim.  The water was so refreshing!

Sand castles and silliness were a final few things on the agenda.

We ended the excursion with a trip to Dairy Queen for soft serve ice cream. It was the perfect ending to a perfectly exhausting summer day.

Goodbye summer 2015. Looking forward to beautiful fall!

Go fly a kite!

 Summer is in full swing. Beautiful days at the beach with just enough wind to carry a kite.

 A Spongebob kite of course. These are the simple pleasures of childhood. We even got through a whole day without a kite falling into the ocean or getting caught in a tree. Life is good.

 The kids really wanted to stop in at Frankenstein's for one of their famous hot dogs. My kids refuse to eat hot dogs all through out the year but if it is thrown on a grill, well that is a different story.

 The boys went deep sea fishing. Everything was thrown back because of the strict catch and release program in place to preserve different fish species when their number are low. It is the thrill of the hunt I suppose and despite a little trauma, the boys were told the fish go back to living happy fish lives. Who knows really. The boat ride was really cool as well. No one ended up getting sea sick despite super choppy waves.

 In June, we had a celebration for my son who was a high school graduate this year!!! Off  to the University in the Fall. Time flies.

 We threw a lovely party with awesome dishes and desserts, some mylar balloons and graduation themed decorations. Let us not forget the necessary bubbles with tiny graduation caps on them. Teenage boys love that sort of thing...I think.

I have been doing a little antique and vintage store browsing and shopping. I scored some amazing new shoes....just perfect for summer, or maybe not. Where exactly would I wear these shoes, and with what? How can a lady go wrong with polka dots, leopard print and six inch heels. I had to get them.

Summer is for candy and empty calories.  Mike and Ike always have seasonal or retro promotional flavors. I was thrilled to come across cotton candy flavored Mike and Ikes in this adorable pastel, retro box. They were really good.

 A little patriotism being shown here.

 Classic barbecue, classic, depressing hot dogs, these might even be tofu franks thrown on the grill as an afterthought.

 Beautiful smelling beach roses, almost gone for the season but I will harvest the rose hips for tea. I do it every year, they are very high in vitamin C and anti-oxidants. I personally add a lot of sugar or honey to it to really enjoy it possibly destroying any health benefits.

 The elusive lady slipper pictured below were found blooming in Plymouth, MA. They used to be illegal to pick but I don't think they are technically endangered anymore. I didn't pick them because I was hoping others would walk by and notice them. They put a smile on my face.

 Here are a pair of beautiful swans. Not something you see every day. The strange thing to me is that they were swimming in a salt water bay. I always think or ducks, geese and swans to be fresh water birds, apparently I am wrong.  This is not a fluke, swans nest on these shores every year. So beautiful.

 Here are a few cars from the annual Dedham Flag Day parade. It is always fun and the candy throwing situation is always pretty amazing. The candy, "Mardi Gras" beads and little patriotic trinkets thrown and handed out at the parade are a big draw for the kids.

 Here, is a vintage army jeep. There were some veteran ladies in their classic 1940 style uniforms. They were adorable but they went by too fast for me to get a decent picture. Who doesn't love a parade.

 My flowers in the planters look pretty happy. Soon we will be switching over to mums and marigolds...no hurry. The crickets aren't even chirping at night yet. That is always a clear indication that summer is on it's way out. Right now we are concentrating on watching fireflies in the evening and sleeping to the buzzing fan in our bedroom window. We have air conditioning but the fan brings me back to my childhood. So relaxing and you don't usually end up freezing at 3:00 a.m.

 There was a little summer storm and these two little cuties insisted on playing in the rain with umbrellas and rain coats. So far, summer has been delightful.

A Marchy March

 March was a time of celebration for us. The Saint Patrick's Day theme lasted throughout the month. We did the typical Irish American thing and ate corn-beef and cabbage talked about our Irish born grandparents and our own stories of the old sod, from our own experiences. My family lived in Galway and summered in Donegal, Ireland for a few years when I was a teen. I always hear people say that they don't eat corn-beef and cabbage in Ireland and that is an American custom. Actually, it is a, " living in the slums with the poor Polish and Jewish immigrants at the turn of the century and celebrating with the food they sold in their shops custom." The Irish celebrated the feast day during the Lenten fast with what they could find, unfortunately, it wasn't something good like filet minion. However, when I lived in Ireland they did sell corn beef and cabbage so that is what we ate in Ireland on Saint Patrick's Day. So Ironically, the custom that started here immigrated there and became the custom they are known for, that they really didn't have but now do. If you understand what I am trying to say.

 This is a picture of my two littlest cherubs. My baby is three months and is incredibly active and prefers to stand when being held. The four year old adores him. He will sit and play with for up to an hour. I am so happy they enjoy each other so much. I was concerned the four year old was going to resent not being the baby anymore. He really loves being the big brother and Mommy's helper. All holidays are fun with little ones around. They saw these little decorations (they are holding in the picture)at Michaels craft store and made me buy a dozen so they could stick them in different plants and vases around the house. Very sweet.

 This represents Irish culture to me.......Shamrock Shakes!!!......no, not really, not at all actually. They are cute to look at. My boys demanded we get some in exchange for helping with some projects around the house. I guess you can also order something called a Frozen Leprechaun which is half mint shake and half chocolate shake. I am sure there are people who add hard liquor to that and really have a part with their 1000 calorie, artificial color sugar overload. I can feel the brain-freeze as we speak.

 Here is some real culture, some contemporary  Irish folk music being played at a local tavern we frequently go for dinner. That evening, I had some amazing fish and chips soaked in vinegar, it was Friday during lent after all, no meat allowed. I don't think having a lobster roll or seafood platter is a sacrifice over a hamburger but hey, I enjoy the challenge of meat free dinners. I don't think I gained any brownie points for making sacrifices because I made a total  glutton of myself at the restaurant. The side order of onion rings was totally unnecessary.  I am only a weak human after all. I, totally deserved the lousy night sleep with persistent heartburn I was subjected to later.

 This was the sight out the window that evening, it almost looked like a sunset. I thought to myself, we are getting there, spring is almost here.The bottles seen here were dug out of the ground by my son. They are old apothecary bottles from turn of the century. They are pretty cool and look nice when the sun shines on them. The next morning, I woke up to Jack Frosts signature on the windows. I was disappointed it was so cold but thought it looked so pretty. Little leaves of ice crystals. Nature is amazing.

Finally, you can feast your eyes on this kitschy Saint Patrick's Day Cake. It is a simple design but man o man was it good. Dense, moist(I was told people hate that word), chocolate cake with a glowing Kelly green butter-cream frosting. It was a real crowd pleaser. March was terrific. Looking forward to next months Springy/Eastery magic!