Monday, August 25, 2008

Massachusetts Getaway (or..."How We Dropped in on Aunt Mary and Uncle Nick with a Weeks Notice)



The weekend before last, our dear friend Mary made the mistake of calling to say hello...

The result was me packing up the girls and driving up to Massachusetts on Monday the 18th. We decided to end our summer with a visit to Aunt Mary, Uncle Nick and Ryan in Marshfield. We spent the night in Boston on the 18th. Once we checked in, we walked from our hotel in the Seaport District to Quincy Market. We watched some performers, shopped and had a quick bite for dinner. On Tuesday, we played tourist and boarded a tour trolley. We hit most of the major attractions, including a side tour of Harvard Square. We packed up our stuff that afternoon and headed down to Marshfield where a beautiful breeze and beautiful Aunt Mary awaited...

Both Nick & Mary worked on Wednesday so the girls and I waited until it warmed up (temps were in the 60's in the AM) and walked to the beach. Bad timing on our part, as the tide was high and water crashed on the rocks. We made due with kicking back in the yard. Josie entertained herself for a full four hours playing "puppets" in the sun room while I read a book (first time in ages!) and Maddie caught up with her electronic gadgets.

On Thursday, I picked James up at Logan Airport (he was in California on business) and then headed out on Nick & Mary's boat. We cruised around for a while on calm seas and then pulled a few lobster pots that Mary's brother, Jim, had put out earlier in the day. The first pot had two huge female lobster laden with eggs - so we had to throw them back in... heartbreaking. The rest of the pots were empty, so we we went home empty handed but happy - it was a beautiful day at sea and Mary was an excellent Captain!











Once we pulled back in to the marina, I got Josie off the boat while James, Mary and Maddie did the hard work of cleaning and closing up the boat. I was a bit scared of having Josie around the floating docks. She is not at all comfortable around the water yet, so best she stayed on dry land while the adults were busy.







Of course, being the slacker that I am, I kept busy taking photos of Josie while the others worked (sorry, guys!)



Friday was the ultimate beach day - Nick was able to take Friday off and we all headed to the beach with chairs, cooler and suntan lotion. It was a breezy day, full out sunshine with warm water to dip our toes in. Here's Uncle Nick enjoying a well-earned day off:



Josie got some quality time in with Aunt Mary:



And the rest of us got a nice tan and a day of rest and relaxation.



On both Friday and Saturday mornings, we awoke at 5:30 to catch the sunrise. Mary and I wanted to catch some photos but our results were mixed. The skies were so clear that there were no clouds to lend 'drama' to the sunrise - just a few spectacular colors that didn't translate well to film...





Maddie came along on Saturday morning, so I got some subdued shots of her:



Finally, after a few hours on the beach Saturday, we had to make the 10 hour drive home. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone. James has been daydreaming about buying a house up in Marshfield, which would make us all very happy. Everyone we spent time with there was so welcoming and friendly. It seems we have the BEST time there. Thanks to our Marshfield family for making sure we had such a great visit.

2 comments:

OH MY #6 said...

sounds fabulous. all of it.

Have a great day.

Lea
xo

Susan Stevenson said...

Beautiful photos, Mich. Looks like you had a marvelous - and RELAXING - time! We loved our visit to MA about 8 years ago, and hope to get back someday. There's so much to see and do, and the beaches are beautiful too. I'm glad the weather was nice for you!