Wow... Whirlwind

Let me start by saying that wow... time flies when you are super busy. I wouldn't have it any other way, but the spring was a complete whirlwind. I barely had a chance to breathe! From trips to concerts, meets and games, we've been at it non stop. And... there is this pesky thing called work. What a downer! Actually, I really like my job and it's a perfect fit for me. The hours are great, I love the people and the Church. It has definitely been an adjustment, but I've had so many people help me out (it really does "take a village") that the transition hasn't been too terrible.

My blog is supposed to be about our move here- but since it's been 2 years, it's more of an update about how we are and we have been up to.  We continue to check things off of our "New England Bucket List" and hope to keep it up. We've even done several repeats. This spring brought us numbers 5 and 6 on the Boston Duck Boat Tours! We were talking to friends that both grew up here and neither of them have ever been, and they are our age... we love it and would go again. We also visited Lexington/Concord for probably the 4th time. It never gets old.

Our biggest excitement from the spring had to be Amelia's trip to Fenway.  After a difficult audition, one of the (four) bands she participates in, the All Town Wind Ensemble, was chosen to play the National Anthem at Fenway for the Sox's second home game this season.  My sister and her family and my parents made the trip to come see them play and it was fabulous! What an opportunity for her!!
Photos can be found on the link:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/n712o5cpjautnkb/AACOhA_XcfCk9ng3ilPtaLaDa?dl=0

Unfortunately soon after playing Fenway, Amelia received some disappointing news- she has to have surgery on her spine this fall. She has been wearing a Boston Brace for scoliosis since December of 2013- but the brace was no match for her 8ish month growth spurt where she grew over 4 inches (and 2 more since).  We still have one more appointment before surgery, but it looks pretty definite.  I'll post once we have a date, as cards and letters will be appreciated!

Soon after Fenway, we crossed another item off of our list- we visited Vermont. Home of Ben and Jerry's (just as awesome as we anticipated), Cabot Creamery (very interesting) and our big stop, Jay Peak Resort.  It is a ski and golf resort, but we mainly went for the Waterpark. We had a blast, and were happy to see Vermont, even if it did involve lunch in the back of a hardware store (true story).  We'd still like to visit Burlington; maybe this fall.

After that we were knee deep in track and field for Declan (showed some great improvement this year, especially in long jump), tee-ball for Finn (he loved playing catcher the best, like sissy) and softball for Amelia. She's been playing since she was 4 and loves it as much now as she did then. We hope her surgery doesn't sideline her too much.  For now, and next summer, she is happy to play rec in the spring and summer league (play against other teams from the county)- no "travel/tournament" team yet.  The summer before 9th grade if she's still playing and interested we'll pursue travel.  She's currently mostly playing catcher, 3rd base and left field. So far, so good. 

Declan will run cross country in the fall, and he'll get involved in drama at the MS as well. Finn asked to do swim team, so we'll do a pre-team for him this winter. They keep me busy.

The end of the school year brought "move up day" for both Declan and Finn. I can't believe I'll have two in MS and Finn will tackle elementary!! If Kindergarten had a mayor, Finn would win in a landslide! Good luck to his teacher. Seriously.  

We were SO happy to see the Okonaks twice this spring/summer- and they helped us cross another bucket list item off- visiting "The Cape". What fun to have lunch and hang at the beach with them for a day!  We also got to visit with them and the Howensteins to go see U2 at TD Garden. What a blast!!

I'm only working 3 days a week for the summer, so besides our Outer Banks vacation (which was heavenly), I've been trying to do some fun things with the kids on my days off. We've now gone to Davis Farmland (LOVE!) and Drumlin farm, as well as the pool that we joined.  We hope to still hit the beach and the amusement park in the next few weeks.

I think that's it... one more week of softball, more day trips, camps and VBS... slow for August. :) A visit to PA and Ohio will wrap up our August, then we are back to school.  Much love to all, friends old and new-  
I'll try to add some photos to the post later. 
xoxo