1st Meyer Reunion in Chatham

Back in November, Bumpa started the quest for the perfect house for the 1st Official Meyer week long Reunion.  He wanted everything to be just right-- enough beds, proximity to beaches, town, etc.  I have to imagine he might have been a realtors nightmare with all the questions about the house and what it would offer.  He even admitted to driving up to Cape Cod a few weeks prior to our visit to make sure everything was just right.

Well, Bumpa nailed it!  All his question and searching totally paid off.  The house was amazing-- spacious enough for four families, amazing views, great proximity to town, a kid friendly beach, and beach yoga where cool breezes came through the windows and people had space to "hide". 

The view from the "upper deck"

Highlights were the old school croquet "court" which was mowed twice during our visit and lit for night time entertainment.  With half of the Meyer Family being avid golfers and half rarely having played golf, croquet is the great equalizer-- lending itself to some great daily family fun.

 

  

Uncle Jamey and Aunt Paula's paddle boards, and Bumpa's kayak were also another huge hit.  Whether using it as a float at the beach or going out on excursions to see all the seals in the bay, it was such a fun way to explore the area-- albeit a little disconcerting to be so close to seals when white sharks had been spotted only miles away.

 

 

 

The beach that was a 5 minute walk from the house was perfect for the kids:

 



 There was a boat house which hosted many crab expeditions and post exercise dips:

And when walking to the beach or down to the boat house seemed like too much, there was always the blow up pool in the back yard.

I know my kids loved their introduction to The Candy Manor-- their first penny candy shopping experience
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We also loved watching the fishing boats come into the Chatham docks in the afternoon-- with the seals putting on their own show as they snatched any dropped bounty.

The F.F.O. to Monomoy Island was a bit hit on one of the overcast days:

There was also the quadruple date night which required both John and Rob visiting the local thrift store to get "appropriate" pants.

And the Pitter Patter Puppet Show in Brewster, MA:

But really, the best part of the week was getting these cousins together.  Having never all stayed under the same roof for more than a few days, it was a real treat to see them spend such quality time together.  Bumpa and Grandma pulled out all the stops and really put together an amazing week. 

Vacationing with a 1.5 and 3.5 year old is far from relaxing, but being in such a gorgeous spot, eating delicious food, and being with our extended family was so, so much fun.

Happy Independence Day

Another great year celebrating our country's independence!  We started the festivities by exposing the kids to their first fireworks display-- which meant staying up way too late and battling bugs and traffic (Burlington does its fireworks on the 3rd of July).  We spent the 4th of July in Warren at their eclectic parade:

  

Wrapped the morning up with good food and a swim in the river.  As our country celebrates independence, we are feeling like we are celebrating our own sort of independence...... The kids are becoming so much more independent, but also depending on each other (and not us) for entertainment and love.  It's such a treat to see them wrestle around, hold hands, or just belly laugh together.

Following a great 4th of July, we were honored by a visit from my dear Aunt Sherry and Uncle George.  Cally is pretty sure that they drove up from South Carolina to check on their cat "grand daughter", but I think they also wanted to spend some time in the Green Mountain State with their great niece and nephew.

We packed it in...... Dinner with Scott and Cynthia.

At one point I looked outside to see Sherry and the kids raking the grass clippings.  I guess Cal decided that it would be fun to go on a "hay ride".

We also biked the Burlington Bike Path, had a picnic lunch at North Beach, went blueberry picking, ate lots of local produce, and had them go to a few local museums while we tended to "house stuff". 

The best part of the visit was seeing Cal and Hazey form a tighter relationship with their extended family.  Cal didn't hesitate to hop into bed with George in the morning and have him read to her and Hazen was constantly looking around for Sherry to play ball with him.  Because we don't live in close proximity to family, it's visits like this that are so important.  Cally will forever remember "Little Ant" stories and her funny Aunt and Uncle from South Carolina. 

Uncle Mark

Tonight, Uncle Mark is getting a bone marrow/stem cell transplant at Dana-Farber in Boston.  It's been a tough road for Mark since December.  Within weeks of getting diagnosed with Leukemia, he began intense chemotherapy treatment (4 days of inpatient treatment, followed by 16 days of "recovery") repeated 8 times throughout the winter and spring.  During the treatment, Cally and Hazen didn't get to see him.  The kids were vectors for too many bugs and because he was immunosuppressed, it wasn't a risk worth taking. 

We missed Mark.  He is one of those people who loves children and makes them feel so special.  He has that sparkle in his eyes and the Irish brogue that the kids think is so friendly and warm. 

Last weekend, we were fortunate to be able to hang out with Mark (his blood count was in a good place after his last chemo and before the transplant).  After hearing about all he had been through, I wondered how he would look, if he would be drained and weak or appear visibly ill.  He looked great and most importantly, he is determined to fight this disease with a sense of optimism and good cheer that only an Irish musician could.  We hear stories of the amazing network of friends and family who have cooked for him, cleaned the house, done dental work on him for free, had benefits in his honor, etc.  And its clear that all the love we have seen him offer our family has spread to an entire community of people over the years and has come right back to him.

 

 

Behind this strong fighter is a woman who deserves her own sort of medal.  Mark and Lynn got married over twenty years ago.  They've raised two amazing kids-- Chris (20) and Catherine (18).  Lynn works full time as the Manager of Operations at an Investment Banking group.  Through this all, she's been getting up in the wee hours of the morning, doing what she needs to do for her job,  gone to every doctors appointment and procedure that Mark has had, been there for Chris and Catherine.  If anyone can do this, and do it with grace and poise, Lynn can.  She's gone into overdrive and just made it all happen. 

 
Once the transplant is complete, Mark will have to rebuild his immune system.  It's as if his hard drive has been wiped clean.  This process means a month stay at Dana-Farber and then six months of close monitoring and isolation at home.   These two are really going to miss their Uncle Mark, but we are thinking of you tonight and every night and hoping for a speedy recovery.

GRR

 On Thursday, when the sun finally came out, John and I talked about getting out to the wilderness for the weekend (because we don't have many free ones this summer).  I called Green River Reservoir State Park on Thursday afternoon to see if any sites were available for the night and didn't hear back from them.

On Friday morning, they called to say that they actually did have a few sites available and asked if I still was interested in camping.  I told them I needed to check in with John, called John and told him we were going camping and then called the folks back to confirm a site.

I spent the kids nap time organizing and the car was packed and we were on the road by 3:30pm.

 

Our site was a quick paddle from the put in. We got to camp, took a swim, cooked dinner, had a dance party, went on a paddle, and had the kids in bed by 8:00.

John and I played some cribbage, we all slept great (even Zephy) and were back in the car heading home by 11am.  A bit of a whirlwind, but so worth it.

Fairy Ballet Fish

A few months ago, I looked at my summer calendar.  It was pretty empty and I figured I should probably sign Cally up for a few different things to do with kids her age (since we wouldn't have any childcare).  I perused the options (thanks to a great website called "findandgoseek" which lists all the possible day camps in the area).  As a working mom, I have this nagging worry that my kids are going to miss out on all those little classes and things that I was able to do as a kid because I had a stay-at-home mom.

John has been bringing Cal to swim lessons all spring, but I have an almost irrational fear of my kids being around water and not knowing how to swim so I did try to sign her up for more lessons at a neighboring towns pool, but was put on a waiting list.  I then looked into various "movement classes" (a.k.a. dance).  A bunch of options involved one day a week throughout the entire summer.  I knew that wouldn't work.  And then I found a week long "camp" at a local ballet theater company.  It was an hour a day and the theme was "Fairy Ballet".  So, in a moment of weakness I signed Cal up.  And then I forgot about it for a while.

 

As it turns out, I had an opportunity to do some per diem work during the same week that Cal was signed up for this camp.  John volunteered to take her the first day and we both scratched our heads on Sunday night wondering what she should wear (there was no information on the website nor letter in the mail).  Cal has a hand-me-down lime green leotard from our friend Claire's days in the Vermont Ballet Theater, so I figured that would do. Cally, proudly wore the over sized leotard with her underwear showing.

Off they went for the 9:30 class.  I told John he and Hazey could go grocery shopping or do some errands while Cal was in class.  It turns out that a) parents can't leave during class in case a kid needs to go to the bathroom b) all kids need ballet slippers and c) all the other kids wore pink leotards and white tights.

John begrudgingly purchased the ballet slippers, but neither of us felt inclined to purchase tights or a pink leotard-- and so she wore the blue and green ballerina dress that John purchased at Costco during a moment of weakness with a pair of snowman tights that her aunt bought her for X-mas.

By Wednesday John was doing a bun in Cal's hair before class.  He was in, hook, line and sinker.

I got to be the ballet parent on Thursday and Friday.  They actually don't let the parents in during the class and they block out the door window with paper.  I'm not exactly sure what went on in there for the hour, but on Friday the parents were invited to a mini recital.  Cal was having a ball, but I'm pretty sure that ballet is not her calling-- focus was sort of lacking-- even when just compared to the other 3 and 4 year olds in her class and she doesn't exactly have the genetics in her favor......

Whatever is the case, she had fun, and she showed a lot of independence by just doing it everyday.  As I watched the 40 girls there doing "intensive ballet" program (five weeks of ballet from 9-4pm) and listened to a colleague tell me that they spent their daughters college tuition on ballet only to have her quit her senior year in high school,  I sort of wondered what I was smoking when I even thought it was a good idea to sign Cal up for this......... For now, I think we are safe.

 

 

   

And to make the week even crazier, Cal ended up getting in off the waitlist for swim lessons at the local pool.  So, an hour after Fairy Ballet Camp, she had a 1/2 hour swim lesson.  This meant that  this guy to get dragged around to all these places:

 

Fortunately, he was able to rally for the Ballet class, but he usually fell asleep en route to swimming lessons.  And the other confounding factor was the weather.  With temperatures barely getting into the 60's and rainy for two of the days of lessons, we really made a point of not pushing Cal to go (and even thought about skipping it one day), but she insisted on going.  

 

 And fortunately, by Friday, the sun was shining and pool more inviting. She's loving the lessons, not really swimming yet, but so much more comfortable in the water.

 Witnessing all this insanity was John's old friend Michael, who came to visit from Denmark.  John and Mic met in Greenland when John was on the Viking boat.  Michael ended up staying with John in Huntington for a few months back in 1998 and they bonded playing obscure card games.  Unfortunately, Micheal arrived on Monday just as the rain began and the sun did not come out again until he left on Thursday!?!?!?  I guess Danes are used to overcast weather, but it still was a shame.

 

 

Michael and his wife, Fee, have two little boys (age 4 and 6) and he rolled with and witnessed Fairy Ballet Camp, swim lessons, a trip to Montpelier, an attempted dinner out, a canoe trip down the Huntington River, errands, melt downs, and ice cream cones.   And with the rain, cold temps, and loud children, he claims to still love Vermont and to have had a great time.  

Phew!  Now I'm ready to slow down and relax and enjoy our summer.