The endless summer of fun

After getting back from Saratoga and getting a few chores and errands completed, it was time to visit Jackie and Mei at the beach. Quinn and I went for 2 nights each of the 2 weeks and had a great time. The weather was perfect...not too hot...and we all had fun going to the beach, playing wiffle ball, playing Monopoly and eating ice cream. The cottage is right on the water with a great screen porch and patio. Morning latte (instant coffee and milk) was delicious and it was great to enjoy it next to the ocean breezes on the porch in the morning before the kids got up. Jackie's parents were extremely hospitable and I enjoyed visiting with them. Quinn's highlight would probably be learning to skimboard. Both of the kids picked it up very quickly. Not being afraid to fall makes it much easier to learn! I also loved collecting seaglass and finally getting to the R.J. Julia bookstore.

Following the second trip, we returned home, only to head out again the next day for East Lyme, CT and Wendy Savarese's 40th birthday party. It was at a beautiful private lake owned by Yale and they had a delicious clambake. It is amazing that having lived in CT all of our lives, the many unspoiled and beautiful areas of our state that we have not seen.

Matt decided to have lobsters the following night at home with the Brookes and McNamaras...will the fun never end?


Now we are back home and in between batting practice in the front yard, are getting ready for the school year.

Saratoga Summer vacation

Memorable moments on vacation!

Friday, July 22: the hottest day on record in a long time! My car temperature read 108 at one point. But we made it and the house is fantastic! We met the owner, Mark Sutton, and he gave us a lesson on using their very cool TVs and movie projectors. We had fun cooking up spaghetti and shrimp for Walker, Abby, Steve and Katie and enjoyed listening to music out on the screen porch.

Sat. July 23: Today's highlight was telling Chris Brooke he won $600 on a $1 trifecta bet he made. He had only made one other bet the entire day...talk about beginner's luck! Had another fun dinner with the group of 8 (plus Quinn and Mei). Quinn and Mei caught a couple of sunnies on the dock...and Walker got the fish off the hooks and back into the water.

Sun. July 24: Today we took the kids to play mini golf and then met Matt and Chris for lunch at PJ's. Matt, Quinn and Mei went on a fishing expedition with Ed, our neighbor for 2 weeks. He is a really nice older man who is a recent widower and loves to fish! We ordered very fancy, yet small pizzas from Harvest and Hearth.

Mon. July 25: So far, our only day of rain...but we made the best of it and found a spot in the main building for the races. Not too many winners, but we still had a nice day. Playing cards later with the Brookes was a lot of fun. Earlier, Jackie and I had fun poking around in a few shops downtown.

Tues. July 26: Jackie and I had our mineral baths today and the new Roosevelt facility is very nice. The bath is so relaxing. I thought I would get restless or bored, but it was nice to relax and focus on nothing but breathing. The time flew by! Later, we headed up to Lake George and took the kids to the arcade and out to lunch. Finally, Matt offered to drop us at the outlets, which was a big mistake for him because women simply can't stop at the Outlets for 20 minutes. It's a 2-hour trip, minimum. The Martins joined us today and we had fun seeing Drew and Lucas.

Wed. July 27: Today was a big transition day. The Brookes left from the racetrack and we moved all our stuff downstairs. The master bath/closet is so huge...I keep wondering if the layout would work at our house if we turned Quinn's room into a room like that. Quinn has not really done that well sleeping with Drew, so he has been sleeping on the floor in our room! He seems totally comfortable...I guess kids can handle things like that. Wed. night we had a chance to go out to dinner with Nealy and Rob (Ally and Brittany babysat) and it was a real treat. We went to 1 Caroline Street and had a great meal...We have to get the recipe for the artichoke appetizer. Then, after some argument and discussion, we ended up at the Tin and Lint (who am I to mess with tradition!) Matt commandeered the jukebox and Nealy got a Sharpie so we could memoralize our many visits there with some comments on the booth. It was a really fun night.

Thurs. July 28: Lee and Dale and Ryan came up today, and after the usual 30 minutes of arguing and tension as we got ready to go to the racetrack, we had a great day. The track has been pleasantly uncrowded, and we had a nice time under the trees. Ryan, Lee and Quinn went on a quick fishing trip with Ed, and then we had a great dinner of steak and potatoes and corn all brought by the Huckers. I was nodding off early, but in spite of that; it was a fun day.

Fri. July 29: Today was interesting because the guys played golf and Quinn and I went with Nealy, Dale, Drew and Lucas to visit grandma necklace (Debby) at her apartment. She really worked hard to make us welcome and we had fun going to Latham to Hoffman's Playland which is an amusement park for little ones. Despite the huge bruise on my thigh from the mini roller coaster, it was a fun day. Quinn has been really good with the little ones, and he loves to pick up Lucas. Friday night was pretty mellow as we waited for the guys to get home, and we just missed getting caught in the rain.

Sat. July 30: Back to the racetrack, and today the crowds were back. We found a good spot out by the road and had room to move around, but it was hard to manuveur our way over to the betting windows. Earlier in the day, I went for a long kayak ride...Ryan and Lee both got tickets for fishing without a license, so that was a bummer. After dinner, Lee asked us all what our most memorable moment of the day was (which gave me the idea for this posting). My moment was taking Quinn in to watch a race and the starting gate was right in front of us. I used to see that all the time at Santa Anita, but I think it was a thrill for Quinn, so it was fun watching him. Ryan mentioned watching Quinn looking at the monitor for the odds and scratches which was cute, but again, scary!

Sun. July 31: Everyone is gone...but instead of feeling sad, Matt, Quinn and I hopped in the car and headed to Lake Sacaganda where we rented a pontoon boat at Magic Mountain rentals. We had a great day on the boat....we rode out to the bridge and docked at a place where we could grab a sandwich. We tried to fish with no luck, and battled the flies. The lake is beautiful....very scenic and not too busy. Jumping in the lake from the boat was very memorable! Even Matt got in. Thank goodness the owner of the boat found a ladder for us, or we would have never gotten back in the boat. We had a dinner of BBQ from right down the road on Route 29 and it was pretty good.

Mon. Aug. 1: Can't believe it's August! We had a mini golf challenge in Clifton Park in the morning, then came back to let Buster out (he is having a great vacation by the way...he loves running around in the yard and chasing the Canada geese...he also has become quite a swimmer!) We headed over to the races but it was not a very lucky day. Our most memorable moment was having a drink in the Reading Room kitchen with Donna, Thea and Denise. After my usual sleepy time, I caught a second wind and watched "The Blind Side" with Matt.

Tues. Aug. 2: Rob and Barb came up today and we saw them when we got back from 36 holes of mini golf. We played Gooney Golf and Pirates Cove and it was fun, although Quinn was disappointed he came in 3rd every time. It's hard to explain to him how good he is! I would have never scored 2s and holes in one when I was is age! Yet, I don't want to let him win....I think he needs many lessons in sportsmanship. We had lunch at an old fashioned hamburger drive-up place with milkshakes that made us all sleepy. I hope Rob and Barb have a fun visit...I think so far, things are good.

Ok, ok, I lost track of the daily blog. A few other memorable events from our vacation included Quinn golfing as part of a foursome with Dad, Uncle Rob and Mr. Franklin in Vermont. Apparently, Quinn played all 18 holes as he ran the golf course. Scott and Cindy also came up for a visit and Scott broke all the privacy rules of friends/weekend get-togethers when he tagged Quinn to give Matt a wake-up solar plexus wrestling move on our bed! After this sudden wake up call, we all went to Lakeview Cider Mill for a large breakfast. We came home, packed up the cars and proceeded to the racetrack. Matt handed Alex, the parking lot attendant kid, $20 to walk Buster and give him some water. Not sure he paid him enough! 

All in all, it was a wonderful vacation and we will probably go back next year.