At the beginning of the month, Emily, Omar, Sophia, and Omarcito came to visit from Wisconsin. On the way, they picked up Omar's brother Paco, who had flown in to Chicago from Mexico. After spending the night at Niagara Falls, they arrived on our doorstep at dinnertime on Friday...and Omarcito had found the Play-Doh and remote-controlled cars before we sat down to eat.
On Saturday morning, Emily, Omar, and Paco went to Treehouse Brewery in Montague. Emily has become a craft beer enthusiast, and she was some-excited to visit this place-that-we'd-never-heard-of to stand in line and fill some growlers. Meanwhile, Don prepared his famous kabobs for dinner, and I took the kids to an awesome school playground Sarah and I recently discovered.
After lunch, we all went to Look Park to ride the train and visit the mini-zoo. Then, we picked up Reid, who had taken the real train from New York City to Northampton.
Back at home, everyone enjoyed the yard, a yummy dinner, and s'mores for dessert.
On Sunday, we took a whirlwind (and incomplete) tour of the Pioneer Valley. First stop was Mt. Holyoke at Skinner State Park.
Then, on to Old Deerfield, where we picnicked on the common and took a quick stroll around the 300-year-old town.
Next was Shelburne Falls, for a walk across the Bridge of Flowers, a peek at the glacial potholes, and ice cream and candy at Mo's.
On Monday, we headed to Chesterfield for their 4th of July parade. It is small-town America at its finest. Emily had been looking forward to celebrating the holiday in New England, and I couldn't think of a better place to go.
Afterward, we had lunch at the Williamsburg Snack Bar -- lobster rolls and whole-belly fried clams. As expected, the clams weren't to everyone's liking, but Omar and I enjoyed them! While Don took Reid to catch the train back to New York, the rest of us went to the Village Green for ice cream, and Omarcito made a new, BIG friend. Then, it was back home, where Sarah and Sophia decided to read the Bible, and Paco entertained the kids with Snapchat.
Tuesday was the last day of their visit and time to head for the beach at Salisbury State Park. It rained the whole way there, and we arrived in fog so dense we could barely find our way around the roads, let alone see the ocean. We were undeterred, however -- okay, I was deterred, but others were wiser -- and as soon as we set up, the fog began to clear, and it turned into a beautiful day.
After a four-hour drive home (thank you, 495) and a late dinner of Tater-Tot Hotdish, Omarcito got to open some early birthday presents, and our guests got ready to go home. The atmosphere was decidedly less joyful than it had been, as toys and clothes were picked up and packed up. It reminded me of The Cat in the Hat cleaning up the house before Mother gets home.
Sarah and I said goodbye to everyone before going to bed, and, at 3:00 a.m., after a few hours' sleep, they loaded up the car and were off, driving straight through to Wisconsin. The place seemed SO empty and quiet when I got up. I still miss the happy chaos. There's nothing like a house full of family.
No comments:
Post a Comment