Heading home!

We had a great trip and are finally heading south. Here are a few highlights from the last few days...

*We went to Block Island off the coast of Rhode Island on Thursday. My two aunts and one cousin joined us. This island is where my grandmother worked while in college during the 1930s. My grandmother died when I was 11 months old, and although I don't remember her, she is always very much alive when my mother and her sisters are together. Stepping on this island was like stepping back in time. The hotel where my grandmother worked is still in operation. It reminded me of the hotel in the movie Somewhere In Time. We walked the grounds, then headed inside. In the lobby, there was a poster commemorating the 100th anniversary of the hotel and a few pictures showing the hotel during the different decades. As I looked closer at the dates, I noticed one was a picture of the staff from 1938, 70 years ago this summer. I scanned the faces in the picture and found my grandmother's face! I couldn't believe it. It was so special being there with my mother and her two sisters, and we all felt our grandmother's presence there.

*Thanks to hurricane Bertha, hundreds of miles away, we had incredible waves at Narragansett beach. There were also strong rip tides, so strong that it made national news. Matthew and I went out to ride the waves on Wednesday. I got tired, so Michael started watching Matthew (who never gets tired) and I walked to shore to hang out with Jilinda and Mary Beth. After a while, we saw a life guard race into the water. Jilinda and I looked to see who he was rescuing. He swam over to Matthew! Matthew had gotten caught in a rip tide and was having trouble swimming back to Michael. Michael reached him before the life guard did, and I was so thankful that the situation was under control before I figured out what was happening! As it turned out, the life guards had to save several people in the same stretch of water that Matthew was in, so they closed our section of the water. We watched in awe as 10-15 racing around like a scene from Baywatch, as they saved many trapped swimmers. Fortunately, everyone was OK. I absolutely loved watching Matthew diving into the waves. He was so joyful, and watching him was such a treat.

*We went back to the beach on Friday, and Bryon, Michael, Lauren, and I body surfed on huge waves. Some were fun, but I got knocked around quite a bit, and scraped my back on the ocean floor. I still feel like my equilibrium is off! Mary Beth and Thomas loved digging into the sand. Mary Beth stayed busy for hours making "dough" with her sand cut outs.

*I had such a fun week with my family. Hanging out with my parents and siblings (I consider Jilinda and Josh my sister and brother as well) was such a blessing to me, and I will never forget how magical the week was.

*Our family reunion was yesterday in Seekonk, MA. I absolutely love my mother's maternal family! I am named after the women in this family. My grandmother was Mildred Elizabeth, her mother was Sarah Elizabeth, and her mother was Elizabeth Ann, which is my first and middle name. My grandmother (mentioned earlier) was the oldest of 5, and the baby, Aunt Winifred, is the only one left. She actually came to my wedding, and was my honorary grandmother. It was nice to visit with her, along with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. The day was over before it started, and we spent the night with my aunt in Providence last night.

*We are now on the road, and anticipate a very long day in the car today. Tomorrow, we will make it to Alabama, and I am excited about meeting my blog friends, Karen and Tesney!

I guess my next blog will be with pictures! We should be home sometime on Tuesday. Just another 28 hours of driving left!