Aunt Carolyn's party

The reason that my entire family came to the Cape this year was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of my aunt leading a life of religious service. She joined the convent 50 years ago, and my mother remembers being 9 years old and crying because her big sister was leaving home! There was a big party for her on the Cape, and there were no tears this time!

We all have such a great time together. The food was great, weather was perfect, and company was so much fun! Here are the 9 Sullivan cousins:
My cousin, Jen, loves to read to the kids. She's quite the rock star as far as Mary Beth is concerned!

Mary Beth and Emma are 2nd cousins. Their birthdays are just 2 months apart. They had a wonderful time together!



All the second cousins...so far!
My cousin, Deirdre.

Hanging out at the boat house watching kids and adults jump in the river.



Mom's cousin, Linda.
Uncle Bryon/Daddy making everyone laugh!

Thomas and Eero in a kayak race.



Dad shucking delicious oysters!

Bryon arrives! Boston and the 4th

Well, we survived the first 11 days of our trip without Daddy. Bryon and I had never been apart for such a long time, and he used the time to work around the clock to get ready for vacation. The kids for the most part were great. Other than a few incidents, such as Matthew digging for clams, using a hammer to open it, and daring Thomas to eat it raw (which he did), things went really well! We were THRILLED, however, to have Bryon with us! On one of our first days together, we decided to drive in to Boston to walk the Freedom Trail. I did this as a child, but was so excited to relive the memory with my own kids!

Mother Gooses's tombstone
The Make Way For Ducklings statue in Boston Common.
One of the scenes from the book.



In front of Paul Revere's house.
The Bunker Hill monument. After walking several miles, the kids begged us to walk the 300 steps to the top of the monument. About half way up, I realized I had made a big mistake. Apparently, I'm not 18 anymore! I finished the trek up and down, but was more sore than I have ever been for about 5 days afterward!
Cool looking cemetery
John Hancock's tomb.
A great view of the Paul Revere statue with the Old North Church in the background.
The end of the Freedom Trail! Hallelujah!


We also celebrated the 4th of July at the beach with cousins and sparklers. A great combo!

Most of the rest of this week was extremely low key. Lots of time at my aunt and uncle's beach/river, and lots of time with second cousins!

First two weeks of vacation

We had a fabulous, fun filled, and exciting four weeks of vacation last month! I have tried to decide on how to document this journey, and figured that I would start out with the first two weeks.

We were offered two weeks in my aunt and uncle's cottage on Cape Cod before my entire family got there for a week long vacation. Since Bryon couldn't take 4 weeks off of work, I decided to drive the kids up to the Cape for the first week in the cottage. I love to drive, and have tons of fun with the kids in the car, so we left on Tuesday at the end of June for our trip.

Now, at this point in the summer, we were already experiencing a drought, and so the thought of looking at the weather never occurred to me. No sooner had I left Texas, then a torrential rain storm followed us for 7 HOURS. It was the most miserable drive of my entire life, and I was contemplating dumping my car in Meridian, MS and buying airline tickets to Boston!

Finally, when I hit Alabama (and the angels began to sing), the rain let up, and I was so excited to see my friends, Karen and Tesney in Tuscaloosa! Not only did I get to catch up with my friends, but I got to meet Kirill, Tesney's newly adopted Down Syndrome child from Russia. Words cannot express the preciousness of this child. So sweet and cuddly!

I also got to see some of the devastation from the 4-27 tornado. So very sad to see what has happened to my first hometown.
We also loaded up with gear for the upcoming football season! Roll Tide!
After driving for several days, we made it to my cousin's house in Connecticut. Mary Beth loves Jen, and would sit for hours listening to stories if she could!

Finally, after 3 1/2 days of driving, we made it to Cape Cod! Other than the rain the first day, the rest of our journey was uneventful. What a blessing!
Walking along the jettys on our first weekend there. The weather was cool and somewhat overcast the first few days at the Cape. A typical November forecast in Texas! ;)
The biggest reason for coming up early was for the kids to take sailing lessons. Matthew adored every minute of the lessons, and graduated from a smaller Opti sailboat to a 420 sailboat in the first week of lessons. He even raced a 420 at a local regatta and came in 14th out of 32 contestants! Not bad for learning how to sail the week before!

Thomas also loved the lessons, and was so cute in his boat!
Matthew and his friend, Matthew on a 420.
Little Miss loved sailing as well, and can't wait to take lessons again next year!