Vacation, Part 2

Here is more about our fabulous vacation! I think by the time I get all these stories out it will be wintertime! :)

We had a GREAT time at my aunt and uncle's house in MA. They live on a lake and so many of my childhood memories are from their house. Their son is my "baby" cousin, now 24! He is the one I lived close to and used to "mother" growing up. He is now a grown man, out of college and in the real world. Pumpkin and Critter just adored him. Pumpkin is still telling stories about him. The first day we were there Pumpkin loved being outside and on the boat, but did not really want to get into the water. We finally got her in the water near the end of the day...and then she did not want to get out! Critter was not a big fan of the water, but loved playing on the dock. It was so neat for me to show the kids where I grew up. We also got to go by my grandparents home and the town they lived. We walked around and showed them the old church and other places I remember. This is just the first batch of pictures from MA, I have a bunch more!

This is our attempt to get Pumpkin in the water...we were not successful yet! :)
Pumpkin and Cousin J. She loved these rafts, especially before she went into the water. She would follow J anywhere around that lake!

Critter was happy for a few minutes on the raft with Daddy. All of the vacation he was Daddy's boy, unlike the Momma's boy at home! If Daddy went out of sight, he sort of freaked out. It was sweet, yet very tiring. They had a great time together though.

He was SO HOT after a boat ride and being in his shirt and life vest. We had to cool him down and he did not want to get into the water. So...we brought the water to him! He loved pouring the water on himself too. It was so cute and it cooled him down.

Pumpkin finally wanted to get in the water. She did not want to take the life vest off, but at least she was having a blast.

I have many childhood memories jumping off this same dock. My cousins and I would make up games and just be kids. It was so much fun to see her doing the same things I did way back then.

This is my grandparents old church. It is a beautiful old Catholic church. It was open the day we stopped by and we got to go in, and get out of the heat. It was as beautiful as I remember it being as a child.

This was probably the most emotional time of the trip for me. I lost my grandparents about 7 years ago. Neither of my kids got to meet them in this life. However, Pumpkin is named after my grandmother. She knows about all of the people who are no longer on this earth and we tell stories about them often. We went by Hubby's grandparents cemetery, but did not get pictures. We did get some here. Pumpkin recognized her name and we told a few stories about them. It was a very special moment for me to share this with my kids.

Critter has a heart full of love and understanding. The first thing he did when walking up to the headstone, was to touch their names. It just was amazing.

If you see those little specks on the top of the picture in the water...that would be Hubby and Pumpkin. This was not even as far as she went. Once she started swimming she did not want to stop. She did have her life vest on, but still I was a little nervous. Hubby finally got her to come back when two boats came between them and the shore. She had such a great time.

I have so many more stories with even more pictures. We have decided that we can not wait 4 years to head back East. We need to do it more often. Maybe next time in the fall to see the changing colors though. More stories and pictures to come....