Vacation Pix & Video = Mammoth Post (sorry)

I got a bit carried away posting pictures of my holiday, sorry. I had a great time and loved the area so wanted to share a few things. If you've been to Massachusetts before then mosey along to the next blog and come back in a few days.


Skybus airline went bust so we had to drive. 14 hours. 14 LONG grueling hours. We took both cars and swapped between riding with teenage boys and riding with a toddler. Believe it or not, there was reason in there somewhere. So here we are - Craig's mum & dad, his nephew Luke and friend Sean and our Jack. One good thing about driving was that we did Niagara Falls on the way over.

The motley crew, in front of our house on Manomet Beach

View from the house. I fell asleep each night listening to the waves lapping onto the shore (and Craig snoring but you can't have it all can you)

Luke & Sean try their hand at boogie boarding. They had an amazing daily diet of power bars and Red Bull.

Ready for mischief

And so on to some sightseeing pix - first stop is Plymouth where the British pilgrims landed in 1620, met the native Americans who helped at least some of them survive, and there began the "Thanksgiving" celebration. This is the Mayflower 2, built exactly the same as the original and sailed from Britain to the US after WW2 as a sign of friendship.

The native American that befriended the pilgrims and helped them plant corn & other crops. In hindsight that may not have been a great idea for the future of his people. Interestingly "Thanksgiving" is an official day of mourning for native American people.

The pilgrims stepped off the Mayflower onto Plymouth Rock. Here we are, sat on it.

Okay, the real Plymouth Rock is encased in plywood underneath the Portico

Plymouth cemetary. I wanted to try and find some graves from the 1600's but the guide chewed my ear off until I stopped listening and then Jack was a little, erm, disrespectful.

Plymouth Plantation is a recreated 1627 village with both pilgrims and native people. The pilgrims act like it's 1627, which is cool at first but then a bit silly. I must admit though that at one point I found myself talking to a pilgrim lady about brewing beer and she was telling me how hard to was to grow barley and I was thinking "it must be really hard living here", when I should have been thinking "she's probably called Britney and lives in a posh beach house next to ours".

While I was soaking up the history, Jack was chasing hens.

A view of the plantation

The native people were dressed traditionally but spoke like it was 2008. I always feel really guilty and ignorant around them, knowing they must just hate the English. I feel like saying "I'm really sorry you know, for what my ancestors did" but they'd probably tell me to bugger off.

Cape Cod was FAB. With scenery and gorgeous little towns that I could mooch about in for days.

Craig did some fishing. He didn't catch anything but that didn't dampen his spirits. Personally, if I didn't catch a fish after 30 seconds of standing in freezing cold water up to my nads I'd give it up as a bad job and go shopping.

Our boy mucks about in the sand

Plymouth Harbour

Martha's Vineyard. Somewhere we all wanted to go but it was 102 degrees that day and by mid afternoon we hated the place and couldn't wait to get the ferry back to the air-conditioned cars. Then both the bus driver & car park attendant were rude pigs, which ruined my day. So, Martha's vineyard is probably stuningly beautiful but I'll always remember it as stinking hot and full of obnoxious people. And I didn't see one bloody vineyard. Or Martha.

Fabulous Boston, where we did the 3-mile "Freedom Trail" and learned all about the beginning of the revolutionary war. Personally I think they over-reacted. If they didn't like our tea they didn't need to tip it into the harbour & start a war.

You have to really don't you?

Luke (left) & Sean had no idea what "Cheers" was. I was amazed until they told me they were only 4 when the last episode aired in 1993. And they did know Frasier.

Another old graveyard, this time in Boston. It had very cool pirate graves.

Whale watching trip

Look - a whale! We must have seen 20 at least that day.
I took some short video of them. When they are close you can see this very light blue/aqua marine haze through the water. Sorry my camera skills aren't too good but I was too excited at seeing them to act professional.

Friends Separated

True Friends

are Hard to Find

Difficult to Leave

& Impossible to Forget

A Fellow Blogger's Book

One of my favourite blogs Wife in the North has written a book, published in the US this August. Anyway, she put together a fun promo for the book that you can watch below...

Sore Bum Update

Remember Jack's Sore Bum story? Well, turns out, "Expatmum" was right - it was a fungal infection.

Turns out, an athletes foot cream, Lomotrin, is the best cure, so says my pediatrician. And he's right. It has GONE finally.

That's my top tip for mums with the nappy rash blues.

Back from New England

We're back! Really missed blogging and reading blogs and will catch up soon.

We went to New England for a week and got home last night. I'm itching to post all kinds of pictures and stories but today I have a big work conference and then I have a farewell party tonight for Char & Jan. After weeks of me posting about their impending departure for a new life in CA they actually fly away from us tomorrow.

Anyway, the trip was fab, the weather gorgeous, the beach house heavenly.

Lots of history was absorbed, mostly about the pilgrims and their escape from British tyranny, or about the extortionate British tax system that led to the Boston tea party and the Revolution, or about the persecution of separatist religions by, you guessed it, the British. It's a good job we have a sense of humour or us Brits might get a bit miffed about the whole "tyranny" thing.

Gotta run now - but will post lots later about the great things like whale watching and seeing my son jump in the Altantic Ocean, and about the bad things like $5.12/gallon gas, and about the weird things like us all stealing stuff but not confessing till we got back (ahem, hope the police aren't reading).

Whoopin & Hollerin

I'll be gone from the blogging scene for a few days. Not because I'm thinking of leaving the blog world like the wonderful Mousie, not even because I'm about to get flattened to a pancake by a tornado (although we're under a warning as I type). The reason I'll be absent is that family from England arrive tomorrow. Craig's mum, dad, nephew and his friend arrive for a few weeks and we've got all sorts planned. Lots of pictures and stories to follow of course.

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Jack's bum is now fine. If you are wondering why I'm talking about my son's nether regions on the Internet, please refer to the previous post. Anyway, he's wreaking havoc on the world again and surprising me every day with new things. When he's looking for something now, he raises his shoulders, brings his palms up to his sides and says "where did it go?". He also discovered showers this week instead of baths. My cunning plan to make him wash his sore bum in a new way might backfire on me if he refuses baths from now on.

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Lastly, did I mention how much I love my job? I think I have. Look who I got to meet today:

For those of you in England who don't have the foggiest who he is, he's Archie Griffin, ex-OSU and NFL running back that is the only college football player in history to win the Heisman Trophy twice. Regardless of the fact that I was only 5 years old and living in another country altogether when he won his first one, I have come to love him like any other Ohioan. Okay, let me put it this way - it's like meeting Sir Bobby Charlton. I'll leave it at that.
So anyway, someone asked him if his Heisman record may get equalled this year by Tim Tebow and he said "Beanie may have something to say about that" and everyone cheered loudly and "whooped and hollered". Including me, because football makes me lose all sense of dignity and composure. Sorry, I just can't help myself.

Bum Sore

Jack has nappy rash and is in pain.

It makes me wince every time I have to change him. He grabs me round the neck and wails NOOOOOOO! like I'm going to throw him to the lions.

Then as soon as he's on the changing table it's like something out of WWF. I'm actually secretly impressed that a 2 year old can put up so much of a fight but of course I don't show him my underlying admiration, instead I wrestle with his legs and say things like, "this won't hurt", knowing full well it's going to hurt like hell.

Nappy rash is just bloody awful - I mean it's blood red and weeping and would bring even the most hardy adult to his knees. The last two days I've tried powder, creams, baths, bum soaks in the sink (please try not to remember that if you ever come to dine with us), and lots of "nappy free" time which always results in a wet floor (or leg, as I found out tonight).

After the dreaded nappy change, the poor little lad gets down from the table and waddles off, doing his best John Wayne impression and saying "bum sore" over and over, in case I seem to have missed the point.

I'm trying Jack love, I really am.

Our Fab Weekend & a Smiling Goat

Big Weekend Lined Up

Our friends from Arizona flew in for the weekend so we met for dinner tonight.
Jack was a little star and sat for 2.5 hours at the restaurant table without having a FIT. Thankfully we had enough songs, tickles, cell phones, purses, dances, stories, table-wear and cameras to keep him amused! He's becoming such a personable boy and always says hello to people and interacts. He's very boisterous, very confident and I like that but phew he can be a handful. When we left he was exhausted and wrapped his little arms around my neck. It makes me melt every single time.

He's such a handsome devil. His eyes look green here (like mine) instead of the normal blue like his dad. Maybe they are changing? Maybe I'm fooling myself and it's just the green shirt making them look green. Funny how clothes can do that.

This is just the beginning of a big 3-day weekend of friends and fun. No housework, which I DETEST (would have a cleaner in a heartbeat if I won the lottery) , no DIY, no mowing, no gardening, no watching TV. Just a fab weekend planned. AND the weather is going to be glorious. I am so happy right now.

Parenting - from a Different Perspective!

Race for the Cure

Gina and I did "Race for the Cure" this morning. It's a 5K run in aid of breast cancer research and I think there were about 40,000 participants this year. I say "Race" in the loosest of terms, since Gina ran but I walked. Well, speed walked actually once I could get passed all the annoying people in my way. Isn't that awful? I do something for charity and there's all these kind people doing the same and I'm thinking, "do you really have to take up the whole sidewalk you selfish git" I'm going to hell aren't I.

Gina made good time, bless her. It took me an hour to walk the 5k - about 3.1 miles. I haven't walked 3.1 miles in a couple of years so I'll be stiff tomorrow and probably have bowed legs that couldn't stop a pig in a ginnel. It was so nice to get to the finish line and see Craig and Jack there, and Jack's little face lit up when he saw me. Next year we're going to do it as a family.

As I was walking with all these people you can read message cards they have stuck on their backs. Sometimes it's a celebration card, announcing that a loved one has survived breast cancer. Many times it's a memorial card, announcing the death of a loved one. I teared-up quite a few times, particularly when you see young kids with cards on their back that say "For My Mom". I promised myself at least 50 times during the race that I'd check myself every month and I will. Craig said he'd help too, he's so thoughtful!

After the race we had two birthday parties today - Jack's friend Katy (above) turned two and Grace turned four. So we had lots of fun at an outdoor park and then a swimming pool. For the first time since I joined Weight Watchers I saw myself in a mirror in my swimming stuff and didn't feel like tying lead weights to my legs and jumping in the deep end. Still a way to go but it's getting better.

So that's it. A busy Saturday. I'm hoping it's dry tomorrow so I can plant my veggie garden. My onions are currently sat on the kitchen table, sprouting already. I put them there to egg me on and get me motivated. They've been there since March and getting a bit smelly .....