Our Vacation

We had a great vacation. We spent the week out east with my Mom and Eddie. We arrived after a typical move of Northwest airlines, they cancelled the great flight we had that left at 5:00 and arrived in NY at 8:30 and put us on a fight that left at 6:45 and arrived at 10:30. Way past Harrison's bed time. But luckily I think Harrison was excited to see his Aboo so he was really good on the plane. The next day we got up bright and early and loaded up the car and headed up to Massachusetts to the Birkshires where Mom and Eddie have a house. We stopped on the way and picked up some fresh corn and tomatoes at a roadside stand. Harrison watched the Wiggles about 3 times before he fell asleep. We got there around 1:00 and off went Harrison. He absolutely loved the country. At the house he immediately ran to the screened in porch and hung out in there opening and closing the screen door to the rest of the house. He was in heaven. (As he loves opening and closing doors and drawers). Brad and Merryl soon joined us. We then ate lunch and headed to the playground. Harrison couldn't get enough of the corkscrew slide. I think he went down it about 100 times. He then wanted to go to the lake. Right next to the playground was the lake/beach. Of course, since it was 5:00 pm, I didn't have Harrison in a bathing suit and he went straight into the water. I really didn't care. He was having a blast. ON Sunday we went to the beach again and this time we were prepared with chairs, towels and swim suits. Harrison again had a blast. He even learned how to skip rocks. We then went to the playground until my Aunt Toni and Uncle Mitchell came over with my cousin Emily. They were in the Birkshires that weekend because my cousin Ian was at Tanglewood for the summer. So we had a bar-b-que with them. On Monday we went to Connecticut to Eddie'e Nephew's Mark and his wife Marsha's house for a bris for their son. They have a beautiful house. I took Harrison immediately to the play room with all of the other kids. He was a bit shy at first but he was then lured by all of the toys and played. THey also have one of the huge rainbow systems in teh backyard so Harrison played on that for a while. The brunch that they had was really deliciious. We left around 1:00 and got back to Otis by 2:30. We stayed at the house for the rest of the day. On Tuesday, we decided to take a walk around Great Barrington. We first ate lunch at a great little diner. Then we went shopping but the only one to get anything was Harrison who made out like a bandit with a ton of new toys (which we had to box up and ship home because I couldn't fit it in my suitcase). That night my cousin Ian was playing in a concert in Lenox so we went to that. Harrison wouldn't be quiet so Cliff took him outside while Ian was playing. I then joined them and we got to watch more of the Wiggles as I set up a mini picnic with snacks and movies for Harrison. We then took Ian out for dinner. We ate at a great place, I think it was called the California Grill. We ate outside and got eaten alive by the mosquitoes. Harrison who I thought would be a complete nightmare, because it ws 8:30 and way past his bed time, was really good. He ate a huge, and I mean huge by an adult size portion, bowl of buttered noodles. When he was done I turned on a movie on the portable DVD and he was in Heaven. I really don't know what parents did with out these portable DVD's. Oh yeah, I know what they did, they didn't go anywhere with their kids. On Wednesday and Thursday Cliff and I left Harrison with Mom and Eddie and went to Boston. We stayed at a beautiful hotel called the Park Plaza. We first went to see the Old State House. Then walked over to the Old South Meeting place. We then walked over to Fanueil Hall and Quincey Market where we had lunch. We ate at a great place called Durgin Park. I had Lobster...YUM!!!! We both shared Oysters...more YUM!!!. We then walked over to Paul Revere's house and the Old North Church. It was all very interesting. We then went back to the hotel and showered and got ready because we had Red Sox tickets that night. The game was great. George and Barbara Bush were there. This ws the first time Cliff had ever been to a Major League outdoor stadium. The next day we went to Boston Common to look at the ducks, then make our way to the USS Constitution and finally Harvard. Meanwhile, back in Otis, Harrison played in the lake and Playground and the pool and went to a goat farm and a regular farm to see the animals. We all then met up a the outlets and did some shopping. On Friday we packed up and left for NY. We spend the rest of Friday and Saturday in NY visiting with Popper and Adele and Hilary. It was a great trip! Oh, I forgot to mention, Harrison was teething. It started on Wednesday and didn't stop. He was so cranky. We all had frayed nerves. On Saturday when I saw Hilary I asked if I could up his dose of Ibuprofin and she said yes, we could give him a whole teaspoon. It was like the heavens opened..because after that, Mr. Crank Pants left and Harrison came back. So the story comes back to Northwest airlines, boy do I hate them. Well they didn't cancel our flight but they did change our seats, for no good reason, to the last row. I hate the last row. And to top it all off, we sat on the plane for 2 hours because of "weather". We were supposed to get home, again at an amazing time, 5:30 but instead we got in at 7:00 and home by 8:00. What snipets do I remember about the trip:

Eating TONS of bagels
Harrison's look of sheer joy going down the corkscrew slide
Harrison learning to skip rocks.
Boston Red Sox
Sweating alot
Ian's Concert
and spending a great week with Mom and Eddie

We can't wait for next year!