Fire Island

After the great swim, we stayed on Fire Island for the better part of the day. At a little place called Sailor's Haven, we walked through Sunken Forest to make our way to the other side of the island.

The boardwalk led us through the trees and dumped us into the beach.

There were HUGE clams shells everywhere.

So Chris figured he should make out with one.

We even braved the waves; and the water was beautiful!

The following day, on our way back home we stopped by New York City to see if we could catch a show. It was raining and there were no matinees, so we left almost as soon as we got there. NYC is great - a wonderful reminder that we never want to live in a big city. After frustrating ourselves trying to find our way out, the should-be 3 1/2 hour drive home turned into a 6 hour bumper to bumper ride. Awesome.

Moral of the story: Never drive north of NYC on a friday afternoon.

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The Great Birthday Swim

For Chris' dad's birthday, he treated himself to a 4 1/2 mile swim. I know, isn't it crazy? He swam across the Great South Bay, starting in Patchogue, NY and finishing on Fire Island.

His mother had trained for this same swim when she was young, but was never able to accomplish her goal because she got sick. He wanted to make this goal in her name and do it on his 60th birthday, which so happens to be her birthday too. Cool, huh?

That morning, we woke up real early and got on the boat to ride over to the starting line.

Once there, Dad suited up, kissed his honey goodbye, and dove into the salty, murky waters.

We on the boat (me, chris, dan, lisa, and mom) had a fantastic morning cheering the little fish on and watching the sunrise.

When the sun was finally up, its rays began peaking their way through the clouds.

Halfway through, Chris decided he'd go for a swim too. So he suited up, kissed his honey goodbye, and lunged in.

Father and son finished the last two miles together.

Touching the dock at Davis Park Marina, he finished his goal in only 3 hours. We are all so proud!

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Massachusetts Welcomes Idaho

Chris Black and Malley recently visited us from Idaho for an entire week. Since Chris and I (I have taken to calling him my Chris to distinguish between the two) are recently unemployed, we were able to hang out everyday and have awesome East Coat fun.

Naturally, the family took a trip to Water Country and disappointed Logan's wish of "I hope we don't get wet under that waterfall".

We took the two lovebirds out on the boat and my Chris enjoyed whipping Malley and I around on the tube. After a lot of giggling, a wipe out that felt like a cat scratching my face, and Malley almost losing her bathing suit we called it a day.

But that doesn't mean we weren't up for some Candlepin Bowling! We found out that although the balls are much smaller and you get 3 balls instead of 2 each time, the game is no easier than regular bowling and we probably won't go again any time soon. But for the record, I won.

We spent a day in Boston as well, of course, with Mandy as our tour guide and with the three kids as our carry-along entertainment.

There's no better city than Boston to force smootchy pictures on your sister and her boyfriend.

That night we met up with Derek, Geena, and Jeff for dinner and a box of infamous cannolis. Two thumbs up for Boston.

Their last Saturday here, we went blueberry picking and ate lobsters at Mom and Dad's house (an annual event). Dad bought 20 lobsters. That's about 30 pounds of lobster. Awesome.

It was a fantastic week and we were sad to have Malley and Chris, a.k.a. CB, leave.

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Farewell, Bar Harbor

After much deliberation, Chris and I have decided to cut our stay in Bar Harbor short. There are many many reasons, and we feel it is the best decision for us. So, sayonara Bar Harbor and peace out Del Sol.

Our next adventure: Living in MA and finding jobs. Aack. Time to be real adults.

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