25 June 2009

Theme Thursday-Summer


Summer means vacation. When my nephews were in elementary school I always planned an adventure during the summer with my friend and her two children, my honorary niece and nephew.

Summer means "Let's go to the beach!" One year we visited one of my favorite places, Martha's Vineyard. We packed my friend's van with four bikes, food and the endless gear four kids require for a week's stay at the beach. We survived the trip up 95 from New Jersey with frequent stops at the MickeyD's. The ferry ride was a big hit. My nephews were a bit concerned that there was no boardwalk or games awaiting them but once there, quickly fell under the spell of the Vineyard. We stayed at a lovely place in Edgartown, rode bikes and visited the beach every day. In the evening, we walked about town after dinner to the book store and ice cream parlor. The first night there, the three boys travelled the narrow sidewalk at the speed of light from our lodgings to town with ice cream and adventure on their minds. My dear friend, appalled, as they barrelled through crowds, causing people to step aside and at times, off the sidewalk, corralled them--ages ~10, 6 and 6 into a single file and began the march that would become our nightly walk-left, left... one two three! It was controlled and for the most part, blissful chaos from thereon in.



Summer means riding bikes. Our treks began as so- my friend riding with my two year old niece, her daughter, on the back of her bike, my oldest nephew, his brother and my friend's son with me in the rear. The two younger boys had varying degrees of cycling ability--younger nephew rode very well but didn't fully understand the need to stay on the right side of the path and honorary nephew wanted a 'big' bike like younger nephew so was learning to navigate and trying to understand why he had to pedal so much. Luckily, the Vineyard has a great system of bike paths so vehicular traffic was never an issue. So it would begin--my friend would start off , followed and quickly passed by my older nephew who had strict instructions not to exceed more than a half mile lead, his younger brother pedaling gleefully albeit on the wrong side of the path and honorary nephew sometimes pedaling with me following yelling, "Right! Right! The other right! to younger nephew and "Pedal, Pedal, Pedal!" to honorary nephew.



I am pleased to report, we made the trip, without injury or injuring other cyclists. A good time was had by all.



Finally, summer means popsicles and the potential for an 'all girl getaway' since the boys were now too old to hang out with us. Hence, this popsicle moment in Chicago with my honorary niece after a day of sightseeing and shopping at American Girl. A whirlwind of a weekend filled with great sights, museums, food, tea with our favorite American Girl and no boys! Priceless.

4th of July weekend is just around the corner--time flies...enjoy the summer!

9 comments:

The Silver Fox said...

Sounds like a lot of fun. As a Massachusetts native, I'm partial to the Cape Cod area, around Sagamore, Bourne, Buzzard's Bay, etc.

By the way, something's messed up with Mr. Linky and your blog. I had to click on your user name from one of my Silver Fox comments sections to get here!

C.M. Jackson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
C.M. Jackson said...

Silver--

I love Cape Cod as well..Nauset, Chatham and Wellfleet are all favorite places.

Thanks for the heads up on my link--evidently one cannot use the url given when it is set up to publish on a future date--who knew? Tried to modify but couldn't so I just posted again with a note to mouse that my first linky was hinky.

best -c

The Silver Fox said...

Glad to help with the hinky linky!

Wings1295 said...

Great memories and great pics! Our favorite Summer place to go is York Beach, Maine. We LOVE it there!

Anonymous said...

"The Cape", one of Mom's old haunts. Can't believe I've been stuck in Mass. 20 years and never been to the Vineyard. Got as far as Dennis but so many nice areas and things to do regardless :)

Brian Miller said...

bikes were our vehicles to adventure in the summer. we wore out so many on our treks. thanks for the memories!

Betsy Brock said...

Beautiful pictures! Makes me want to be on the beach right now! happy summer!

rebecca said...

One of my favorite summertime getaways is Mystic, Connecticut. We take the ferry from Long Island and, that in itself is enjoyable. Mystic is still a small harbor town, so many sights to see, the locals are real sweet and friendly, and the shops super-quaint. It just exudes an air of calmness and old-fashion(ness) that I find so nourishing to the soul.

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