This is very over due, but it still deserves a post   Meg and I went on a Carribean Cruise the last weekend in May.  It was a short 3 day cruise but perfect for catching up with each other and a little R & R!

We went on a cruise together the spring of our 5th year at IU and looking back, it is amazing how different this cruise was for us from the one when we were 22.  Instead of drinking and dancing all night in the bars, we watched Twilight and read in our room.  Instead of tequila shots and hard liquor, the wine and ice cream were our daily favorites.  Instead of sleeping off hangovers in the sun or getting some “pre-party” drinks in the early afternoon, we sat and people watched all the people who were doing what we did 5 years ago.  I hope we can continue to do something like this for years to come!!

Matt and I went to San Francisco this past weekend to do some site seeing and visit Sofra.  I have been to San Francisco once before but, like most trips I went on from ages 13-22, it was for a swim meet and therefore I didn’t really get to experience all the city had to offer.

The first day we were there we took a trip to Alcatraz.  That was at the top of my “to-do” list.  We had amazing weather so the ferry to the island was great and we did the audio tour and walked around the island by ourselves for a while.  After Alcatraz we walked along the Pier, got lunch and then continued walking around the city…up to Coit Tower for an great view of the city.

Saturday we drove down the coast to Santa Cruz, visiting beaches and parks along the way.  Sunday we went to the old forts around the Golden Gate Bridge, walked along some of the famous streets in the city and had dinner in China Town.  On Monday, our last day there, went to Napa Valley to do some wine tasting!!!  The number 2 “to-do” on my list!!!!  We tasted at 4 different wineries.  The wine there was awesome and needless to say, I can’t wait to receive our shipped order

The remainder of the summer flew by!  Our wedding the in US was awesome…

Then me, Matt, my mom, dad, brother and memere all shipped off to France for round 2!

The wedding in France was amazing!

Then Matt and I were off to FIJI for a little over two weeks!  The best vacation I’ve ever had!

By the time we came back from paradise, the swim season had started and we both had to jump right back into work.  It has been very busy here but we still had time to make it back to Gardner for my cousin’s wedding!

Now we are already preparing for Christmas!

Hopefully I can keep up with the blog a little better now that we are back into the swing of things at home.  I know I enjoy looking at other’s blogs and keeping up with friends and family that way

Part 1 (July 1st): The birthday

On the evening of the 1st of July we went out at the John Harvard’s Brew House in Harvard square and got a few beers, buffalo wings and birthday nachos (no they were no candles on the nachos ) to celebrate Kristy’s 26th birthday.

Part 2 (July 14th): The present

Due to some scheduling constraint, we decided to spend Kristy’s birthday ‘weekend trip’ present during the weekend of July 14th. The location was a surprise, we drove south-east of Boston… and if you look at a map you probably know where we went cause there’s only one thing in that direction: Cape Cod . We rented a little studio apartment in Dennis Port from a coworker of mine, it was a very nice place.

We went out for some lobster and clams on Friday night, and we also got a very good homemade ice cream for dessert. On Saturday we spent our whole day at the beach near Orleans (not the French city that would be a bit far…). We mostly relaxed on the beach, I did a bit of surfing (waves were small and too many people around but still fun) and tried to make Kristy surf as well. She’s not ready to go to Hawaii yet, but we’ll go back in a more quiet place so she can practice with less people watching… that should relief some of the pressure .

We chilled a little on Sunday morning and then headed home early to try to avoid the horrible traffic jams from the Cape to Boston.

Still doing a bit of back tracking….July 6th-8th….we went camping in Newburyport, MA with Jill and Felix. We left on a Friday afternoon and spent the next day and a half in Newburyport. We had a great time cooking over the fire and playing cards! Saturday we drove into Newburyport and spent the day walking around the cute town and had lunch on the waterfront. We spent a bit of time in the afternoon at the beach and then went back to our campsite for a fun night of s’mores and texas hold ‘em.

The camping trip was part of our (Matt and I) wedding gift to Jill and Felix. We planned this all inclusive camping trip and prohibited Mattie (Jill’s dog) from coming with us I went camping with Jill and Mattie once before and it was not a very pleasant evening. He woke us up at 5am by running around in the tent and when Jill put him outside, he proceeded to back away from the tent as far as his leash would take him and run full force into the tent until we let him back in. Needless to say, I think Jill and Felix were able to relax and enjoy this camping trip a bit more than their last one

It has been a while since we have posted anything so I’m going to back track a bit

We went to Indiana the last weekend of June for a wedding. The head coach of BSC, the club team I use to coach for when I was still in Indiana, got married right in Bloomington. The wedding was great but it was not as great as getting back together with the girls! Meg drove over from West Virginia with Pat, Dorp and Lizzy drove down from Indy and Colleen and Cassie welcomed us all with open arms

We did the usual while we were there, went to Nick’s for a little sink the biz, walked to Blue Bird where none other than 17th floor happened to be playing, hit up Mad Mushroom for some cheese bread at 3:00am and of course went to Village Deli for breakfast/lunch. It was just like old times! I was happy that Matt came to experience some of what college life was like for me

During the long memorial day weekend we loaded up the car and went camping for a few day in Newcomb NY, in the middle of the Adirondack Park. We left on Friday just a bit after lunch hoping to avoid traffic if any. The ride was ok except for minor slow downs near Worcester MA and Albany NY. We got there in the late afternoon and started putting up together the tent and the gazebo. Beside all the bugs, the campsite was very nice. It is situated on the banks of Lake Harris, and our site had direct access to a small private beach .

More photos…

Saturday May 26th

The next day we went for a hike in the morning, we climb up to the summit of nearby Mt Goodnow and enjoyed beautiful scenery from the top of the scarily “see-through” fire tower. Once again the only annoyance were bugs… lots of them!!! We got back to the car and drove back to the camp for a well deserved meal.

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