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!!

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

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

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.

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

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.

The afternoon we rented a canoe from the campground and paddled around the lake, getting some sun. After canoing we laid down on “our own private beach” for a while and decided to try to go get some wine for dinner. We didn’t know what an expedition it would be…

We asked the folks that manage the campground where the closest grocery store and liquor store were, and it happened that the closest grocery store was in the nearest town… 15 miles away!!! As for the liquor store, nobody really knew and they told us to ask at the grocery store. One guy at the grocery store told us that there was a store selling wine a few more miles further. That place had 3 stores in one building, but with 3 separate doors. One for the general store, one for the laundromat and one for the liquor store. The owner grabbed the key of the liquor store door and opened it for us. The store was more or less a long corridor with about 50 bottles of wine and liquor disposed on a shelf. We picked two wines, a Chardonnay and a Riesling. When we opened them later we realized the Chardonnay was more of a vinegar than a wine… which left us with “only” one bottle .

The evening’s highlight was probably the grilled ham and potatoes dinner with Lindt chocolate stuffed bananas for dessert.

Sunday May 27th

Unfortunately we got awaken by the sound of the rain on the tent. Although it is a very pleasant sound, rain sucks when it comes to camping… So we decided to try to find some “covered” activities to do that day. We spent our morning exploring the natural stone bridge and cave in Pottersville. This was a fascinating place, with some interesting rocks and a nice waterfall.

Then after a good lunch at a local bakery we headed north to Tupper Lake where we visited the wild center. This visit was a little disappointing, beside a couple of funny otters, a few trouts and a few frogs there was not much to see in this place. But that was god enough for our rainy day.

Monday May 28th

We packed up all the semi-wet stuff in the morning and decided to head home as the weather still wasn’t great. We drove all the way to Albany and then change our route to go through southern Vermont and stop in Gardner MA at Kristy’s parents before heading home. The weather cleared up a little and the scenic drive was very pleasant. We were afraid to hit some traffic when approaching Boston but we didn’t see anyone on the road… my guess is that everybody went to the beach and that’s were the traffic was .

So we ended up being home quite early and after unpacking most of our stuff we decided to treat ourselves after this harsh weekend by going to the movie to see Shrek the third and getting dinner at Rock Bottom before starting another week of work.