Our weekend.

It's quiet around here this morning.  Dan does a combination of work-from-home and work-from-the-office.  They call it a hybrid workplace or something like that. Anyway, today is an office day for him so it's just me at home all by myself.  Sarah is at the lake with friends and won't be home until later this evening and then tomorrow we will pack everything we've purchased over the summer and hope we can squeeze it all into two cars on Thursday morning.  And then hope we can squeeze it all into her tiny dorm room on Thursday afternoon.  

We had a relaxing yet busy weekend.  On Friday evening after we ate dinner, Dan and I were planning on going for a walk but Sarah needed us to pick something up for her dorm room.  She was conveniently watching a movie with a friend and didn't have time.  :)  But Dan and I love a good errand so we went out to pick up the item.  We found what she needed on our first stop at the Walmarts and texted her a picture:

She made her choice on which frame would work best (the black one but we would also need to get white spray paint to paint it white) but then asked if we can run to Hobby Lobby to see if they had any white ones so we wouldn't have to spray paint them.  So, we did what any good parents  fools would do, and raced over to Hobby Lobby because they close at 8:00.  Why so early, Hobby Lobby?

They did not have any white poster frames so we went to Michael's and then to Target.  Nope and nope.  So we went back to the Walmarts and got the black frame and the white spray paint and finally made it home to sit on the couch and watch a couple of episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm.  

Dan has seen the show on airplanes while traveling but I've never watched it because it was on HBO and we never had HBO.  Sarah purchased HBO Max to watch Pretty Little Liars and graciously shared her login information with us and now we are able to watch the show.  It's pretty funny.  It's basically Seinfeld minus the audience laughter and add adult themes and cussing. And I'm laughing as I'm typing this because the show is over 20 years old so I'm sure you've ALL seen it and don't need me to describe it to you.  :)

On Saturday morning, Dan did yard work and I made these chocolate chip oatmeal sandwich cookies. That was Sarah's request as her last Sunday dessert before school. (The recipe, even halved, makes a ton so I was able to send all the extras to the lake with her which is a good thing because if they are in the house, I will eat them.)We went to Mass in the evening and then went to dinner at Fourth Street Filling Station. 

 

After dinner, Sarah went to hangout with the entire basement one last time because one of the guys was heading to college and wouldn't be able to go to the lake with them.  :(  

Then on Sunday Peter came home and joined us for lunch at Mom's.  After lunch, Sarah headed to the lake so I had to get a couple of pictures of my babies together. I'm glad Peter was able to come home to give Sarah a big hug and a proper goodbye before she leaves for school.

Dan, Peter, and I went to dinner Sunday evening and then just hung out at home and Peter headed back to Raleigh on Monday afternoon.  It's so nice that he has his truck there and can come home whenever  he wants to. The drive is only an hour and 45 minutes so it's not too bad at all!

And that was our weekend.  I'm extremely thankful for the time I got to spend with my kids. 

Not much going on around here...

Exactly one week from today, we will be moving Sarah into her dorm at UNC Charlotte!  She and I have gone shopping THREE times for all of her dorm essentials AND she has ordered quite a few things from Amazon as well.  I've enjoyed our shopping trips and am thankful for the time we've managed to spend together.  She has worked almost every single day this summer and while her bank account is looking good, I've missed her!

I laugh when I think back to last summer when I had to drag Peter kicking and screaming to Bed Bath and Beyond to pick out a comforter and get the rest of his items. That trip ended pretty quickly with me offering to just go by myself to purchase everything I thought he needed.  He was totally fine with that. All he cared about was ordering a flag (Charlotte Hornets) for his wall.  And it's so funny because since then, I've seen a lot of boy moms talking about all their boy cared about for his dorm was a flag for the wall!  (I would also like to add that now that he has his own room in the apartment/frat house, he proudly has THREE flags displayed! :)

It's been pretty quiet around here now that Peter is gone.  Sarah's last day of work is tomorrow and then she is going to go to the lake with The Basement for a couple of days and then it's off to school!

The birds continue to come to the feeder that is mounted to the kitchen window.  And last week we finally had a cardinal visit!  It was a female.  She's visited several times and I'm hoping she brings her husband.

Buddy continues to enjoy the bird feeder as much as I do:

I've been enjoying my fair share of tomato sandwiches this summer:

Toasted sour dough is the key to an exceptional tomato sandwich!

I made this delicious tomato pie:

And a big pot of tomato bisque that was delicious too!

Dan and I have gone on a couple of walks this week and on Monday this little rainbow was just hanging out:

I love a surprise rainbow when there hasn't been any rain!

And according to my camera roll, that's all that's been going on around here.  

NCSU - Year 2 begins

On Tuesday morning, with a car loaded full of clothes and household items, and a truck loaded full of boxes, we headed to Raleigh to get Peter set up into his housing for sophomore year at NC State.

It was hard to be sad because he is so excited to be starting this year in an apartment/house with 11 of his fraternity brothers.  The building looks pretty old and I was curious so I did some sleuthing at the register of deeds.  It shows that the property was built in 1901 but also it doesn't show an actual deed being issued to anyone until 1924.   So either the building is 121 years old or the  building is at least 99 years old - either way, it's OLD! 

There are four front doors. The door on the far left and the far right are single person units with a bedroom, kitchen, living room, and bathroom.  The two doors in center are identical apartments but mirror images of each.  You walk into an entry way with steps leading to the second floor.  And then each of these two apartments have three bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen.  No central living space.  And then the unit that Peter is in has a set of stairs that leads to the attic where there is another apartment with three bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. And then in the basement there is a laundry room and another bedroom. (I am assuming there is also a kitchen and bathroom down there.)

It's a very interesting housing set up and it appears that the attic and basement apartments were added in the 1990's to accommodate as many units as possible and I'm assuming at that time large groups of friends (aka fraternities) most likely started renting it. 

We got his room set up and all of his stuff put away and left him to deal with the leasing company on an issue we found. And before we left on Tuesday he was on the phone with AT&T because he is responsible for setting up internet for the whole house. So not even a couple hours into apartment living and he was already dealing with some fun issues.  It's great experience though. Welcome to adulthood!

 

I'm praying that year #2 is awesome! Lots of studying, a little fun, and a few of visits home. :)

Cape Cod 2022

We are back from vacation!  Well, technically we have been back since Sunday evening but somehow this week has flown by and now it's Friday.  

We started our journey to the Cape on Thursday evening (July 14th) after Dan finished work.  We made it to Chambersburg, PA where we spent the night.  We were up early and on the road to MA by 7:20! We arrived to the Cape house around 4:30ish.  

Dan spent Saturday doing chores around the house and I helped where I could.  I also managed to get out early for a morning walk and snapped a couple of pictures of the scenery. It's much nicer to take a walk when there are water views.

Sunday morning we headed to Mass at St. Francis Xavier and in the afternoon Sarah and I hit the beach for a little fun in the sun.

Later in the afternoon, Sarah and I dropped Dan and Peter off to do a little fishing and she and I walked around Hyannis. 

On Monday morning we headed to Falmouth with our bikes and hoped on our favorite part of the Shining Sea Bikeway.  Well, I say favorite, but we've never done the rest of it but I can't believe there's a better stretch of it!  :)  We biked the 3.5 miles to Woods Hole where we had lunch and then biked back to Falmouth.  It's always a fun day and if you have to do a bike ride, it's the best: it's flat and the views are lovely!

 

On Tuesday, we headed off Cape and into to Boston to pick up Dan's uncle. After we picked him up Uncle Bob we headed to Gloucester to pick up Dan's other uncle (who isn't technically an uncle but is his uncle's bestie from seminary.  He spent all holidays with Dan's family and it's just easier to call him Uncle Ron. It was so nice catching up with the uncles as we enjoyed a delicious meal in Gloucester.

After we got the uncles back to their respective homes, we spent the rest of the afternoon tooling around Boston.  We tried to visit the Constitution.  When the kids were younger we attempted to tour the ship several times but it was closed for a long time for repairs and once it reopened we never got around to touring it.  We decided while we were in town we would finally check it out.  But low and behold when we got to the ship there was a sign up that it was temporarily closed.  We were so disappointed.  They have a really nice museum there but we've already toured it and didn't really want to go through it again. So off we went...

We stopped for a quick show in front of Quincy Market.There were some funny street performers who were doing acrobatics and jokes and getting the crowd involved.

 

Sarah wanted a Boba tea and we shopped through Urban Outfitters and walked around Beacon Hill and then headed back to the Cape.  We stopped for dinner and found a really good Mexican restaurant in Plymouth.

On Wednesday we just went to the beach and did a few more things around the house. Wednesday evening we headed out to Gray's Beach for the sunset.  

We've done this for the last several years and it never disappoints.  

On Thursday we were up early again and headed off cape again.  We spent the day in Newport, RI. We arrived a little before noon and walked around the wharf area before having lunch. Then we walked around the wharf area more and the old town area.  

I guess we are true southerners.  When we go to RI we get the Texas BBQ.  :) I thoroughly enjoyed these pork belly sliders. 

Michel Corne is the person credited with bringing the tomato to America!

The Newport Tower dating back to the mid-1600s.

We then hopped on a little boat and took a tour of Newport Harbor.  We saw several mansions and lots of massive yachts.  We also enjoyed coffee cabinets on board.  Apparently in Rhode Island they call milkshakes cabinets.

After the boat tour we got back in the car and gawked at all the mansions on Bellevue Avenue. Then we stopped along Ocean Avenue and took some pictures on the beach. A storm was about to roll through so it made for cool pics.

 

 

We got back pretty late in the evening and stopped at Captain Parker's for dinner.  Their clam chowder is the best!  It wouldn't be a trip to the cape without a bowl.  

Friday morning was mostly a work day.  We had to clean everything, wash and pack all the clothes, get the bikes packed up, head to the dump, etc.  After ice cream we always drive around the last night and the past couple of years we've stopedp at Bay Street beach for a few more pictures.  It's always funny to me the things you do once and then the kids want to keep doing them.  And it's also interesting how the things change from year to year.  

And that was our cape vacation!  And lest you wonder if we took multiple trips for ice cream and had our traditional first night and last night Toly's pizza - we did!  As the kids get older, our time at the cape seems to go by faster and faster.  And now we are back home scurrying around getting everything ready for both kids to leave for college.  

Here is one last picture.  We were trying to get a selfie at the boat dock on Englewood Beach and a nice man offered to take it for us.  

And here's one last shot:

Isn't she pretty?