Our Summer of Funner began with a roadtrip to Boston, not so much for the purposes of sightseeing, but for the purposes of visiting family. Not only did the kids meet their cousins, the “Boston Moritzes,” or, more accurately, the “Lincoln Mortizes,” they also got to spend a large part of the weekend visiting their great grandmother, Betty, who, in her early nineties, took the bold step of moving from her long-time home in Niles, Ohio to a lovely apartment in an active residence for Seniors in Quincy, Mass. On top of all of this, we had the chance to have a night-time ramble with my cousin Felicity, her husband Kevin, and our newest little toddler cousin Ren!
The drive from Toronto to Boston and back again was rain-soaked and sometimes terrifying! The bad weather had both of the adult drivers in the car swearing off distance-driving, or, at least, swearing…but the visiting days in between were lovely and clear!!! Highlights of the trip were many, including: visiting with Gram, looking at her wedding pictures, having lunch with Gram both at her complex and out at the Clam Shack, playing Uncle Mike’s piano and hearing Uncle Mike play, meeting Aunt Kathy and sampling all of her amazing Korean dishes (hoping to recreate several of those meals in the coming months! Mapo Tofu anyone?), being swung around by and receiving violin and trombone lessons from Cousin Manu, hunting for frogs and climbing twisty trees with Cousin Istvan, eating spicy Thai that had been ordered in Thai by Felicity and Kevin, playing in the park with super-Ren, riding the Swan Boats and counting real swan eggs in Boston Public Garden, talking Kimchi with Cousin Megan, searching for mother and baby rabbit at the house in Lincoln, horsing around with Diesel the neighbourhood dog…Wow! And, after more of that blasted traveller’s rain on the way home, we woke to a sunshine-filled house, a backyard practically overflowing with hydrangeas, and our first not-so-liberal but delicious handfuls of service berries from the service berry bush I planted this spring! (We think the squirrels got there first!)
I’m not much of a “snapper,” so here are a few very fuzzy pics of our visit!
Great idea!!!