Just a few months ago, we were at Justin and Jasmine’s baby shower and now their little girl, Jordyn is here! At the end of July, we celebrated the upcoming arrival of Jordyn’s future cousin – Greg and Ashley are expecting a baby boy next month!
Until our next adventure!
This summer is flying by! Last month, James and I went up to Lake George for the annual family weekend that my dad’s side of the family hosts (that happens to coincide with my aunt and uncle’s birthdays). This year, it also happened to coincide with a MAJOR heat wave so if we were outside, we were most certainly in the lake.
James, Lilly, and I drove up on Thursday. We went to breakfast Friday morning and then did a big grocery shopping for the weekend. We spent some time at the beach and then came home. Ashley drove up and joined us Friday evening. She got there after dark and it was still so hot so we decided to walk down to the beach. We thought we were the only ones there (it was SILENT) but then suddenly these three middle aged women emerged from the lake holding champagne glasses. They went up to James and asked him why he wasn’t swimming and he just pointed to his cast and was like “uhhh…foot’s kinda broken?” so then they left but not before creepily chanting “enjoy your summer night” repeatedly. So if that’s not weird enough, after they were gone I turned around to see which way they went and saw that there were only two sets of wet footprints even though there had been three women. So apparently Lake George is haunted by middle aged women.
My uncle threw my aunt a huge birthday party on a boat for her 65th birthday on Saturday evening. The boat left from the Sagamore and cruised around Lake George for 3 hours. We had cocktail hour on the upper deck and then went downstairs for an amazing buffet dinner. Afterwards, we went back to the house and had an after party and James got my aunt to do pickleback shots!
On Sunday we visited the Adirondack Winery in Bolton Landing before Ashley had to leave. We wound up splitting a case of wine for the house and because we bought gifts for a few friends. Ashley went back to Connecticut straight from Bolton Landing and James and I went back to the house and brought Lilly out on the paddleboard with us. At night, the “adults” went to the Firehouse for dinner but we stayed out on the lake and met them at Windchill for ice cream – it was National Ice Cream Day so it was super appropriate.
James and I originally were supposed to leave Monday to go camping in Vermont but after he broke is foot, we decided to just stay up at the lake a few extra days. We tried to go to Fort Ticonderoga but it was pouring out and it required a lot of walking outside so instead we drove back down to Bolton Landing and went to the Bolton Landing Brewing Company. It opened up two or three years ago but this is the first time I’ve visited. We each got a flight of beer and split some tacos. The beer was great and so were the tacos! We will definitely be visiting again. After Bolton Landing Brewing Company, I made the same mistake I have made so many times before on trips to Bolton. There is a bar on the main road that advertises that they offer a raw bar. I love oysters so every year it seems that I am lured in by this sign, only to be disappointed (one year they served the oysters in a BOWL of ice with the shells tipped so everything slid out of the shells). I really need to start following my own advice – if a raw bar only has one type of oyster on the menu, it’s not a raw bar. So yeah, we stopped in this particular bar to get oysters and while they weren’t served in a bowl this time, they weren’t good.
The weather was much better on Tuesday and we drove down to Lake George Village. We played mini golf and got lunch at one of the many bars that overlook the water. We also went and sat on the beach for a bit but didn’t go in the water.
Wednesday was our last day at the lake. We spent the morning paddleboarding and going to the beach – the water was SO warm that even the sand under the water was warm. We reluctantly packed up and left in the afternoon. When we were in Ticonderoga, we noticed that Route 22 ran through town so we decided to take 22 home instead of the usual way. It was a super scenic route and everything was fine until we got to where 22 meets I90 – we found ourselves behind a truck with an oversized load that was going 30 mph the whole time. We were behind this truck the ENTIRE rest of the way home. At one point, 22 widens to two lanes in each direction. A car in front of us went to pass the truck but one of the vans following truck (you know, the one with the lights and “WIDE LOAD” sign) literally swerved to block him from passing the truck. It turned a three hour drive into five. What a way to end our trip!
Until our next adventure!
My favorite week of the year in New Fairfield has to be when the carnival comes to town. I still haven’t outgrown the excitement I had as a kid driving past the baseball fields and seeing all the rides and tents get set up. My family reunion has coincided with carnival week in the past and it did this year as well BUT opening night was on Tuesday this year (I think when I was younger it was always Wednesday?).
Originally we planned to go Wednesday night since I had Thursday off but the weather looked like garbage and I wound up getting booked to teach on Wednesday night so we decided to go after my bocce game instead. Jake and James were coming down from the farm and met Maranda, Matt, and me at the carnival as we were stuffing our faces with fried dough. Back when I was a kid, we’d get the ride-all-night bracelets but we only cared to go on a few rides this time. Of course, that didn’t stop James from buying an arm’s length of tickets so we all went on a kiddie ride to end the night.
Until our next adventure!
Our long Fourth of July weekend started a day early – I had taken the day off work to go to court to get my name changed and then spent the rest of the day running around town changing my name with the DMV and banks and everything. By the time I was done, it was nearly dinner. It had been such a hot day (and our first day of nice weather in who knows how long) that James and I went to Squantz Pond State Park. Lots of families were taking advantage of the nice weather and grilling for dinner at the park. We brought some food and even managed to go in the water – James sat on a giant rainbow floatie. A lifeguard tried to tell him that it wasn’t allowed but some random guy in the water was like “duuuuddeee let himmmmm, he’s got a messed up leggggg”.
Thursday was the actual Fourth of July. Our town has a parade but the parking for it is at the top of this huge hill and there’s no way James would have easily been able to make the trek down and then back up the hill. Plus it was way too hot. We went to a friend’s house for a cookout. He has an inground pool and the floatie from the previous day made the trip so James could cool off in the water. We brought Lilly with us and she even went in the pool! Later in the evening, we stayed inside, playing pool and arcade games. I’m not sure exactly what it is but it appears to be a computer with a TV screen and some modded game controllers built into an old arcade game facade that lets you play thousands of games. I’m definitely a fan. Once it got dark, we drove Lilly home so she wouldn’t panic during the fireworks. Our friends set off a HUGE fireworks show in their backyard. Many of their neighbors joined in so fireworks were going off all around us!
I made the mistake of not requesting Friday off from work…I was the only counselor in and the office was DEAD. I could not wait for the end of the day. James and I went to see Toy Story 4 that night. The movie was definitely made for the now-adults that were kids when the first movies came out. I loved it! I so rarely go to the movies that I was actually confused when we go to the theater…now they have assigned seats and there was like character merchandise for sale at the theater?? I’m sorry…when did going to the movies get so fancy?? Saturday was for the most part a day for cleaning but at night we met up with a friend (Jeff) that was visiting for the weekend.
On Sunday, we went out on Doug’s boat with Jeff, Will, Matt, and Ashley. We mostly hung out at Chicken Rock. The boys (minus James) jumped off the rock. I went off the rope swing and was very proud of myself for doing so! There was a girl that climbed to the top of Chicken Rock that wasn’t jumping off – that isn’t so unusual but one of her friends yelled her name (Chloe) over a loudspeaker and the entire bay started cheering for her to jump. She was up there for at least an hour before we left…I still don’t know if she’s jumped off that rock. Maybe Chloe just lives on top of Chicken Rock now. Once we got in from the lake, we went to 440 for dinner with the boys and our friend Bill.
All in all, a great, American, holiday weekend.
Until our next adventure!
Every year, the City of Danbury shoots off fireworks for Fourth of July from a small island in the middle of Candlewood Lake. Last year, Maranda and I had the BRILLIANT idea to go to Koo (one of our favorite sushi restaurants) and then walk to the beach to watch the fireworks.
We decided to repeat that idea this year. Maranda unfortunately couldn’t make it but James, Matt, Rich, and Ari all went to Koo for dinner. James and Matt even had matching outfits (I can’t with these two). Afterwards, we went to the Lakeside Pub across from the beach. It was a bit breezy and we were thinking of going inside but as we were walking in to the empty table I had just seen, it was now occupied by two blonde women. They turned around and it was Carolyn and Christina from 440! It turns out the view from the inside table sucked so they joined us outside and once Bob was done at the bar, he joined us too! It was great watching the fireworks with a large group of people – we are definitely making Koo and Lakeside Pub a tradition for Lake Fireworks.
Until our next adventure!
We had the worst weather for the month of June so I was excited to finally have a weekend with nice weather. James, Matt, and I went to Ball Pond with Ari and Rich. Ari and Rich brought their kayaks, James used Matt’s family’s kayak, Matt swam (with a giant lifeguard floatie), and I paddle boarded.
We weren’t out all that long when we noticed that it was getting cloudy. I had brought my phone with me in a waterproof pouch for music and checked the weather. There was a thunderstorm miles away to the west so we figured we were safe. WRONG. Minutes later, we heard thunder. We all raced back to shore and I got my board back into the car right as it started to downpour. Here’s hoping we get a few more nice weekends before the summer ends…
Until our next adventure!
My goddaughter, Bridget Rose, turned one last month!
Bridget is the youngest of her siblings – she has a brother named Russell and a sister named Kinley. Ashley always sends the sweetest pictures and videos of the three of them playing and interacting.
Ashley ordered the cutest tutu for Bridget to wear at her party and of course found something to wear so that she could match.
Bridget also got to meet Elissa’s daughter, Cadence. Bridget kept trying to share her bottle with Cadence and we were all laughing saying that we would need to recreate this photo at Bridget’s 21st birthday party.
Until our next adventure!
For the first thirteen and a half years of my life, I had no cousins on my dad’s side of the family. And then came Anne Marie!
With our large age difference, she quickly earned the nickname “Rugrat” (shortened to Ruggie) as she tagged along for whatever adventures she could. By the time she was 13, she was the same height as me and wore the same size clothes as me. We also had the same (expensive) taste in makeup. Even though that she’s now the taller one, I still call her Ruggie in person and in letters.
In what seems like just a few short years, Anne Marie has grown from a small girl, too timid to jump off the boat into the lake, to a grown woman that is graduating from high school and heading to college! I am so stinkin’ proud of my little cousin and I can’t wait to see how much she learns and grows in college.
Until our next adventure!
Completely forgot to post some pictures from Grace’s boyfriend’s graduation party. The party was held at a bocce club in the Hartford area. There was an amazing pizza truck there and of course, bocce, so I was happy!
Until our next adventure!
James has been doing a summer soccer league in town for as long as I’ve known him. I honestly don’t know how he has the energy to work all day in construction and then go run around a field at night. And while it’s so hot!
Last year I went to a bunch of his games and usually walked the track so I could watch the game or if it was raining, I’d try to watch from my car if I could park close enough. I was super ready for the soccer wife life and to walk the track all summer long but James broke his foot about a week into the season so that ended that rather quickly.
James did manage to play a few games – he had a charity tournament in Norwalk and then two league games. I walked the track with Matt for part of the first game but it was super late so we went home in the second half. The second game I went to walk the track again but it started raining so I sat in my car. James has also been to watch a few of his teams’ games since he broke his foot.
The other day, James said that if the timeline the ER doctor set stays in place, he’ll be out of his cast by league playoffs. I was like…James being out of your cast and being able to PLAY SOCCER are two VERY different things. Wish me luck in trying to keep him off the field if that happens.
Until our next adventure!
The Harkin Chronicles 