Namedropping with the MacKays

We marched the MacKay clan downtown for a goodbye dinner.

Mom and Kat don't move so well these days so the stroll was leisurely.

Bret and my Mom share a special bond.  He's the first Grandchild and Mom always looks after him.  Bret does the same for his Gramma.  I love it.

Kat and Nicole are rocking new hats.

I knew I'd be sad saying goodbye so I made them all play Namedropper.  I found out from Jen that I was playing it wrong.  We played more of a 20 questions game.  Some of the harder ones were Deval Patrick (we're not so good at local politics .... or any politics for that matter) and Norman Rockwell (my Mom's favorite artist)

Getting on the plane in a few hours.  

Booooooooo......

Another Farewell Tour

I said goodbye for now to friends at work.  My former boss Karen and buddies Peter and Scott are pictured below.  I'll see them in December when we come back home for the holidays.

But it reminds me of the goodbyes I'll have to say to Mom, Bret, Joey, Kat and the boys tomorrow.  This gig is getting harder, not easier.

People Potpourri (Not to be confused with Soilent Green)

Monday was a very nice variety of visits.  I went into the office and saw several of my old work mates but forgot to get any pics.  But then I met Jessica for drinks after work at what passes for a "British Pub" in Westford Massachusetts.  Regardless - it was great to catch up with Jessica over a couple of shandies on the patio.

Then as I'm was heading back up to the port I found out that Chi was back in town!  (She just spent 3.5 weeks in Sweden on a trip that included the ABBA museum - very jealous!!!!!  I still love ABBA and played "Take a Chance on Me" for my 6th grade piano recital) Our night included a couple of our favorite salads and a dog walk.  Christin really should die her hair red if she wants to hang out with the Ginger Trio.

 They walked me to my yard where we found the men having a manly night - a couple of smokes at the  fire pit in a Hooters t-shirt is always a good time.   I can't believe we are in the final days and nights of our trip home.  

Bad teeth, thunder boomers and birthdays

We had a lovely reunion cookout at Scott and Tina's house in Danvers.

It was interrupted briefly for a fantastic lighting storm that flew in.  One minute it was nine miles out (using the how-many-seconds-between-thunder-and-lighting trick).  Then it was three miles out a minute later.  And then a crack of lighting exploded at the same time the thunder rocked the house.  It was spectacular.

We quickly got back to cook-outing.  Bob, Deanna, Jeff and Jen are the only ones missing from our clan in this picture (Jen was photographer).  Hopefully there will be day soon that we'll get the complete menagerie together.

 We've been in England too long..... bad teeth are contagious there.

Someone get the wet kid off of my lap.

 Oh well.  He's too cute not to cuddle.  Even with a wet bathing suit.

 More bad teeth.

 Joey is confused..... 

 The boys love Uncle Joey and Allie

 Malikai even likes it when Allie squeezes his head like a grape.

 Kat, Nicole and I with the bears.  That's a little Mexican sombrero on the head of the little one.

 As said, Bob couldn't be there, so we brought Bob on a stick.  

 Mom was truly surprised when she came down and found us all waiting for her with an 80th birthday cake.  She turns 80 in September, so this caught her by surprise.  She teared up a bit, so you know it was good.  (I hope Mom doesn't mind me mentioning her age.  It's a good thing she has not technology to read the blog ... she's quite cyberphobic)

 I'll pass on the piece of cake with the spit, thank you.

 Mom and her kids.

 I thought everyone heard my cue to give an angry face .... It's like in Stripes when Bill Murray fakes out Harold Ramis by pretending to step forward to admit they broke curfew, only to let Ramis step out by himself.

 Wyatte's Kool Aid moustache is a beauty

Well done, Tina and Scott.  Thanks for a cracking day.

(A skunk just sprayed outside my bedroom window as I type this and my eyes are tearing up)

Ending with a bang

Sister Kat and her roomie pal Nicole came by for lunch today.  We haven't seen Kathryn since visiting Joey in Seattle.  Family reunion weekend has begun.

Inexplicably, we didn't get any photos.  We will today.

(found an archive photo of Kat and Toby)

But we did get photos of Didi's dinner visit.  Dinner at 10 Center Street was lovely.  Diane always keeps the conversation flowing with provocative questions.  I cannot repeat several of the topics as we have some younger readers.

And while Diane was here she wanted to meet Travel Monkey - Maeve, this pic is for you!!  

 Diane bid adieu, so Jennie and I walked downtown to catch the Yankee Homecoming fireworks.  We didn't make it downtown.  We stopped in front of the church on Federal street, parked ourselves on the lawn and watch between the houses.  It was actually an excellent way to see the fireworks while avoiding the crowds.

A Date with Nate

We had a very special guest at our Friday girl's lunch....NATE!  He is a mini-Stacey - cute, good natured, laid back, and likes veggies.

 Nate likes to share.  He made sure to give his Panda a bite of broccoli before eating it all himself.

 Look at this face.  I'm glad I got to see Nate on this trip home because I'm sure he's going to look different by the time I'm back for Christmas. 

Friday night we did a little family photo shoot after Pizza Night.  Bill used the "toy" setting on the camera and told us to look in different directions.  Sometimes these odd pictures become my favorites.   Two weeks is not long enough to see everyone so we're trying to do as much as we can before we go back...but it's nice to have a quiet night at home in the middle of this whirlwind trip. 

Bed Races and Softball

Every year they have bed races down Federal Street at Yankee Homecoming.  The whole homecoming week in general is a little annoying for locals - - lots of crowds, streets blocked for the road race etc - - but we love the bed races.    The requirement is that every team needs to be pushing a bed with someone in it.  They come down the street one by one, racing the clock, with the Old South Church bells chiming the arrival of each bed over the finish line.  

Some of the teams go down the street pretty fast which, surprisingly, seems to worry Bill.  One year we saw a bed veer off into the crowd a bit and we realized that this wasn't completely safe if there was a runaway bed but that kind of fretting seems more up my alley than Bill's.  Maybe Bill and I are becoming each other.  Watch this space for a pic of me smoking a cigar....

One team that was strolling down the street was the Circus Smirkus group.  They made up for their lack of speed with plenty of creativity.

Long time readers will recognize Bill's best buddy Randy (below left).  I don't know who the other guy is.  This is what happens when I have to write the post about pictures I didn't take of people I don't know.  Bill went to watch his old (and I do mean old) softball team play last night so I assume he is someone from the team.  I'm going to call him Marvin.

This must be the team mascot - a giant ceramic chicken.  Is that Marvin giving Bill the stink eye through the chicken gap?  Hmmm...no it's not the same hat.  That must be Wendall.  And standing up is Bubba.  Good times.