MA Vacation 2012 Part 1

Despite still being completely addicted to the Olympics and busying myself with every type of  'end of summer-start of school year' task, I managed to sift through roughly 400 photographs from our incredible vacation in Humarock.  It is going to take a few days to post enough pics to give you an idea of the crazy fun we had over the course of a week, so bear with me.

We arrived in Boston on Saturday evening after a mid-day Jet Blue flight.  The cost of the Jet Blue flight was comparable to the other commercial flights from NOLA to Boston, which is incredible considering it was one of the only direct flights we could find and a layover with kiddos is a nightmare.  I travel enough to know how terrible air travel can be, particularly with kids, but somehow Jet Blue manages to  pull it all together with such ease.  Maybe it is that the planes seem somewhat newer.  Maybe it is that the seats feel roomier (the leather certainly helps and the seat back is by far the most comfortable of all of the commercial carriers - with the exception of a few Delta planes).  Maybe it is the great snack selection.  I think that all of those small details combine to make for a  more comfortable flight.   But the most important detail, at least for us this time, were the t.v. sets built into each seat back.  I watched the Tour de France and part of the Ironman Triathalon while the kiddos vegged out to 3 HOURS of Scooby Doo episodes.  Christian read a book and could have done without the t.v. altogether, but for me (and the kids) it was the best of a good thing.  I highly recommend Jet Blue air travel when possible.

Logan airport navigation was super easy and getting from the airport to Hertz to pick up the car (on a shuttle) was a snap and (sadly) happens to be one of James and Lucy's favorite memories.  The drive from Boston to Humarock was only about 40 minutes and we were totally entertained listening to Christian point out all of the things he remembered from childhood.  It was sweet and the kids loved seeing all of the places where he lived/played/went to school when he was their age.  

We arrived at the house and were instantly in love.  You would have been too, take a look:

Luz, outside of 98 Central Avenue

By the time we got to the house, unloaded the suitcases, and took a few long, deep breaths of fresh ocean air, it was late and getting dark and (yes, believe it) cold.  We headed to THE local restaurant, Bridgeway Inn for a delicious dinner, including my first lobster roll of the week.  If you find yourself in the tiny little town of Humarock, do not miss a chance to check this place out.  They serve all of the typical dishes you expect to find in a seaside NE town and they also happen to have some of the best pizza I have ever tasted.  Plus, it looks exactly like you want the main inn/tavern/restaurant in a small coastal town to look:

On Sunday morning we woke up early with the bright beachy sun, headed to a quick mass (and enjoyed an incredible cross wind thanks to the huge open windows in this lovely, simple church up on a hill) and then headed home to check out the beach.  Luz and James have been lucky enough to spend time at the beach every summer of their lives so far, but Gulf beaches are nothing like Atlantic beaches so it was entertaining watching them take their first steps out on to the rocks and dip their feet in the freezing water.  Despite the much cooler water, the kids loved being at the beach, building sandcastles and (most importantly) collecting rocks.  It was tough to break it to Luz that she could not carry the 10 lbs of precious pet rocks she picked out back to NOLA.

Luz, first day of rock collecting

Christian and James headed into Boston for a Red Sox game with Christian's Uncle and some of his cousins.  While the boys were off watching baseball and James was enjoying a very important Vaicius right of passage, Luz and I spent the day on the beach enjoying some much needed girl time with her precious cousins Delaney and Natalie.  Although the girls know quite a bit about one another thanks to the incredible internet, Facebook, blogs, etc, it was incredible to me that they were instant best friends, talking and playing like they have known each other for ever. 

Luz, Delaney (the blond) and Natalie, first cousins once removed (I think) and friends forever (for sure).

After a relaxing afternoon at the beach (truly, a totally rejuvenating experience - the girls played and I visited with cousin Stacey and Aunt Linda and just enjoyed the cool breeze and the warm sun on my face, oh, and maybe had a beer or two) we ended the day with the arrival of Nana, Papa-T and the Martin family (to say that their travel experience was not quite as smooth as ours is  an understatement and a post in and of itself) and a delicious pasta dinner prepared by Uncle Geddy.  It was a magical day for Luz finally getting to meet the girls and spending the day with them and for James seeing the green monster and experiencing Fenway.  We fell asleep with smiles on our faces and I do not think that changed for the entire week.

All of the second generation cousins - Delaney, Lucy, James, Pete, Samantha ("Sam"), Natalie (on the ledge), Liam and Brendan - Nana is in there too, right behind Luz.

And yeah, picture-taking proved rather challenging at times.