What we did on our summer vacations…
We had a very busy summer - almost too busy at some points.
June was all about baseball around our place. Both boys had great seasons and played very well. But it was Jacob’s AA Rockhounds team that made it into the championship round for their division. The ‘Hounds played hard against the favored Mets, holding it close for a while, but fell short in the end, lost 14-9, and had to be happy with the second place trophies. It was a great run!
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We all ran the North Andover 4th of July 5k together. The boys are learning about long distance and holding a steady pace. Both had awesome finishes. 
For Mother’s Day, we promised Grams a “Duck Tour” of Boston and we came through with a Quack! We had a nice warm sunny day in the city!
We were treated to a North Shore Spirit game with Joshua’s little league team. The kids even got to run out on the field with the players for the national anthem!
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Joshua spent two weeks in residence at the YMCA’s Camp Northwoods on the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee up in New Hampshire. Despite a bit of trepidation going in, Joshua had a great cabin with great kids and wonderful counselors and he had a blast! He’s talking TWO sessions next year!
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We took the plunge this year and installed an aboveground pool in our backyard. Like most projects, it grew to include tree removal, electrical service extension, landscaping, and John even built a deck attachment! But boy did we have fun with it for the second part of the summer! Can’t wait until spring!
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We spent some time at Camp Massasoit this summer. John and both boys were there for “Cub Resident” week - that was a great time for all three of them! Joshua returned on his own for Webelos week and once again had a blast.
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Early in August, John took a scuba diving certification course with the dive shop near his office. He studied his homework, did the pool dives, and then did open water dives at Nubble Light and Rockport’s Back Beach. He’s now a PADI certified Open Water Diver!
About the same time, Shawn attended the 24th annual Saco river two-day floating happy hour with our friends up in Maine. As usual, it was a great time!
Late in August, after training hard through the spring and summer, Shawn took her shot at the Timberman half Ironman Triathlon. We traveled up as a family to support her and John and the boys assumed volunteer positions at the race. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite go as planned and Shawn didn’t finish the race. She’s vowed to try again though and we’ll get her back out there for sure!
John played in a golf league this summer for the first time in his life. He played Monday nights at the Billerica Country Club with a group of hack golfers mostly with Nortel connections. What’s truly bizarre is that he and his partner and coworker, Bob D., won the league tournament!
We celebrated Jacob’s ninth birthday in August with our first ever pool party. A herd of young men overran our backyard for an afternoon of swimming, four-square, water balloon tosses, cake, ice cream, and general fun!
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We wrapped up Labor Day weekend with a hiking trip in the white mountains. We bagged some peaks, enjoyed a stay at an AMC Hut, built some leg muscles, soaked in some fog, and generally had a grand time! unfortunately, though the weather was sunny in the valley, the summits were in the clouds as we crossed the ridge. We got some great views on the way down though and we still had an awesome time! Our kids are goats - out-hiking the adults on the trip!
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Oh yeah, we also did the July 4th carnival, had a family day trip to Six Flags New England, did a weekend overnight with the Cub Pack, Shawn hung out in a Foxwoods suite with some girlfriends, we were entertained by friends, we painted a Four Square court in our driveway, and… and…
That’s about it! We finished the summer tanned and tired, ready to settle back into the fall routine. Soccer has already begun to ramp up, school’s getting underway, the fall Cub Scout program is planned, and we hope to have a lot to talk about in our Christmas postcard!
We hope your summer was everything you’d hoped it would be! If you’re around, stop in and say “hi”! If not, drop us a line and tell us how you’re doing! We’ll report again around Christmas - have a great fall!
