by Judy Handley | Jul 29, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 210: Car Trouble, Move Officially Done Celebration
Date: Saturday, July 29, 2023
Weather: Sunny Day, Late Evening Heavy Rain Thunderstorm; High 80, Low 65 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
As the saying goes, if it is not one thing, then it is another. Heather and Jed got the last bits out of the basement of the cottage this morning, so the longest move in history is finally over. Hallelujah!!! But they no sooner got home from taking those last bits to the dump when my car decided it was not going to be drivable. I started having trouble yesterday and made an appointment to take it in on Wednesday to check it out. But as I was driving to the store this morning, the emissions light that came on yesterday started flashing and I could drive only 40 miles per hour. So, I turned around and headed to Heather and Jed’s. Very long story short, after waiting for hours for AAA to come tow it to a garage that might be able to deal with the issue, I can only hope that it is at that correct garage. At 4:30, after three hours of waiting, I gave up and came home in Heather and Jed’s Honda Civic. AAA finally told me to just leave the keys under the driver’s side floor mat. I did, but I never got any confirmation of it being delivered. I will check tomorrow to make sure it made it to the correct location which is off Cape.
The relaxed day I had planned certainly went pear-shaped, and by the time I got home to fix dinner for Heather and gang, it was after 4:30 pm. I sent a text asking them not to come until 7 pm and I launched into a frenzy to get the dinner ready. I invited them to thank them for finishing off the move and to celebrate the fact that everyone would be together. Sam got home late last night from the Scout Jamboree in West Virginia and Ollie and Jonah leave tomorrow for a Scout summer camp in Rhode Island. We did manage to squeeze in the dinner together before they had to leave to the beat the severe thunderstorm that hit tonight.
Sam had some great stories to share about his two weeks in West Virginia. He learned first hand the difference between the north and the south in this country. He got quite an education from the red necks from West Virginia, the red necks and Confederate flag fliers from Texas, and the red neck corn huskers from Iowa. And the news from another grandchild, Coco, is that she is having a wonderful 11th birthday celebratory weekend. More about that tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Jul 28, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 209: Day at Cape Cod Inflatable Water Park
Date: Friday, July 28, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 87, Low 73 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Jonah, Ollie, Lily, and I headed to Yarmouth this morning to the Cape Cod Inflatable Water Park. Part of the park is an inflatable experience
while the other part is a water park with huge inflatable slides. It was great having Lily with us as she hung out with Ollie while Jonah headed off with new friends he met in Lazy River where you get into an inner tube and ride the river, but Jonah and his new found friends turned it into a wild train ride. At one point they had almost all of the people floating through the river holding on to each other’s rafts to form a human train. I even joined in! After that, we stopped for lunch and then Jonah headed to the FlowRider where you try to stay on a swim board while the jets of water try to push you up and out. It is a wild ride.
Lily, Ollie, and I watched Jonah for a bit,
and then Ollie and Lily went back to Lazy River where they rode in a double inner tube
and then went on to other water excursions. I actually sat and read my book for a bit, but then I was back in Lazy River to cool off. We all met back at home base to have an ice cream break, and then everyone headed out for just a little more water fun. It was a fun day and due to the temperature of 87 degrees, it was a good day to be in the water.
by Judy Handley | Jul 27, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 208: Soccer, Restore, Star Wars, Megansett Beach
Date: Thursday, July 27, 2023
Weather: Sunny, Very Windy; High 81, Low 73 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Today was the last day of soccer camp for Jonah, thus my last morning of delivering kids to Cape Cod Academy. On my way home, I stopped at the cottage and picked up the wall shelf that Mark made for me when we lived in Salisbury, Maryland in the 1980’s. I have no place for it and neither does Heather, and I didn’t want to take a chance that it would end up at the dump. So, I stopped at a consignment store to see if they would take it. No. Too big. I then took it to the Habitat for Humanity Restore. I told them the history of the shelf and asked if they could find a good home for it. They assured me they could and they also looked at the photos of the other pieces I need to get rid of and said they would take those as well. I went to pick up Ollie to help me, and we spent the rest of the morning getting the small pieces of furniture to Restore. Tomorrow Heather will take the things from the cottage that need to go to the dump, and then we can celebrate. The move will f-i-n-a-l-l-y be completed. Woohoo!
Ollie and I decided to watch one more Star Wars movie this afternoon, number VII, The Last Jedi. And then we ended our day by meeting the crew from soccer camp at Megansett Beach. It was Jonah’s request to go there so he could jump off the dock and it was a good choice for today. It was way too windy to be on the beach as the sand was blowing sideways. Ollie was a grump because he really wanted to play with Seton, but he (Ollie) was afraid to jump off the dock which Seton was doing with great energy. Ollie tried to cover up his fear with anger, but with some gentle convincing from Jed, he finally started jumping off the dock and then wouldn’t stop!
To back up for a minute, Jed attended the closing ceremony for the soccer camp before coming to the beach. Jonah was awarded The Most Committed Soccer Player, and that he certainly is. Congrats to Jonah. Sam comes home from West Virginia tomorrow and this afternoon Heather sent me another photo of his team white water rafting. This photo really shows Sam’s exuberance.
He had not been totally happy with his camping experience, but I hope the rafting trip made up for some of the other downers. We’ll hear all about that this weekend.
by Judy Handley | Jul 25, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 206: Soccer for Jonah, Mini Golf for Ollie
Date: Tuesday, July 25, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 81, Low 69 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Every seven weeks, Shadow his appointment at Pampered Paws to get his hair cut and today was that day. That requires taking him up to near the Bourne Bridge, so Ollie and I decided that we would play mini golf
and do the bumper boats in nearby Cataumet today before heading back across the Cape to pick up Jonah, Megan, and Seton from their soccer camp at Cape Cod Academy. And while we were up near the bridge, Ollie wanted to go to a remote-control hobby shop across the bridge in Bourne. So there was a fair bit of driving today, but we had fun in between. After picking Shadow up from his appointment, I had planned to drive Ollie and Shadow home and then go back to get Jonah and gang. But at the last minute, Ollie decided that he would like to go and he offered to hold Shadow on his lap. It was a bit crowded in my little car, but we all did fine.
Par for the Cataumet mini golf course is 42. I got my best score ever today with a 46 because I got 3 holes in one.
Unheard of for me! I had one really bad hole, however, so Ollie beat me 44 to my 46.
And after mini golf, you have to ride in the bumper boats and play at least one game in the arcade.
So, we did.
We arrived early to pick up Jonah et all at soccer camp, so Ollie, Shadow, and I sat on a hill above the field and watched the kids play. Seton is Ollie’s age and plays soccer on Ollie’s rec team and he hung out with Ollie when he was not on the field. I should have taken photos of Jonah when he was on the field and totally spaced on doing that. It is my turn to take the kids tomorrow morning, so I will hang around a bit and get some photos then.
Ollie and I ended our day back at Stoney Beach in Woods Hole. Again, he declined to come with us, but Ollie and I had a great time. He practiced swimming and we snorkeled together. I shared with him just how relaxing I find it to just float in the water with my snorkel mask on, so he tried it and found it relaxing as well. He calls it ‘rag dolling it’ because when he completely relaxes, his hands and feet hang down and he looks like a limp doll. When I do it, my feet float. This led to a little discussion about how body fat affects the way you float in water. I guess that was our science lesson for the day.
by Judy Handley | Jul 24, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 205: A Lazy Summer Day
Date: Monday, July 24, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 82, Low 69 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
Ollie was determined to do ‘nothing’ today, so that is what we did. It was a beautiful, lazy day. We got outside a bit with Shadow and we watched the last half of The Empire Strikes back. I picked Jonah and two other kids up from soccer camp in the afternoon and then Ollie and I ended our day at Stoney Beach. We had hoped Jonah would go with us, but he was absolutely wiped out at the end of the soccer camp day. Plus, he had an early evening doctor appointment for an annual physical which would have shortened our beach time. There were no kids at the beach for Ollie to play with, so we snorkeled together, and he frolicked in the water while I walked in the water. It felt so good to spend an hour in cooling down and relaxing in the calm water Ollie went home for dinner, but he then returned and we watched The Return of the Jedi. I thought I had seen all of the Star Wars movies over the years, but I had never seen this one. We are getting to bed late, so hopefully Ollie will sleep in tomorrow morning. Then we are off to play mini golf.
by Judy Handley | Jul 23, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 204: Happy 17th Birthday to Lily
Date: Sunday, July 23, 2023
Weather: Sunny; High 83, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
I left Ollie at home still asleep to join Heather at the cottage to try to finish cleaning out the basement. We also met a couple of people taking pieces of furniture that Heather advertised as free on Facebook. We have a few more pieces to get rid of and huge pile in the basement that has to go to the Swap Shop on Tuesday. Then I think I can say the move is complete. It has been a long month of moving, and I am ready to settle into living in the new house. I couldn’t have done this move without the help of Heather and family. I hated taking time out of their precious summer days but have truly appreciated all the help.
The Goldstones went to the beach in the afternoon while I stayed home to do a few things. I returned to the cottage to finish cutting the little bit of Shirley’s grass that did not get done yesterday. Heather would have done it while we were there in the morning, but I forgot the battery. It took much longer to drive there and back than it did to finish the mowing. Then I hurried home to get ready to go out to dinner for Lily’s birthday.
Lily has become a member of the family here. She is staying at Heather and Jed’s doing an internship at WHOI under Jed’s direction. Andrew, her father and my ‘almost’ next door part0time summer neighbor at the cottage, plus her Lily’s little sister Lena, drove here from New York to spend the day and evening with Lily. They invited us to all to dinner at Estia, and then Heather and Jed invited them back to their house for birthday cake and presents. Lily is such an unassuming young woman and I think she was truly overwhelmed that she would be showered with gifts. She will go home in a couple of weeks with a WHOI hoodie, a WHOI bracelet, a WHOI lunch bag, and a book about a WHOI female scientist. After cake and presents, the kids went into to have a dance party. The boys have a disco light blub that they screw in and instantly turn the living room into a disco dance floor. Happy 17th Lily!
