End of Summer

We've had a good summer here at Casa de Brigahan, but I'm ready for summer to end.

The first eight weeks went by fairly smoothly -- with Owen in camp for seven weeks and Amelia for most of that time, plus a week on the Cape. I cruised along on my children's book and my memoir, took a bunch of pictures for my Backside of America blog, and got stuff done around the house.

But camp for both kids ended two weeks ago, and while we've had a lot of fun since then, last week dragged quite a bit at times. Owen and Amelia are ready for school, and I'm ready for them to go.

Two weeks ago, we had a great couple of days at the Sea Crest Beach Hotel on Cape Cod with my longtime buddy Andy and his wife, Pam, and two kids, Avery and Naomi, who were visiting from Seattle.

We all hung out on the beach quite a bit over the two days we were in Falmouth. Avery and Owen (both 10) were psyched to ride the waves on their boogie boards when we arrived Tuesday afternoon. Unfortunately, the waves didn't reappear during our visit.

Avery and Owen got along really well. They spent a lot of time playing games on their 3DS's, and just being silly with each other. Naomi, who's almost 8, was a good friend for Amelia, too.

And of course I had a great time catching up with Andy, who I hadn't seen in a few years. We hung out all the time in high school, and traveled the country together after college, and although we live 3,000 miles away we keep in touch pretty regularly. Whenever we get together, we pick up like we just saw each other the day before.

Beth and I had a really nice hanging out with Andy and Pam. After our time on the Cape, we split up for a day, as they went to Connecticut and we went back home. On Friday, I drove down to meet Andy at the annual golf tournament in our hometown in memory of a good friend of ours who died.

The two of us had a blast playing in a foursome with our friends Steve and Mike. We didn't play all that well, but it was great fun. Beth, Pam and the kids met us at the tournament for dinner. Afterwards, we all went back to our hotel, where the kids did some swimming and the grown-ups had a few drinks and hung out.

Saturday morning we convoyed up to Newton. That afternoon we hung out in Boston, checking out the waterfront, the Boston Public Gardens and then taking in dinner and a Sox game at Fenway.

The Sox lost, of course.

Before dawn on Sunday, our friends returned to Seattle. Everybody had a good time, so much so that both kids were a bit down in the dumps for most of that day because they missed their new buddies.

Beth left for a business trip the following day, so the kids were stuck with me through most of Thursday. Mini golf and the zoo were the highlights, but mostly we hung out at home, ran some errands, went for a long drive through the horsier western suburbs and listened to waaaaaaay too much pop radio.

And now school is upon us, tomorrow for Owen, Wednesday for Amelia. They're excited to go, which is good. Owen will be at the top of the school, 5th grade, while Amelia is starting kindergarten.

I honestly haven't figured out exactly what I'll be doing with my new schedule. I'll get back into trying to establish myself as a children's book writer, and return to the memoir I started four months ago.

I also have projects to do around the house, junk and old clothes to sort through. I also need to figure out a longer term plan for once Amelia starts 1st grade, at which time she'll be on a full-time schedule like Owen.

In the meantime, I still have a few boxes of popsicles to get through. Goodbye summer!

Vacation Pix

Here are some shots from our recent Cape Cod vacation, as well as a few from the day after we got back, when I took Owen to a Micro/Mini Auto Show. Enjoy!

We played a lot of ping pong, which I hadn't done since I was a kid. I had a lot of fun, but not as much as Owen did.

When Owen and Max weren't playing ping pong, swimming at the beach or riding on the Cape Cod Railroad, they were side by side, using iPad train simulators.

The kids were very excited for s'mores on the grill.

Owen came up with the idea to run from the back deck of the house down the small hill to the little beach, while being timed.

Amelia had a few turns, too!

Amelia had fun playing paddle ball with Beth's mom.

Owen and cousin Max riding the rails.

View out the back of the Cape train.

Uncle Todd teaching the kids how to fish.

Amelia takes a turn.

Hanging out at a beach in Sandwich.

Owen loved throwing and skipping rocks at the beach in Sandwich.

Post-beach slushies.

View of marshes from Sandwich boardwalk.

The Sandwich boardwalk.

Owen in front of the coolest car at the Micro/Mini Car Show at Brookline's Museum of Transportation, the day after we returned from the Cape.

Owen and his buddy Walter in the coolest car.

Owen in front of a Messerschmitt.

Goin'

We're heading out to Cape Cod tomorrow, Saturday, July 7th. This will be our 10th year going to Pocasset, a small village in Bourne, just over the bridge.

Pocasset is a quiet place, but we rent a house with Beth's parents, sister and brother-in-law and their son, Max, so there are few dull moments. After renting the same place for the previous nine years, we're trying a new place this year. The house has plenty of promise, with a backyard that slopes down to a small beach on Buzzards Bay, WiFi, air conditioning, a ping pong table and plenty of room to spread out, from the pictures I've seen online.

I'll be taking pictures and posting as much as I can both here and on Facebook. Look for shots from our annual Boys' Day Out on the Cape Cod Central Railroad; the Heritage Museum & Gardens; the kids on the beach; and lots of other stuff. With any luck, I'll also get some good shots for my other blog, The Backside of America.

Keep cool....

Vacation

We spent a week on Cape Cod earlier this month, as we've done for the last nine years. We rent the same house with Beth's parents, her sister and brother-in-law and their son, Max. We had a good time going to a nearby beach, riding on the Cape Cod Central Railroad, visiting the Heritage Museum and Gardens, eating fried food, watching the MLB All-Star Game, going for walks by the salt marsh and riding go-cars and bumper boats. Oh yeah, and drinking beer, margaritas and Old Grand-Dad.

One thing all three kids -- my two, Owen and Amelia, and their cousin, Max -- loved to do together was launch stomp rockets. As you can see, Max knows how to throw himself into it.



Inevitably during our time on the Cape, talk turns to buying a place in Pocasset, the section of Bourne where we rent. The discussion is usually more fantasy than reality, because let's face it, the idea of owning a vacation home is Part II of the American Dream, after owning a primary home.

I'm always the voice of gentle dissent in these discussions. I'm not handy and have no desire to ignore projects around a vacation home in addition to my primary home. I like going to the beach for short periods of time, and am not a boating person. The main reason I cite when trying to dissuade Beth about the prospect of buying a second home, is that I don't want to feel tied to one place for summer vacations.

Growing up, I never thought about my family owning a vacation home. It seemed like something that only rich people did. Although my family didn't travel to faraway locations every summer, we went to some terrific places and had some cool adventures.

Here's a brief list of my favorite spots:

• Montreal
-- we toured facilities from the '76 Summer Olympics, watched an Expos-Padres game and I heard French spoken for the first time


• Washington, D.C.
-- we hit the Smithsonian and a bunch of other museums, as well as the National Mall, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial


• Grand Tetons/Grand Canyon/Bryce Canyon/Great Salt Lake
-- This was the most wide-ranging trip we took. We flew from Hartford to Flagstaff, AZ, rented a car and spent 10 days (or two weeks?) hitting as much as we could. Some day I'll find the pictures I took on this trip (the first pix I ever took; I was 12). This was the best vacation I ever took.


• Torrington, CT
-- despite the fact that everybody (or most of us) got sick while staying in cabins at what I believe was a YMCA camp, this trip is memorable because I saw "Jaws." That places this trip in 1975, when I was 10.

I envision taking such trips with Beth and the kids, which is why I'm reluctant to get tied down to the Cape. Owen turned 9 in May, and Amelia 4 in June. They'd be able to handle trips like the ones I recall fondly from my childhood. We plan on taking them to Disney World in October, which, while I'm not big on mega-resort experiences, should be a lot of fun.

Other spots I'd love to take the kids in the coming years include:

• New Mexico
-- I lived in Albuquerque for three months after taking a road trip with friends after college. I didn't take the opportunity to enjoy the culture and incredible mountains and other natural wonders out there. I want to visit, and take in Santa Fe as well.


• New Orleans
-- I went there on the same road trip mentioned above and had a great time, albeit a much different time than I'll have with the kids. Watching "Treme" the past two season has given me the itch to soak up the music, food and great atmosphere.


• San Francisco
-- Beth and I spent a few days there long before we had kids. It's a fabulous city.


• Egypt
-- The pyramids, etc.


• Petra
-- A city in Jordan carved out of cliffs 2,000 years ago. 'Nuff said.

There are countless other places around the U.S. and the world I'd love to explore. Beth and I have never been big on travel, but with the kids getting older I think it's time for some adventures. Of course, I still value our time on the Cape each summer, so we'll have to find a balance.