First College Tour...

Wellesley College, a small private women’s school, was our first college to visit. The campus was lovely, situated on a lake in Wellesley, Massachusetts, about 45 minutes outside of Boston. We took a campus tour and went to an admissions session. While Veronica went to her first college class, we walked around the town. It wasn’t the cute college town that we would have hoped; in fact, we had sticker shock when we went into a prom dress shop and many of the dresses were around $2,000.

After lunch, we met with two professors to learn about their research, which included a tour of the greenhouses. We were definitely impressed with the science center and its interdisciplinary labs.

We had read about The Sleepwalker statue before we arrived and were happy to find him. It was amazing how realistic he was, which made Veronica very reluctant to pose with him. Apparently, he’s been vandalized with yellow paint since our visit, but he’ll remain until the end of July when the accompanying exhibit in the art museum closes.

That evening we took Joe, Lisa and Allie out for dinner. It brought tears to my eyes when Joe and Lisa offered to be Veronica’s surrogate family if she went to Wellesley (she’s since decided that it’s not the school for her). The next morning, it was time to drive to Ithaca, New York.

Photo Shoot in Massachusetts...

Veronica took advantage of the woods behind Joe and Lisa’s house to do a photo shoot with Ashlynn. As usual, it was too hard for me to choose between the pics, so here’s a bunch.

Home Leave Started in Massachusetts...

Planning our first home leave since August 2011, was extremely complicated as we needed to fit in university tours in four states plus a visit with James’ family. Unfortunately, there was no way to squeeze in a trip to California. We started with two nights in Massachusetts staying with Joe and Lisa that we’d met in Bonaire in 2011. Was very impressed with Joe’s weight loss. Luckily, he’s still willing to eat pizza and fired up his wood burning oven to make us dinner.

Unfortunately, 8-year-old Allie didn’t really remember the girls, but she was willing to let them sleep in her room and play with their dogs.

Ashlynn especially enjoyed Khan, an 8-month-old Newfoundland. On the flight over, she announced, “I’m going to be so annoying on this trip. I can just feel it.” Luckily, she was wrong!

I Could Have Stayed Longer...

The younger girls didn’t always include Veronica in their plans, 13-year-old Chris stuck to himself and I was busy chatting with Lisa, but Veronica managed to entertain herself.  She enjoyed swimming out to the swim platform despite the chilly temp of the water; occasionally Ashlynn would join her. She convinced me and Lisa to go with her once; I made it, but had help from a boogie board since I didn't have fins. Our time at the beach came to an end much too quickly, but we needed to head into Providence on that last night to check into a hotel because we had such an early flight in the morning. It was Joe’s birthday, so we all went for a nice dinner in the Federal Hill area (known for its good restaurants and its mobsters). After dinner, we did a quick walk around and the girls enjoyed dancing to a swing band in a plaza. We might have arrived nearly strangers, but left good friends.

A Sweet Friendship...

Ashlynn and Ally might be six years apart in age, but they formed a very sweet friendship when they met in Bonaire. Ashlynn seemed to thrive in the role of the big kid and was very excited about visiting Ally. They started their beach adventure with some crabbing. First, they dug out some mussels as bait, which they tied on strings and dangled among the rocks. Then they collected the crabs in a bucket so they could show us their catch before throwing them back.

Much of our day and a half in Mattapoisett was spent at Crescent Beach, which was very laid back and relaxing. In addition to crabbing, the girls swam, took walks and went shelling. After a sushi dinner, we went back to the beach to watch the beautiful sunset and to set off some fireworks.

Off to the Beach...

Joe and Lisa both had to work in the morning, so I had the task of driving the four kids to the beach in Mattapoisett. Luckily it had stopped raining and the path back to the freeway took us through some lovely countryside. Their charming cottage was just a block from the beach in a area with no thru traffic; they said the terrain in this area is quite similar to Cape Cod without the craziness that comes with the influx of tourists. They’ve only owned the house for a short time and are in the process of updating it; the new oven and indoor shower had both arrived but weren’t hooked up yet. Of course, no one complained that we had to eat out or use the outdoor shower, which was fantastic. Shortly after we arrived, Lisa joined us and we headed down to the beach, which was really beautiful.

A Detour to Massachusetts...

Planning this summer’s itinerary was complicated already, but then I had the crazy idea of taking a detour to Massachusetts to visit some folks that we met in April while scuba diving in Bonaire. It was a risk for both families because we really didn’t know each other well, but it was a risk worth taking as we had a great time. The original plan was to head straight to Joe and Lisa’s cottage at the beach, but due to torrential rains, they decided it would be better to spend the first night in their home in Rehoboth. It was a really special treat to have a dinner cooked in the Italian pizza oven that Joe built (he even studied masonry for the task). We started with tomatoes and courgettes, then shrimp cooked in cast iron pans, followed by a variety of pizzas. What a great way to cook!