Two of our favorite things...

Any time you asked the kids, particularly Molly and Ben, what their favorite part of our vacation was, 

they usually answered the same...

MILLI AND CLYDE!!!!

And really, who can blame them?

This is Clyde.

He oozes personality.  He is really good at listening and posing for pictures. 

Particularly if you have a cookie in your hand.

If you have a cookie in your hand?  He will practically recite the ABC's backward in Swahili.

He knows lots of tricks, and loves to show off. 

He does not love to snuggle.

He's got things to do, and sniff, and see.

This is Milli.  She has her own special tricks.

She listens to the beat of her own drummer.

She's all about the snuggling.

This is Milli and Clyde's fan club president.

She is also very cute.

A good listener.

and marches to her own drummer.

She's a good friend too.

She misses her furcousins.

Nana's House

Don't ask me how I don't have more pictures of the first days of our vacation...I guess we were busy, vacationing?  I know the first few days after such a long journey were pure HEAVEN!  I even managed to finish a book!  A real one!  For PLEASURE!!! 

The kids took about five seconds to stretch out, and it was like they'd never left.  They settled into Nana and Papa's house like we still lived just down the road.  The 'good' snacks were in the jelly cabinet, just like always.  The fridge was full of juice and waffles and sausages, just like we love.  The beds were soft and cozy, and the cushy pool towels piled high. 

It doesn't get much better, particularly when you add in some of our favorite people in the whole wide world :) 

We might not have loads of pictures of our days at Nana's house, but we've got the memories tucked in our hearts, which is even better!

Jammin' Berry Farm

It's an annual tradition in our house, since Jack was about three, to go pick blueberries at the Jammin' Berry Farm at the end of Old Washington Street in Pembroke.  And it just so happened that we were visiting during PRIME bluberry season! 

The blueberry "farm" is really just someone's house, who has a bunch of blueberry bushes - I think he's probably a former hippie, what with the name "Jammin" and all, but his berries are the best.  Turns out they opened the very day we went to pick and I have never in all our years seen a bigger, better crop!

All the kids had a fabulous time, except for dear Ben.  He was excited to feed the koi in the pond, and proceeded to dump all his fish food in the lake in one fell swoop.  Then he was ready to go home.  And he made sure we knew it every second of the rest of the morning.  Whining, falling down, refusing to wear his shoes, hanging off of my body, pulling my clothes....you know the drill.

But in spite of his protests, we got our blueberries and got to share one of our favorite places with our friends. 

From Left:

Sarah, Jack M., Molly, Ben, Jack L., and Joseph (aka Jojo)

Do you like the picture above?  I'm practicing dodging and burning. 

I think this has been that je ne sais quois I've loved in other people's photographs but have

never been able to replicate in my own.

Don't sit under the apple tree, with anyone else but me...

See you next year!  Same berry time, same berry place!!

Barbecue on Lilah Lane

When we left MA for our Illinois adventure, I was hopeful that we'd be able to keep our friendships strong, despite the distance.  In some cases, that hasn't panned out.  And that's okay.  Some friendships are long lasting, and some for a season.  Both can be wonderful when you focus on the positive.

Coming back, I was struck by the love we are blessed with, from the friends that did keep us in their hearts and went out of their way to visit with us while we were in Massachusetts.

Molly's best friend Sarah from preschool came with an added side benefit - her awesome mom Meg, who put together the most wonderful evening for us to reconnect.  Filled with fun for the kids, and some of our favorite people from our life in Pembroke.  It was truly like 'coming home' again.  So much so that Molly asked if we could go sleep at our old house for the night and pretend we still lived there.  I;d be lying if I said it didnt' break my heart - but I reminded her, and Jack, and myself, how fortunate we are to have the best of both worlds...our lives in Illinois, and a group of wonderful friends in MA who made us feel so special.

Don't ask me how I didn't get a picture of Meg, Lisa, Kim and I - I blame it on the margaritas!

This is Chuck - you can tell he hates to have a good time ;o)

(his margaritas are rivaled only by his BBQ ribs!!  Yum OH!)

Molly, Sarah and Bella having fun in the pool.  The Leaches even have a SLIDE in their pool ! 

(this is also one of the reasons Ben stayed behind at Nana's house...

Mommy needed a margarita, not a heart attack, lol!)

I just love how much fun Molly was having - she was full of smiles all night.

Jack put on a Magic show for everyone with the new kit Auntie Trecie bought him.

I still can't believe they went to all this trouble for us!

Clockwise from top

Emily Kane, Katie O'Brien, Sarah Leach, Molly, Bella Kane

All but Sarah are from Edgewater Drive - when we moved in, Katie and Emily were 1, and Bella, Molly and Sarah were just twinkles in their mothers' eyes.  It was such a wonderful thing to watch them grow up, and even better to come back a year later and see that they are still as beautiful on the inside as they all are on the outside.  I have pictures of Katie walking Ben up and down the sidewalk in his push-car.  And of Sarah and Molly turning every event into a dress-up opportunity.  And of Emily and Bella doing just about everything with my kids at one time or another. 

We're so lucky to still count them among our favorite people!

You're probably wondering why I haven't posted our vacation yet?

I have an excellent, and incredibly adorable reason.

Her name is

Fiona

and she is my best friend's new niece.

Fiona had impeccable timing and was born while we were on vacation

And I got to take her pictures!

She was just

FIVE

DAYS

OLD.

Fresh from heaven and 100% precious!

I love my (pretend) job!

And friends who let me use them for practice
(thanks Kate and Dave!)

And really cute dogs named Fenway

(who is lucky I didn't put him in my camera bag and take him home)

And sweet Morgan, who was not at all comfortable with a stranger in the house,

but smiled for me anyway.

But probably what I like most
are five day old babies

Who SMILE!

Being that it is my "pretend" job, I'm not that fast at the postprocessing that most pros do in a snap. 
Plus there's those three babies of my own that are all needy and such. 
So it took me these last two weeks to get Fiona's images all perfect and polished and shipped off to her proud Mommy and Daddy, and now I can concentrate on fully documenting the fun that was

MALLETT SUMMER ROAD TRIP 2011!!

(coming soon to a blog near you)