Trip to New England

We are back from our trip to New England to visit my great aunt!  After her recent health scare and amazing recovery, I wanted to be sure we'd visit with her since it's been so long, and since she's never met Ian. 

Thursday afternoon, I got a call from my Mom informing us that my aunt was back in the hospital with extremely high blood pressure.  We figured we would go and visit her whether she was in the hospital or at home again. 

Friday
We left bright and early on Friday and drove to one of my cousin's houses to drop off our things.  I had never met their youngest child so we met him and then off we went to the little beach down their street with their youngest (he's 4 and so freaking cute) racing us there on his tricycle. 

Before I could stop him, the little guy ran ahead of us towards the beach and tore off his shoes and socks and dug them into the sand, throwing his body all around to get sand anywhere and everywhere.  Great.  I've just met the kid and I can only imagine how thrilled his mother will be when I bring him back to the house covered in sand.

We fell in love with the area they live in - beautiful!  Very old time feel to it in terms of the friendliness of the people there and the style of homes.  Ian loved the view.

We got back to the house and were relieved that my cousin just laughed when she saw how dirty he had gotten in the sand.  We had a quick bite to eat for lunch and then checked in to see if my aunt had been released from the hospital yet.  She had, so then my mom's cousin came by and picked up me and Ian and headed to my aunt's assisted living community. 

We walked in and were immediately greeted by a huge smile on Cyrilla's face.  A little bit about her: she's incredibly blunt, and is said to have my mom's family's sense of humor (dry - and you have to get used to being poked fun at if you ever want to be around the cousins and Cyrilla).  She also is not all warm and fuzzy - she's a complete smart-ass, very smart, and doesn't like hugs.  She's mellowed out a bit through the years and doesn't mind hugs from me and the other cousins anymore - but I wouldn't go so far as to say she likes the affection.  She has photos of all of us all over her room - on the walls, next to her calendar, up and down the windowsill.  I think she gives everyone grief, pretending like she doesn't care, but deep down she loves all of us unbelievably and even loves the attention/affection we show her.  Back to the story.  After a hug and kiss, I went to introduce Ian to her and she points to him and says "Ian, I need you to fix my blinds."  No hello, no introduction, just an order to help her.  SO much like her.  Glad Ian didn't take offense and just responded with "oh, well, hello to you to!" which only made her laugh.  Glad he was able to fix her blinds - he would've never heard the end of it if he hadn't. 

She seemed tired - like she wasn't feeling well still.  And she didn't have her hearing aid in, which meant we had to speak up for her to hear.  And she's way too thin - I told her she needed to fatten up a bit and she just laughed.  But for 88, she's amazingly with it - coming out with jokes and carrying on with conversations.  She talked sports with Ian even though he's a Baltimore fan.

After a couple hours there, we decided it was time to leave her so she could get some sleep after a hellish 24 hours in the hospital.  We went back to my cousin Michael's house and played with the little guy, and his older brother before dinner.  We even went on their zipline in the backyard.  Sorry - no picture of that.  We ate a big dinner with their family and my mom's cousin and soon realized that the little guy wanted nothing to do with anyone but me.  Where should I sit - next to him.  What should I do after dinner? Read to or play with him.  (These were his instructions).  He even agreed to take a picture with me.

After Michael and Eileen put the kids to bed, we sat up and caught up for awhile.  But alas, we were exhausted from the travel and were in bed at 9. 
Saturday

We woke up early on Saturday to heavy downpours.  Unfortunately, Ian still had to go run his 18 miles - he can't stop training even if we're away.  So off he went in the pouring rain, while I stayed inside and hung out with the cousins.  We played trains and leggos before I decided I would go meet Ian for his last mile or so.  It was still pouring, so I put on my workout clothes and started walking/running to meet him.  He was exhausted and soaked from the rain, so we walked/ran the last part of his run. 

After showers and some lunch, we headed back out to visit with Cyrilla.  She looked much better than Friday - more rested and had just had a haircut.  We spent much of the time catching up, then took many pictures. 

Then, we went to mass with her, where Ian proceeded to get a case of the giggles because one of the residents sitting behind us must not have known the tempo/words of some of the songs.  There would be a break in the song, and that resident would still be singing the last verse, or would have started the next one. Hilarious.

After mass, we gave Cyrilla lots of hugs (her fave) and she even got one from Ian.  We said our good-byes to cousin Chris and my mom's cousin Judy.  On our way back to Michael and Eileen's house, we stopped by Vienna Bakery - seriously I would be at this bakery everyday if it were located near us in Baltimore.  Does Baltimore have any good bakeries??

Back to the story - we then headed back to Michael and Eileen's (Chris and Michael are brothers and are the sons of Judy) to play with the kids before their bedtimes. We were originally supposed to grab dinner with friends Sarah and Carlton who live about an hour from Michael and Eileen's.  But we were hoping to have an early dinner with them since Ian ran 18 miles that morning and we were heading out so early on Sunday morning, but sadly, Sarah had a work event so we missed seeing them.  And since Michael and Eileen had a fancy cocktail party to head to, Ian and I decided to explore the town a bit and find a place to eat.  We decided on this place which was super cute and had very good food.  Ian was excited to have Stella Artois.

While I was excited to have a glass of wine.

Afterwards, we met up with Michael and Eileen for some dessert at Newport Creamery where I had amazing chocolate peanut butter frozen yogurt (it tasted like normal ice cream - so good).  We headed home and were exhausted from such a fun day with family.

Sunday
We were up bright and early again and were on the road by 6:40a.m.  I slept most of the way (thanks honey) and we made it home just in time to watch the Ravens and Redskins play.  I also won week 3 in a row for my fantasy football team (YAY!).  We got our grocery shopping done and booked a trip online last night (I will talk more about this soon).

We had a fantastic weekend filled with family and laughs.  I can only hope to go visit again soon and have the opportunity to spend more time with Cyrilla.  She's so full of life and laughs.  Love her.