Cape Cod Memories

The in Progress family finally took a vacation and it was a terrific week. We're probably the only family in Connecticut that hasn't packed it all in at some point and headed to Cape Cod, so we bit the bullet and rented a house in Chatham and it was well worth it!

It's really so great to take time off, spend time with the whole family together and undistracted and enjoy the things that make life awesome. We spent the entire week doing things we rarely take the time to do, including:
-going to the beach every day
-digging for sandcrabs
-riding bikes (6.5 miles in one ride for this out-of-shape dad!)
-twirling sparklers on a night other than the 4th of July
-toasting marshmallows on the gas stove to make S'mores on a rainy night
-playing board games (Blokus), card games (Phase 10) and lawn games (badminton)
-playing mini golf and real golf

Layered in with some things we often enjoy, like:
-good wine
-grilling
-shopping
-reading (I devoured and recommend "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy

Some highlights of the trip:

Packing the car and bikes!


Wave bathers!


Building! (of course, we're a LEGO family)


My personal favorite way to relax: the beach nap with wet child wrapped in a towel and snuggling.


Gas stove S'mores


And just had to share the sisterly love (check those faces) after one week of togetherness!

Clocking Back In

I'll admit it, I've been a bad blogger. And maybe not such a great dad lately. And by great, I guess I mean present.

I've been crushed with work lately, and we finally launched a program we've been working feverishly to pull together, so I have a little bit more breathing room. Between my and my wife's travel, we've been a veritable volleyball of surviving -- Did we pay the bills? Who's watching the kids? Did we miss some special dress-up day at the camp? Did we feed the cat? Did you water the flowers, because they're almost dead.

But we're back in business now. And I've been having fun with a few of my new toys that are helping us all have more family time together.

Mii Got the Wii
My most wonderfully awesome wife got me the much anticipated Wii that has been so elusive since December for Father's Day, and I have to say, it is everything I imagined and more. AND, it REALLY IS a good workout if you play the right game. I have especially enjoyed Wii Boxing -- you know, pummeling the crap out of someone just because you feel like it. We all have been loving Wii Bowling, and last night I must have spent almost 2 hours playing Mario Party 8, which is mindlessly juvenile but intoxicating just the same. I am especially pleased with how quickly the kids have picked it up, and have to say my little Fiona is a whiz at almost every game she plays...much to her sister's consternation. What's awesome is that we ALL are able to play together, blow off some steam and have fun!

I'm a Grilling Fool
I guess I never really believed that a good grill made a difference, but we kicked off the summer with a luxury purchase of a new Weber grill. We have NEVER had a nice grill before. And YES, there is a difference. We opted for the Weber Genesis, a pristine combination of form, function and beauty that makes its presence on our deck almost heavenly. It has the gas burner on the side for a pot of corn -- or, if we're lucky some weekend -- a pot of crabs. And I think we've grilled next to everything under the sun in the last month. AND, we've increased the amount of family dinners, which is a nice and welcomed change.