Come Visit Anytime

My parents, Kayley, and my sister Briana and her family left yesterday after visiting me for about 10 days.  It was marvelous to have them here because now that I live so far away in Rhode Island, I just don't see my family as often as I would like.  I used to eat Sunday dinner every week with my folks.  Briana, mom, and I would eat lunch together a lot, and nearly every holiday, I was together with as many of my family members as I could possibly convince to hang around with me.  I love my family and miss each of them for different reasons.  For anyone that doesn't know, I am the eldest of nine children and for awhile, most of us were still in Idaho, so family gatherings were awesome.  Three of my siblings are still in southeast Idaho by my folks as is Kayley.  I have a sister in the Idaho pan handle which is a day's drive away from the folks.  I have a jerk sister in Boise several hours away and 2 brothers in Utah.  Briana moved away to Oregon from Idaho Falls several years before I moved to Rhode Island and at that time, she was the furthest away from all of us.  Not liking to be outdone, I decided I needed to up the ante and move to the Ocean State, so now, no one really comes to see me.  I have only myself to blame I guess...

Since I actually care what Briana thinks, I wanted New England to impress her, so I planned a whiz bang vacation for her.  What did we do?  Well, the boys watched a Red Sox game while the girls walked the Freedom trail and ate Italian ice and treats from some Italian bakeries.  We saw the statue of liberty and had a great time even though it was hot and muggy.  Here's the cousins on the ferry:

We toured the Lowell Mills, spent time on several beaches, saw some lighthouses, and went down Cape Cod. 

We ate yummy seafood, delicious pizza, and ate more sandwiches than I think my dad wanted to.  We watched the 234th consecutive 4th of July parade in Bristol, RI (the oldest in the country BTW) and saw fireworks in India Point Park.  We baptized Bubba at one point and wanted to see the Battle Road at Concord, Mass but Kayley blew out my tire on the curb so we stayed home at a park and I got to pay 350 bucks to get us up and running instead.  Turned out I ran Briana so hard she thought God had answered her prayers that day so that she could have a break!  It also turns out after the whole week, I didn't take a single pic with Briana!  so if you want to see what she looks like, check out her blog.  Hopefully she's going to write all about the trip too and tell you all about what a great hostess I am:

http://booneybabbles.blogspot.com/

Know what else we did?  Picked up trash on several beaches and I of course spread the gospel about not using plastic in any form except reusable containers.  Briana made fun of me for my silicone food bags, my compostable bamboo toothbrushes, and my plastic preaching, but I didn't care because I'm committed to mother earth.  I didn't think too much would come from my crazy hippie ways, but today on the porch we found this:

A COLLAPSIBLE TRASH CLAW!  Guess who sent it?

That's right.  Briana.  She didn't like watching me pick up beach trash with my bare hands.  She might think I'm an idiot most of the time, but if she's going to send me such a great gift, she can't think I'm completely crazy.  Do you think I ran out to use it on the beach?  Heck no!  Enjoy the following:

Thanks Briana!  That trash claw is going in my trunk just like you had hoped and it will probably get at least half of it's use from nefarious ideas that someone in this family dream up while riding in the car to the next adventure.  Best part?  I already have a claw that I never thought to pack in the car so now I can double claw while I'm picking up beach trash:

Yep, New England is pretty great.  Just ask  Briana.  You're welcome to come visit any time.  Could you  bring me another silicone resealable food bag next time?