Litchfield Family Reunion 2010

things i want to remember

about our 2010 vacation to new smyrna beach florida
june 30-july 7, 2010


the big party we had at our condo. krissy made "shrimp scampi" aka alfredo and we filled our house with a lot of love and smiles and laughter.



the reunion t-shirts from leslie and larry, cheryl & john and aunt nancy!
happy hour on the beach.

every night!

larry's famous--- strike that-- infamous jungle juice (the f'bombs that accompanied it- soo funny)

our ever-expanding circle of beach chairs

that there's nothing like sticking your feet in the sand, with a drink in your hand at the end of the day (even if it wasn't a stressful day at all)

how much the kids enjoying making sand castles.

[willy and sienna with some help from karl or "kar-ul" as willy says]

and how even when willy got bored, the "big kids" just kept on building anyways.

aila playing in the sand. learning to point her toes like a little ballerina.

playing a giant, all-family game of Duck! Duck! ...................
GOOSE!

keep running!!!

that willy is not the only litchfield who keeps his tongue out most of the time!

and how the kids just laughed and laughed about how funny it was.

fireworks on the beach. and their more tame relatives in the explosive family.

and, how we learned that Uncle Thad, mistakenly put a firework in his carry-on, and they let him on the plane with it!!!

two cute kids cuddled up in bed together :)

Uncle Thad's 75th Birthday!!!

Seeing how happy Uncle Thad was to have his granddaughters there to celebrate with him.

this hugely adorable floppy hat.

the girl is also adorable, but she was having a stubborn moment.

fitting really- she is a litchfield ;)

hanging by the pool with the girls.

how all of the big kids really embraced playing with the little kids.

sunny, bright, poolside flowers

and grasses that just scream Florida to me.

seaweed and jelly fish. lots of both to be seen.

the palm house.

our almost-condo rental.

many hours spent fighting with Beach Realty- NEVER RENT FROM THEM!

cheryl and john's new paint job. gorgeous isn't it?!

love this boy.

love my new camera lens that allowed me to capture this shot so well.

dinner out with the whole gang.

and how willy thought he was soo cool to be sitting with his cousins.

a vacation "triangle"

water, margarita and rum bucket!

nothing says vacation quite like a bucket of rum!

how cute and silly aila is at this age!

how awesome leslie is for planning this whole she-bang, getting everyone together for such a memorable trip!

that i scored a litchfield reunion t-shirt after the original plan (that you had to be a litchfield or married to one) was thrown out and the "sleeping with a litchfield" addendum was added in.

other fun things i want to remember:

running around bealls shopping for bargains with becky, leslie and lillian

going on the hulk with chris at universal studios

daily walks on the beach

that john's fish inspired me to eat seafood! three times in one week. i'm officially converted and extremely grateful for the expansion of my diet and my pallette.

drinking wine with krissy watching old movies and the end of the nascar race in the peace and quiet late night of july 3rd into 4th

dale jr. winning the busch race in his dad's #3 car

the story/reenactment of the lady at Daytona International Speedway who was looking for the time and instead just looked straight at Chris' crotch.

visiting with Meagan!!!

vacation recap... in 100 words or less (almost)

yes i'll be back with pictures and funny stories and all that good stuff but since i haven't blogged in AGES i figured i'd start with this to tide my readers over for a few days.

so in a nutshell, vacation was:

• too short. we went for 5 days last time, 7 this time. its not enough. aiming for 10-14 days when we return in 2012.
• hot but not as hot as it was here most of the time, which i especially enjoy after everyone chided "why on earth would you go to Florida in July?!"
• fishy. only in that i learned to love eating fish! i kid you not. John made hogsnapper and swordfish that were to-die-for. i'm a convert! especially when you pair it with his famous sauce (recipe to follow)
• sandy. loved that beach. but playing w/ kids in the water=sand up your bottom in places where sand should never go. thought those days were behind me.
• family. so many wonderful people. coming and going. kissing and hugging. taking pictures and making memories that will last at least one whole lifetime *and maybe more. I even got me a "Litchfield Reunion T-Shirt" after the rules for awarding of the shirt were amended (original version: You must be a Litchfield or Married to a Litchfield. revision: or sleeping with a Litchfield).
• trying. when it came to patience. our condo was cancelled, our flights were cancelled. we ended up with a layover and then they proceeded to lose the car seats... 2 full days of travel for what should have been two 3 hour flights. ugh. patience was required and running short at times... we all had our bouts of crabbiness, but we survived.
• funny. chris' new time-piece. uncle thad's new "bathing suit." karl and his conspiracy theories. running through Bealls with Becky like we won a shopping spree! duck, duck, goose. jungle juice creating potty-mouth.
• beautiful. shooting stars. gorgeous sunsets. waves crashing. storms blowing through. tropical plants and tropical drinks. cool breezes.

and alas we're already back home and back to work. that alarm clock was a killer this morning and i doubt tomorrow will be much better.

i hope to be back this week with photos. they are all edited (thanks to that large amount of traveling time) so its just a matter of uploading and adding commentary (she says as if that's the easy part)....

Berkshires mini vacation

Mom and Dad cashed in their timeshare for a week in the Berkshires, Vacation Village at the Berkshires in Pittsfield, MA. I took off Monday and Tuesday so I could join them, and get in some skiing with Dad.

We arrived in Lee on Saturday February 28th and hit the outlets and a local restaurant before venturing the last few miles to the hotel.

We checked in and were amazed by the view of Jiminy Peak which was literally right across the street! This photo was taken as we drove down the long, hilly driveway of the resort- van door open, which was fine since we were stopped... then someone came up behind us and Dad had to start driving. Therein the van's safety features failed. Turns out you can't open the door unless the car is in "park" but you also can't close the door! oops!We ventured out that night for dinner at an Irish Bar- Matt O'Reilly's- a hot spot for the snow mobilers who came across a lake to drink and diner there too! Considering the location and the crowd, the food was actually really good.

On Sunday we went to Jessica and Joel's to visit. None of us had seen their house (which is gorgeous). Dad went directly to Man Town in the basement and we all hung out there most of the day. Its a place where a Red Sox fan feels right at home! :)

Jessica prepared a delicious italian dinner and made homemade ice cream for dessert!

Her parents and Albert came over to join us.

They all had so much fun that the Lansings invited my parents to dinner on Wednesday night!

And Joel couldn't get enough of us either- he drove back to MA with us to come skiing with Dad and I on Monday (his 4 straight snow day if I remember correctly)!!! Being a teacher does have some perks.

We skiied all morning and then Mom came to visit for lunch (camera in hand).

Joel and me.

After resting our legs, warming up and getting some yummy food in our bellies (they had vegetarian chili mmmm), we headed back out onto the slopes!

I think we could have skiied until 5p but we were all pretty tired come mid-afternoon. I think Joel called it quits around 2:30 and Dad and I lasted just a little longer than that. As a reward for all our "hard work" we got in our bathing suits and soaked our sore muscles in the outdoor hot tub, while waiting for Jessica to get out of work. Around 6p she met us for dinner at John Harvard's at the base of the mountain.

The food was amazing- though probably not out done by the company! Its so nice to see old friends! :)

And just like that, my mini-vacation was nearly over. On Tuesday we headed to another small town, whose name is escaping me right now. Almost nothing was open (including the knitting store which I was so excited to visit). We did find one store that Mom had been raving about and she found some cute things there. Then we had lunch at a delicious little bar/tavern before I headed home.

A great weekend. Just enough time away to enjoy family and friends, relax, ski, knit, be worry free- before heading back to the grind!