Here's To Summer!

So we were waiting to update our blog until we got back from a little weekend vacation that we were planning at the end of May. As you are all hopefully aware, May is long gone. But as soon as we got back from that trip we were surprised with the opportunity to go a few more places, too. So we haven't had internet for about a month. Now it's back to real life - school and all- as of last week. So here's to summer!!!:

... Massachusetts/Rhode Island

After 7 months we finally got a car again in May so we were anxious to take advantage of a car and a summer break from school to see a few parts of New England. So we found a surprisingly cheap but decent place to stay on Cape Cod, MA. And we loved it! Neither of us had ever been to Cape Cod, and we had each only been to Boston once before. We enjoyed beautiful scenery, huge empty beaches, perfect weather, and attending the Boston temple: It was so relaxing and so much fun! Oh yeah, while we were there I HAD to have a lobster dinner. There were tons of little shacks lining the roads advertising their lobster and seafood. We went to a restaurant on the harbor in Hyannis. For some reason, though, when I ordered the lobster I only had a lobster tail in mind. You know, the way most people eat it... in the west anyway. Well out here the tail is just the beginning. They serve the tail, the head, and everything in between. Oops! What I ate was good, but what I saw inside turned me away from ordering another one for a while.

Even more than Cape Cod, though, we loved the day we spent in Newport, RI on our way home! Newport is an old, beautifully maintained, and very wealthy victorian town set on really pretty, rugged coastline (that is, rugged on East Coast standards). While walking around such enormous mansions Shannon was sure we had walked into the setting of a Jane Austin book. Rhode Island is awesome! And since it's only 3hrs or so from home we'll be back!

... Backpacking in the Catskills

Before I met Shannon and her family in Utah I got to go backpacking for a couple days in the Catskill Mountains of New York (again, this is the East Coast we're talking about. The mountains were small but they were quite a relief from the city). We did about 18 miles in the 2 days, "climbed" 3 "peaks", and had a very uninvited black bear show up in our campsite that night. We had just finished dinner and had luckily hung our bags before heading to the tent for the night. It was really dark by now, and being in the woods alone on that side of these mountains we must have heard every creaking tree and falling leaf. While my friend was on edge throughout the evening, I grew used to the noises, that is, until about 20 - 30 minutes later when I heard distinct heavy foot-steps coming toward our tent. My friend and I started yelling and screaming at whatever it was and I grabbed a flashlight to search around... from within the tent, of course. While still yelling at whatever it was (at this point it could just been an overweight chipmunk) my flashlight caught the reflection of the bear's eyes, and they were a lot higher off the ground than a chipmunk! We really started yelling at that point and, gratefully, it soon ran off. Since I saw it's eyes with my flashlight I knew it was close to the tent, but it wasn't until the next morning that I realized he was REALLY close; right under the tree from which we hung our bags about 40ft from our tent! Yeah, we should have hung our bags a little farther away.

... Utah!

Here's a few pics of us and the fam in Utah. We had SO MUCH fun with them there! She actually got to spend about 3 weeks there! (Four-wheeling in Spanish Fork Canyon and playing softball with the family @ Hobble Creek)









Oh yeah. And we brought our Wii to Utah for all of us to play together. We found out that we got some good little boxers in the family. Check out our little 3 year old niece get a quick knock out. And now that we taught them all to hit, it was time to leave...

... Indiana!

And finally, we flew from Utah to Detroit to see my parents, brother, and extended family in Indiana/Michigan. We never planned to fly directly there, we were supposed to fly back to New Jersey and drive to Indiana. But with a delayed flight in Salt Lake City which would result in a missed connection, the free upgrade to first class going to Detroit instead sounded great to us! This was Shannon's first time meeting all her new in-laws. Actually, Shannon had LOTS of firsts on this leg of our summer trips; first time flying first class (mine, too), first time to Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois, and therefore Chicago (where I lived when I was little), first time seeing fire flies (she's been fascinated by them since), first time eating Dairy Queen ice cream, first time seeing "real live" lilly pads, and more! And since Indiana was always the destination of our summer vacations growing up it was a blast for me to go back. Highlights; seeing parents, Patrick, new cousins, and going for rides in my Uncle Joe's boat!

... Baby Update

And now we're back. Shannon's pregnancy is going well. Shannon's completed 34 weeks now: It's getting so close! Actually, she got what will probably be the last ultrasound last week. I think she (the baby) has already had a botox treatment! Do they actually do fetal botox treatments now-a-days? Well, somehow or another she's got real Angelina Jolie lips already! Even the technician agreed. I don't have the pictures scanned onto my computer this time. I might get them soon. Before the baby comes, though, we'll be moving to a new apartment. It's a 2 bedroom and it's still on the Jersey side of the Hudson! We're excited! We'll have a lot to post in about a month or so, but I can't guarantee much until then. Promise we'll be posting a lot more when we have a little girl to show off. That's what blogging's really for.