Chowdaheads, ca. 2009

Today my family and I are headed off for the Cape for our annual summer vacation week. So, no sermons for two Sundays (Awww!!). Yes, I know but we brave it as best as we can: the beach, the sun, the fresh seafood, the lazy mornings and the campfire in the cool evenings. Ah well.

I am also hoping to treat my girls to some parasailing on my birthday. Instead of getting a gift for myself with the gift check my in-laws give me, I would love to see them grinning and yelling with glee above Nantucket Sound, with the wind blowing through their hair, their imaginations on fire.

And my brother who lives in Tucson will be there a few days with his girlfriend, whom I have yet to meet except by email. My girls have never met their uncle, and all they have are the stories I have told them about our childhood, mostly about how he would get into trouble or do really goofy things, because for the most part, those are the only stories I have. I was the goody-two-shoes older sister, and he got into enough trouble for the both of us.

As always, because we do take our vacation with my mother and her husband, and now that my brother will be there for a bit as well, this is also a 'business trip'--not always as relaxing as I wish it could be but still, we are away from work and its attendant responsibilities. We usually manage to carve out some 'just us' time, as well as my husband and I will also have a date some evening. And I need some down time, just to be.

Hope you all are finding time for your summer vacances and enjoying some relaxation.

Peace.