Today was supposed to be the day we headed to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware with my In-Laws and Aunt-In-Law. My Dad-In-Law, Ed, and I have spent the last two Thanksgivings planning family vacations that we then "give" to our family at Christmas in lieu of normal presents. The idea being, we all have enough stuff, and this way we instead create memories. Last year, we all went to Martha's Vineyard, staying in a stunning house that dates back to the late 18th Century which just happens to be on a bluff overlooking Vineyard Haven Harbor. It included its own private beach, a screened in porch, enough bedrooms and private bathrooms for Marian, Ed and my Mom-In-Law Pat, and us and our kids.
This year's place was a few blocks to the beach, and walking distance to the main boardwalk area. When Ed and I found it, we decided it was perfect, and we were so excited to get down there. Alas, the pandemic made that impossible, and we canceled in mid-April to avoid the cancelation fee.
Instead, we spend the morning putting an ad for my Mom's house in the New York Times's Real Estate section online. We then migrated to Mom's, where Jeff and I installed an air conditioner in the attic (it's the only part of her house without air conditioning, and since we're in the middle of a two-week spell where the temperature isn't dipping below 85 during the day, and she's having active showings, we needed something up there). The girls and I also went swimming with Mom and Bryan, and played more Marco Polo (it's quickly becoming their favorite game). R. continued to work on her diving, which is getting better and better each day. She loves the water, and is a perfectionist, so she keeps having me videotape her, to see what she needs to fix on her form to make her splashes smaller. The slow motion option on the camera phone is perfect for this, and I'm proud of her work ethic and how determined she is to get it right. Today, she pulled off near perfection, and she was absolutely beaming.
Jeff met the photographer from RealTech at Sam's house (which is now officially going on the market this weekend), so we could get 360 degree photos. It's remarkable to see how far this place has come, and I can't wait to see what the professional photos come out like.
Then, we reconvened at home for our first outdoor dinner of the season, and walked our neighbor's 19-month-old pup Parker. Parker is a big labradoodle, with boundless energy, and a strict routine to help him learn how to walk on a leash properly. He did a pretty good job, only becoming distracted a couple of times, largely the fault of two rather obnoxious pugs behind a weak gate on our trek.
Then, we reconvened at home for our first outdoor dinner of the season, and walked our neighbor's 19-month-old pup Parker. Parker is a big labradoodle, with boundless energy, and a strict routine to help him learn how to walk on a leash properly. He did a pretty good job, only becoming distracted a couple of times, largely the fault of two rather obnoxious pugs behind a weak gate on our trek. Ella was ecstatic to be out walking a dog- she misses ours, two golden retriever mutts named Jake and Layla who passed two years ago. The girls loved them a ton, and being able to get all the puppy love from Parker was a lot of fun for them. Our neighbor had hip surgery, and a group of locals are helping out, so I'm sure we will be on rotation with Parker again soon.
