Never expected the month to be this busy, but it did. With family travelling and me traveling and all sorts of events and activities, it was one extraordinarily fun and incredibly action-packed and exhausting month.
First week of July, my sister and two nephews visited, whilst my brother-in-law was travelling in India. We crammed loads of activities, perhaps one-too-many. But it was fun. We spent a day at Crane Beach in the warm waters and nephews spent time building castles and moats until the tide came in. On another day we spent with my sisters friend's family in a neighboring town. We made papermache heads but did not have time to see them baked and paint on them. But we did have fun getting our hands into the papermache gooeeeiiness. Then we spent half a day painting on porcelain toys. It was something I have wanted to do forever and it is in my town. Duh! I resisted doing anything until the nephews arrived. We had fun picking the toys to paint on. Of course, both the kids wanted to paint on a car. Trouble being there was only one car! Oh well! The elder settled for a Dinosaur. My sister picked a fluted bowl and I picked an oval plate. We selected paints and the painted for hours. I think we stopped when our stomachs started to rumble. The toys were painted and left it to be finish glazing or firing et. al. I thought it maybe interesting to combine a bit of home furniture shopping with entertainment for kids, so we made a trip to Jordans at N.Reading. I simply love it there. I remember spending hours (yep.. hours) at the liquid fireworks, waiting for friends. Kids loved it. They also loved the trapeze. Perhaps, most surprising, they were completely and utterly entertained in the store itself. As we wandered through the living room and sofas and office furniture, the kids were happy to pounce and pitter-patter around. At the office furniture, they managed to act as sales folks, except they kept 'selling' me everything for free. Personally, I did not mind, but the portly gent who was the sales person sounded a tad miffed. On one of the office desk chairs, the kids found the automated back massage..... ahh.... ohhhh... I didddn't wwaannntt tooo leaavve. Yet another day we spent it at the childrens museum. I had never been there and boy! was I ready for a treat. We got there mid morning and we left at closing time. It was just so much fun. It caters to all levels of kids and also brought out the kid in my sister and me. I could not have imagined a more perfect week with my sister and nephews...... ah! I did not know what lay ahead!
Talk about family travelling, my aunt and uncle have a schedule that would shame the most ardent campaign managers. My aunt is travelling for the newest arrival and addition to the family; little baby boy Cormac, a good solid Irish name for a good solid little lad. This little one is the third in my cousins growing family. My other uncle and cousin traveled from Washington D.C. to meet up with all the family. This cousin from DC I have not met since 1997. Wow! She has grown up to quite a lady! I remember a little child in pig tails! Anyways, back to my aunt! She is in my town, the dashes off to New York. Her husband, my uncle meanwhile goes to Tampa to meet his youngest son, and then returns to New York. There is some gettogether with family there. They come back to home town and then go to San Jose for more family meets and then head to Vancouver, and from there to an Alaskan Cruise. Back from there to home town. All this in 3 weeks! Wow! I am now just exhausted writing about it all. Go Aunty Go! Go Uncle Go! Awesome!
That was it I thought about travels and trips. But, in all this, we heard news from my father and that family and friends expressed their desire that either my sister or me travel to India. My sister opted to go. So, I planned a trip down to New York. It would be a trip for me to see the nephews again and deliver the ready procelain toys that we painted. Earlier I mentioned that I could not have expected a more perfect week with nephews and my sister. But, the trip to New York was equally, if not more prefect. It was a working trip for me. So, the working days were working and I took couple of days completely off. It made sense. With kids we made trips to the Bronx zoo, Kettletown State park (Connecticut), Science Fair at little ones school, watched some disneys classic animation on their ridiculously fantastic TV (btw: I want it!) and just hanging out.
In all this work still managed to be center stage. Goes to show, I can work from practically anywhere. Give me my laptop, a great bandwidth internet connection and I am so good to go! I am so ready for doing major releases in the first week of August and also plan for subquent quick fire design, development and releases.
All in all.... a rambling of millions of things with family and friends and work and play! All in all, one heck of a month.