My brother, Michael and nephews Jackson & Connor joined us at the beginning of July. We explored the Freedom Trail in Boston, ate ice cream every day, and even incorporated some farm chores. Coincidently, their visit overlapped with my sister and her family's trip to Cambridge so we had the opportunity to spend a very rainy Independence Day all together. I can't remember the last summer holiday I spent with the southern CA contingent of my family.
With just a couple of days to launder and iron sheets (yes, I iron my sheets!) our next group arrived. Jason & Emily Bergendahl with their fabulous kiddos Lucas, Jenna, & Rachel made our house a stop between J's family in Lenox and our mutual friends on the North Shore. The Bergendahl's have a gorgeous home in Cupertino and I often use their guest room when I'm in town for a wedding. One lovely plus is that there is never any dog hair on my clothes when I visit because they have no pets. That can be tough on a kid - to not have something small to love - so we've come to a great arrangement; Lucas has a golden retriever and the girls have chickens that just happen to live at Ms. Wendy's farm. Their visit included ice cream every day (a theme!), strawberry picking, and leisurely dinners.
Fast forward a few weeks to my dear friend Jamie and her daughter, Tabitha's visit. Jamie and I met over 20 years ago when we were neighbors in Southern California. She is one of those fabulous friends that you can pick up with wherever you left off regardless of how much time has passed. Tabitha is about to start her freshman year at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego; we are ALL so proud of this amazing and delightful young woman. Their visit was a perfect balance of sight-seeing interspersed with crossing things off my very long to-do list. We visited Boston, Concord and Rockport, MA, went peach picking and got the barn all dolled up for my first Seasonal Barn Dinner. And yes, there was ice cream!