Beware of Wolves, Keep good fences/boundaries.

I didn't expect to have a blog post this soon, but as it were an event occurred this morning that has brought me to the pen.

First some background. I am the so-called "pack leader" of a pack of dogs. I have 6 dogs in total and they are all at different levels. Different ages, different needs, different personalities and basically as a pack leader I see to their needs as best I can and strive to keep and make them happy. I am aware of their quirks and issues and deal with each of them accordingly, I also make adjustments as needed for each of them. I observe their behavior and when necessary I reprimand, and equally dish out love in many forms. In the form of love, in the form of care, in the form of leadership. They all rely on me heavily for the most part. Because of their varying personalities, some do not submit to the others, but all... for the most part submit to me. I realize this may be a difficult concept to understand if you are not in my position, but this is my life, and I enjoy it on one hand immensely. There is much reward when my dogs are obedient and listen well... on the other hand, when they disobey or go astray it is frustrating and sometimes makes me wonder why I do this in the first place. It is fleeting I'll admit it, but I would be telling a story if I said I did not think it from time to time.

So let me introduce you to my pack, in order of joining my pack, not age:

Chase

Chase - 
Breed: Pomeranian (Old School: German Wolf Spitz)
Age: 12
Gender: Male
Method of Operation: Sweet disposition, very watchful and patient. Known for "Ninja Vanishing" at opportune moments. Opportunist, enjoys rolling in stinky things. Tolerates baths. 
Pack Affiliation: Independent

Ocean

Ocean-
Breed: Australian Shepherd 
Age:estimated to be about 10 years (she's a rescue)
Gender: Female
Method of Operation: Sweet disposition, very watchful and impatient. Known for mistrust of strangers. "Guilty until proven innocent." Obedient, loyal, bossy. Enjoys being with people, loves being groomed, despises nail clipping sessions.
Pack Affiliation: Aussie Posse

Ty

Ty-
Breed: Australian Shepherd 
Age: 7 years
Gender: Male
Method of Operation: Sweet disposition, very watchful and a little shy at times. Obedient when humans are around, disobedient (sometimes crazily) when humans are not around, loyal, dominant. Enjoys being with his people, loves being groomed but doesn't like his humans grooming others.
Pack Affiliation: Aussie Posse

Ronen

Ronen-
Breed: Australian Shepherd
Age: 6 years
Gender: Male
Method of Operation: Son of Ty and Ocean. Sweet and sassy. Insanely watchful and terribly impatient. Known for mistrust of strangers. "Guilty until proven innocent." Obedient when convenient, disobedient when incovenient. Loyal, compliant (if you can catch him), fast, playful, sporty, LOVES swimming, loves hunting, loves activity. Enjoys being with people, enjoys being groomed, tolerates nail clipping sessions.
Pack Affiliation: Aussie Posse

Natsar

Natsar-
Breed: Italian Maremma
Age: 5 years
Gender: Male
Method of Operation: Youngest pack member. Sweet disposition, very watchful and patient. Wary of strangers, but stand-offish, not confrontational. Independent. Enjoys being with people, enjoys being groomed. 
Pack Affiliation: Independent

FSU

FSU (aka Fes) - 
Breed: Old English Bulldog
Age: 7 years
Gender: Male
Method of Operation: Sweet disposition, bossy and impatient. Known for being "too friendly" I mean entirely TOO friendly to strangers and often gets in trouble for being too forward with said strangers. Obedient when he wants to be, disobedient as it suits. Independent, fussy, whiny, emotional. Enjoys being with people, enjoys being groomed unless demodex wipes are involved.
Pack Affiliation: Independent

The Story

With those introductions out of the way here is the story. As of late my focus has been on my Aussie Posse, they don't tolerate change well. They will adjust but they take longer than most. They tend to protest their situation as it fits. I've been so consumed with dealing with issues within this "mini pack" that I had not noticed the independents growing increasingly restless. FSU shows his upset by choosing to not eat or just whining and complaining a lot. Natsar has been protesting by not returning to his "post" in the barn without me fussing at him about it. Chase has been "Ninja Vanishing" at every opportunity and rolling in things. We suspect that there must be a dog in the neighborhood that is in season for all these guys to start acting like fools like this, but there is no way to verify only we notice that our guys sort of go haywire for about 3 weeks, then all settles back to normal. 

So this morning I let the dogs out of their kennels as our usual morning routine only I (I will take the total blame on this one) forgot my newest rule for Chase. He has been doing his disappearing act every chance he gets and so my new rule is that he goes out on leash OR he gets tied out. Well I was focusing on the Aussies and so I put Chase out without implementing my "safety" rule. When I let the last dog out I suddenly remembered that I had not followed through with my rule. A quick glance around the barnyard turned up no Golden Dog. I began to call him, and he did not respond. I jogged up to the kitchen door where my daughter was doing her chore of unloading the dishwasher and reloading it and let her know that we had a "Ninja Vanish" episode and that I could not find Chase anywhere. I went to the barn and called him, still no response. I wondered where he could be, of course if he was going potty possibly he could not respond right away. So I gave him a minute and went to feed the horses. Up by the horse area I had a new vantage point of the field, the place that Chase had previously snuck off to on a different adventure. I scanned the field and saw nothing. Now my daughter was on the scene, I sent her back to complete her chores and I took a hike up to the manure pile at the top of the hill, another place that Chase might venture. The Aussie Posse accompanied me, but I did not call out. Last time I did and Ronen hunted and found Chase for me. This time I wanted to catch Chase in the act. I wanted to find out what the boy was up to. 
 

The last hill...

So as I crested the last hill right before the manure pile I saw the Golden Dog come strolling out of the FOREST! What a lil' stinker! He had his tail up and was on a mission. He knew where he was going next (I didn't) but then he realized he wasn't alone when a quick scan revealed that myself and the rest of the dog pack were standing there observing him. Quickly his countenance fell as he realized he was BUSTED and in deep doo-doo (literally, in the manure pile, lol). I was quite upset, it always upsets me when Chase runs off. The other dogs don't normally do so, and IF they go out of eye shot they always bound back when I call, but they rarely go out of my eyesight which I am thankful for their obedience in this matter. But Chase... well Chase is another matter! I had calmed myself on my hike up the hill, but when I went to get Chase (I had no leash) I was going to pick him up and carry him to his kennel to let him KNOW that I was SERIOUSLY DISPLEASED with his decision to take himself on an excursion. If ONLY he could know the extreme and very real danger he puts himself in every time he takes one of his little jaunts through the woods. Just two days before he came back from the pond in the front with water up to his chest. I wonder what he was after, I wonder if he fell in. He is not a strong swimmer! Plus he is getting old and does not have the stamina he used to have in his youth! I worry about the possibility of him running into a Coyote, a stray dog, a Bob Cat, a Bear!!! I realize he can not comprehend these issues and my very real concerns for his safety but in any case I need him to understand that his behavior displeases me very much. When I picked him up he turned to bite me, I happened to have the horse feed scoop in my hands because I had walked straight up the hill just after feeding the horses and didn't want to forget the scoop as I would need it for the next feeding. So I had it in hand and was able to deflect his bite. He settled down, on the way down the hill I told him he was a bad and very naughty boy. I took him to his kennel and put him in and covered his kennel with a towel. A serious time-out! Our normal routine would consist of everyone coming upstairs to hang out with the fam, but not now, he would miss this socialization time. He wanted isolation... he was going to get it. Even though he is independent in his thinking, he still enjoys the company of others. Interaction is not a necessary event for all dogs, Chase is one of those. 

Boundaries

I breathed a prayer of thanks, once again, for us finding him safe and sound. All the events made me think about how God's relationship is with each one of us. We have no fences out here, and God certainly doesn't put up fences around us necessarily, but He does prepare boundaries. Lines we are not to cross. When we are in rebellion and we go our own way, we cross those lines and we are then subject to the coyotes, wolves, and bears, etc, in this case it would be considered to be demonic activity. We have a choice, if we CHOOSE to be obedient to God, he can offer safety and protection. If we CHOOSE to stay within the boundaries He lays out for us, we are safer than we would be on our own. Now we can walk in the woods, but we go together, there is safety in numbers and together we are safer. Anyhow, I appreciate the life lessons I get from my animals. I appreciate each of of my animals and family members and most of all I appreciate my Abba! I appreciate the rules, boundaries and guidelines. I only pray that I will always be found in favor with Him! :D

The Good Samaritan

7/30

Tues

Southbridge

Worcester

The Good Samaritan

This morning I woke up with PURPOSE! I was struck with the fact that it is nearly August 1^st and I needed to get our year fully planned with lessons and all. We have set up our office nicely and each of us has a desk. Something we did not have room for in our last home. So I was excited to get all set up. I decided to take my daughter on a school shopping trip to set up her desk to get her equally excited. She is starting the 7^th grade this year. I can hardly believe it!! She’s growing all up right before our very eyes, makes me all misty. One reason is because my baby girl is growing up, and on the other hand I’m so proud of her accomplishments to date. She is blossoming into quite the young lady.

After we finished A.M. chores we hopped in the truck and headed to Worcester. We had lunch and then hit some shops, we found a few items at Staples, at Target, and finally I needed to stop for a finale at Sam’s Club, then we would head home. When we headed to Sam’s my gas light came on in my truck. When this happens it is DANGER because it is often too LATE and we have run out of gas in this truck before, more than once! Well here I am, about 15 minutes away from Sam’s Club. I only had “35” suppose-ed miles “due to empty” I unfortunately knew that that could very well be a stark lie! I did not want to run out of gas and have to walk. We are still learning all the areas and my husband is well over an hour away at this point, in Boston. So I whisper a prayer and coast on every hill I can and FINALLY make it to Sam’s Club! Woohoo, but before I can celebrate by pulling near a gas pump I accidently pass up the entrance! Oops! So I pull up to what I thought was a 4 point stop sign area and there are NO cars around and I decide to bust a U-ey and head back to the entrance. Well my truck has a LARGE turn radius and I don’t quite make the full turn, so I had to back up just slightly to clear the curb. Of course suddenly there are 3 vehicles breathing down my neck, two politely wait (as I would have done for certain) but 1 of the 3 decided to make it KNOWN to me that they were seriously displeased for the inconvenience I had caused them. They proceeded to try to RUN me OVER and then HONK rudely at me. So I returned the favor and honked back with a slightly longer honk. I pulled ahead of them with my Hemi and pulled into the gas station. This guy figured he’d mad-dog me a little longer and he pulled in behind me but his passenger pleaded with him to “let me be,” so he pulled into another aisle. I got out and avoided eye contact but told my daughter to lock the doors, who knew what this guy was going to do. There was a lot of traffic so I had planned to simply stand my ground whatever he planned to do. He stared evilly at me from his side of the pump. I finished pumping gas and climbed into my truck and went to start my truck and the ignition would NOT TURN OVER! NOOOOOOOOOOO! I shut everything off and unplugged everything, gave it a second and tried again, NOTHING! Oy! Not this, not now! I again silently prayed! Everything happens for a reason right? So I could see my daughter getting worried, I also did not want this mean guy to know I was in a predicament, out of my peripheral vision I saw him pull up in front of me and slow WAY down and mad-dog me one last time. Then he drove off. After he left I tried again… NOTHING! I noticed the car behind me was done pumping gas and was waiting for me to move. I got out and told them that my truck would not start and asked if they could drive around past me. There was plenty of room. I opened my hood so hopefully others could see that I was obviously having engine trouble and would go around me. I tried to get a hold of my husband, but he did not answer my texts or phone calls. I sat there and the verse of a song came to me and I sang it out loud. It was from Matisyahu:

“…sometimes in my tears I drown, but I never let it get me down, so when negativity surrounds, I know some day it will all turn around. Cause all my life I’ve been waiting for, I’ve been praying for, for the people to say, that we don’t want to fight no more, there’ll be no more war and the children will play… one day… one day … one day”

My daughter accompanied me singing. It sort of calmed us in the situation and I cracked the windows and patiently waited for what would happen next. This man came and parked next to me, he was parked going the wrong way. Sam’s Club has strict rules about the direction you face when pumping gas. The gas station attendant was on him like white on rice and I heard the man telling the attendant to please allow him to pump quickly and he wouldn’t do it next time. The attendant did not push the issue. The man backed out of his spot and then he noticed me sitting in my truck with my hood up. He asked if I needed help. I was like “yes, I believe my battery is dead.” He hopped out and asked if I had jumper cables. I did and I handed them to him and he scoffed at them. Another lady walked up and had jumper cables in a tidy bag that was all zipped up. He liked her jumper cables and he quickly went to work hooking it all up. He charged my battery and started my truck right up! I was soooo relieved! He then asked me if I had water, I was like…. “um, why yes I do, I happen to have a case in the back of my truck from our recent trip to NYC.” I handed him a bottle. I thought he was going to fill my reservoir but instead he drank almost the entire bottle right there. He then asked if I was going to get a battery right then, I of course said… “well I’d better, I have a 30 minute drive to go back home.” So he had me follow him to his favorite battery store, Interstate, and he struck up the deal and even installed the battery for me right there to save me a couple of bucks! Wow! I was very happy! While this man was installing the battery my husband called and my daughter filled him in with what was going on. I thanked this man VERY MUCH and we parted ways. I went back to Sam’s and picked up the remaining items and headed back to the house. I love watching my day unfold with YHVH at the helm. Sometimes we see things unfold before our eyes and I am just in awe. Until next time, YHVH bless and keep you! 

New England in July

Travel timeline

-July 2013-

Date	Day	Location 1	Location 2	Notes
7/22	Mon	Southbridge	Boston	Pick up Mom at Airport
7/23	Tues	Southbridge	Sturbridge	Old Sturbridge Village – It RAINED
7/24	Wed	Boston – Freedom Trail with Tour Guide	New England Aquarium – Boston	1.        Amazing Tour 2.       Amazing as usual, love the giant fish tank!! We made it all the way to the top
7/25	Thurs	Southbridge	Newport, RI	Self Guided Mansion “Cottage” Tour
7/26	Fri	Southbridge	Cracker Barrel -Sturbridge	Stayed home most of the day
7/27	Sat	Southbridge	New York City	Dropped Mom off at the Queen Mary 2
7/28	Sun	Southbridge		Stayed home all day
7/29	Mon	Southbridge		Stayed home all day
7/30	Tues	Southbridge	Worcester	The Good Samaritan (see subsequent post)

7/22

Mon

Southbridge

Boston

Pick up Mom at Airport

Monday we put the final touches on getting the house ready for my Mom’s visit. In the early afternoon we made our way to the airport to pick up my Mom! The last time we had seen each other in person was on our trip up to New England back in May so it was a nice reunion. We went home and got ourselves to bed. This was going to be a fun week and we would need our rest!

7/23

Tues

Southbridge

Sturbridge

Old Sturbridge Village – It RAINED

So we all woke up Tuesday morning and decided we wanted to stay close to home because  we wanted to alternate from a long distance drive to a close-to-home excursion. So we decided to go to the Old Sturbridge Village.  My daughter and I had been there before but we gone previously with some “seasoned” visitors and they had already seen it all. It really ended up being a chatting visit and I saw very little of the grounds. So this time we sort of went the opposite direction to be sure we covered new ground. In the end we didn’t see it all, but we saw a lot that I hadn’t seen before.

At our home just prior to heading to Old Sturbridge Village. New flowers were in bloom.

The day started out beautifully, the sun was bright and cheery and the birds were singing sweetly. We meandered through the visitor center and took pictures at the little cardboard cutouts at the entrance. They are fun and made us all giggle. 




After the visitor center we headed out into the village. We visited the first homestead cottage. It’s very small and had bright blue wallpaper in side with very large-print flowers. The wallpaper was a little overwhelming for me. I think if I had been a colonial peasant I would not have wanted this paper. The house was quite cozy and reminded me of the Pioneer Farms back in Texas, the Krueger cabin was about this size, but lacked the blue wallpaper. I would have preferred the Krueger cabin. I suppose the wallpaper made the Colonial people feel like they were “back home” in England? We visited the first two meeting houses, they felt a lot like some of the old buildings we remembered seeing back when we were living in England. The styles were, naturally, quite similar.

 We found a Shoe Cobbler shop and we popped in for a visit just before the “Hoop Races” began. We went down and played in the Hoop Races, my daughter did really well scooting her hoop around the grounds. 

At this point we noted that there were some clouds floating in to view that looked a little menacing. We took a walk up the forest trails to the hilltop of Old Sturbridge Village. We really enjoyed seeing these forest trails because our home is this very terrain, we began to see the potential of our own property. It could be totally awesome with some elbow grease for sure. The view up from the top of the hilltop is absolutely breathtaking. Back in Texas you had to really work for such a view, the hike up the hill wasn’t much here. It was just as well as I am currently doing a low-cal diet and it is helpful to conserve where I spend my energy. At the top of the hill the clouds really began to roll in. We could hear thunder, but we saw no lighting. We took a couple of quick snap shots and we made a hasty retreat to lower ground. 

On the Hill Top... clouds rolling in, breathtaking view!

Hilltop Pasture

Ominous Clouds rolling in!

Our retreat to lower ground...

On the other side of the hill pasture there was a homestead with a barn. We had arrived just in time for the cow milking demonstration. The barn was so cool. It gave us a glimpse of what our own barn might have looked like back in its youth 100+ years ago!  

 As we stood in the barn the sky opened up and poured bucket and buckets. Then when it was done pouring all those buckets it poured some more. In between buckets, we scooted over to the other buildings on this particular homestead. There was a Cooper shop that was really neat, but not at all tidy. We all figured that back in the day it was probably a lot less messy, haha. Not that we knew for sure, but we are assuming that it wasn’t as crazy as the display made it seem. 

 

The Cobbler's... mess ;)

In between the next bucket we made it to the main house. The air in this house smelled very greasy and thick with pig lard. We noticed a slab of pork on the counter and there were quite a few flies zooming around and scuttling about on the table in the kitchen area. This was a working farm house. It was neat to see the way the herbs would have been stored and the kitchen might have looked. We enjoyed this immensely (aside from the sides of pork). We asked to see the smoke house and one of the Villagers took us out, it was still sprinkling, but not enough to dampen our mini lesson on smoke houses. My husband says this will be his own personal project. I told him that I’m certain at some point our own home here must have had a smoke house or two. I can begin to imagine scenes like this at our own place. It used to be quite the hub so I’ve heard. 

Finally, the rain subsided and we were able to walk out of this homestead and head down the lane towards the main Village center. We had come in to the homestead through the pasture gate so we came up the back way and had missed out on this view. Apple trees and picket fences lined the path. I loved it so much. We visited a couple of houses on the path and realized the time had passed so quickly and it was almost time for the Village to close to the public so we made our way to the visitor center. We crossed through the covered bridge, it was soooo cool. The only other Covered Bridge I had seen in person before was a very small one at Aquarena Springs. We giggled at the thought of our horses attempting to cross this daunting bridge. The last bridge my horse, Justice and I, tried to cross made me wind up on my booty with my horse scuttling across the veranda…without me! Haha! We passed the Grist Mill. Back in Texas we have a Grist Mill in Gruene, but it was turned into a Restaurant. We didn’t get to go inside this one, there wasn’t time, but it was still so cool to walk by it and see it. This concluded our day at the Village. We’ll be sure to be back for many visits as we decided it would be the best bargain to go ahead and become members! Back in Texas we used to volunteer at the Pioneer Farms in Austin. We are seriously considering doing some work here at this place. It would be too fun! We shall see.

7/24

Wed

Boston – Freedom Trail with Tour Guide

New England Aquarium – Boston

1.       Amazing Tour 2.       Amazing as usual, love the giant fish tank!! We made it all the way to the top

After a good rest we awoke Wednesday morning and were ready to take a day trip. We had a few options lined up and we wanted to make the best of our time so we all voted and Boston won. After brunch we headed straight to Boston. 

Someone is artistic... a bird riding a Praying Mantis. Clever indeed. ;)

Daytrip to Boston!

We parked near Paramount...

 We had two things on our agenda: 1. Freedom Trail; and 2. New England Aquarium. For those of you who followed my blog on our last trip to Boston, you would remember the drama that ensued trying to find a bathroom and parking. So this time we had a plan... we were SURE to stop BEFORE we arrived in the city so the point of desperation could not be reached. The other thing was “we knew now where to park.” Well we drove to the New England Aquarium parking garage and guess what!?!? The parking garage was FULL to capacity! Oh no!! We had not thought of a Plan B concerning parking. Just GREAT! Somehow, we drove around and around until we finally found a decent place to park. Thank Abba for my driving husband. He is a stellar driver and park-er for that matter, and this is one of those times that I appreciate that about him more-so than ever! We parked and we headed over to the Boston Common at Beacon Hill to begin our tour. We got to see the grave sites of Paul Revere and some other patriots buried there in the Old Granary Cemetery. We saw the site of the Boston Massacre, and the names of those whose lives were taken there. We got to see cobblestone roads and a lot of historic architecture. It was truly as amazing as we thought it would be. Our tour guide was a nice young man, he was a little grumpy, but apparently he had had a rough morning and didn’t appreciate having to wear his “costume” or uniform. It was necessary though because he had to stand out from all the other people walking about. 

Well we made it to Boston Common.... we're in the right place.

Our tour guide who is definitely NOT an actor. He told us himself, quite dramatically!

Spying on my husband in Historical Raptures. ;)

Beacon Hill, they say the top of the gold capped building behind us was the top of Beacon Hill.

 

 

John Hancock Memorial at the Granary Cemetery.

John Hancock is this man's hero.

Memorial to the people killed at the Boston Massacre.

Cobblestone Street, so cool!

A Pigeon for each head.

After our Freedom Trail Walk we headed straight over to the Aquarium. We walked there since we had already been walking so much and didn’t want to contend with finding another parking spot.

Hoofing it to The New England Aquarium

 We got to the aquarium and it was late in the day. There was only about an hour left to close so we made haste and buzzed through to the top of the Aquarium. Again, we found it best to invest in a family pass so that when we or friends/family visit we can take them here on our dime. It was totally worth it. 

So this time we knew to go all the way to the top of the cylindrical tank. We took the elevator and went straight up. Although when we got to the very top we realized that last time we didn’t even come to the very top of the tank. It was sooo cool, there were ribbon fish galore and two barracuda! There was a sea turtle in a holding tank, I suppose they were acclimating her to the tank. We stayed there and watched, mesmerized for quite a few moments, but no one wanted to take too many pictures because we were all afraid we would drop our cameras into the tank. I’m certain THAT has happened many, many times over at this place, Sunglasses and what not probably find their way in that tank all the time!  So down the ramp we walked. We loved, once again, to watch all the fish on the different levels. There was a fish that I called a “Frankenstein fish” because of its protruding forehead, I don’t know what kind of fish it is, but one in a school of them had a big chomp on it. I’m thinking a hammerhead shark took a sample bite. The bite really made him look more like Frankenstein than he already did. We found a sea turtle napping with his head on some coral. We enjoyed every inch of the tank and made it to the bottom. 

Sea Turtle in Holding Tank

Barracuda

Ribbon Fish

At the bottom, the Penguin exhibit, which had been shut down last time we visited, was up and the penguins were getting “watered.” The rocks in the exhibit are equipped with sprinklers and they were on and spraying the Penguins. The Penguins seemed to thoroughly enjoy this. 

With the 15 minutes we had remaining we hurried over to see the sea lions. They seemed to be really itchy for some reason. I wondered if some supplements they had been given were causing them to have allergic reactions, or perhaps they had been recently vaccinated? At any rate, they were extremely itchy and uncomfortable. Many of the Sea Lions sat there and scratched and scratched almost the entire 15 minutes we stood there. Poor little guys! 

We left straight after and headed to the truck. We then drove to Waltham and visited our favorite Mexican Restaurant there, Taqueria Mexico, yum! Too bad I was on an apple fast, boo hoo!!

We got home late, took care of the animals, and hit the hay! We had not voted on what we were going to do the next day, but the prospects looked like another possible day trip.

7/25

Thurs

Southbridge

Newport, RI

Self Guided Mansion “Cottage” Tour

Thursday morning we woke up with questions. We weren’t certain where we wanted to go. We weren’t certain if we wanted to do a day trip or try and stay local. We were getting a little tired of all the driving, but we only had a few days left of Jason’s vacation and my Mom’s visit would also soon end. Jason had a dental appointment so we determined that we would all think on it, then after the appointment we would have lunch and vote! The outcome of the vote was Newport, RI! We were told there were some cottages by the sea. These so-called “cottages” are gorgeous mansions. It was raining, a lot, and heavy so our trip took us a little longer than expected. By the time we got to the Visitors Center in Newport we were too late to take any tours. So we decided to take ourselves on a driving tour around town. So that’s what we did. The sites and the Town were just gorgeous. We enjoyed it very much, next time we’ll have to be sure to take the tour inside the “cottages.” 

We headed back home, but on the way we stopped to eat at Texas Roadhouse. That place sure makes us feel like we were back home. We got home late and our dogs were growing tired at all our traveling so we determined that our last day in town we would stay around the house and take it easy.

7/26

Fri

Southbridge

Cracker Barrel -Sturbridge

Stayed home most of the day

As promised we stayed in town on Friday. Friday is our preparation day for the Sabbath. So we grabbed a bite to eat and we cleaned the house. We were all so exhausted from our travels it was a welcome break. We spent the remainder of the afternoon visiting and kicking back at home. After our delicious Shabbat dinner we had an hour left before sunset so we took my Mom on a nature walk on the back of our property. The dogs enjoyed this immensely. They hadn’t had a chance to really stretch their legs until this point in time. We all enjoyed it, I did not enjoy finding a tick on me later though. Ugh, I detest those horrid little creatures. Good thing I found her before she found a place on me! Yuck! It is an ugly downside to our lovely forest. We got to bed at a decent hour and prepared for our next day trip… this time to New York City.

7/27

Sat

Southbridge

New York City

Dropped Mom off at the Queen Mary 2

Saturday morning we rolled out of bed, my husband promised we’d be up at 7AM. YEAH RIGHT! Well ok, so we were up at 8AM, haha! We got chores done and loaded up my Mom’s bags and shoved off to NYC, the Big Apple…in our truck! Are we crazy? Most definitely! We decided to take the truck because, while it might be more difficult to park …true, due to its sheer size! It’s mammoth proportions would hopefully serve as a deterrent and help us to not have need of a Bumper Badger that everyone else in NYC seemed to have on our last drive-through the Big Apple. After a few hours of driving we finally made it to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. Then we decided, now that we had found our way, we could let our hair down and find a bite to eat. The only place we could think of in the area was…. IKEA Brooklyn. Well, it is what it is. When in Brooklyn…eat at IKEA? Maybe for next time, you guys can make some recommends. The food was so-so. I had heard so much about the IKEA chocolate cakes and such, I thought for sure it would be “worth it.” It’s nothing to swoon over, I assure you. We also got to watch (sense my sarcasm) in the kid’s section of the IKEA restaurant, Disney’s movie, The Princess and the Frog. We only saw some scenes, as we purposely chose to not watch it, but the little I saw was HORRIBLE! After IKEA we got my Mom back to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal where we waited for my Step-Father to arrive. Once he got there we bid them Bon Voyage, hugs and kisses.

When in NYC and you have only a few minutes to spare we asked Trip Advisor where to go and it sent us to Coney Island. We got to go weirdy watching on the Boardwalk. We took our boots off (we had no idea we would come in contact with the ocean up to this point) and walked down to the beach and played in the water a little. Some of us more than others (staring at my daughter who had cold wet pants and was complaining afterward). 

OTW to NYC :D

Coney Island Beach

Hey! The beach is the beach! I love it!

That salty water can nearly always put a smile on my face! :D

This guy certainly can put a smile on my face too! <3

We stood in a tremendously loooonngg line at the New York Aquarium and were told it was going to close in 20 minutes. We estimated that there was no way we would get inside with this super long wait ahead of us so we abandoned project and headed to the truck.

Finally, we fixed our sites on our return trip to and now headed back to Massachusetts. 

Acrobatic Teddy Grahams!

Bridge near Hartford, CT

Beach blown hair!

It's a salty mess, but it's fine with me!

:D

On the way home we found a Mexican Restaurant in Connecticut near Hartford, “On the Border.” The only other On the Border I’ve been too was in Shreveport, LA if I remember correctly. There may have been one in San Antonio. Again, for me, nothing to swoon over, but the salad was good. After that we visited Cabela’s and then we went home. We would be sure to STAY HOME on Sunday, and we did! We rested! Well, I rested…. My husband chopped down weeds in the pasture, but that’s another story.

Until next time:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.