This week, the Poconos

It's grandchildren, non-stop in Pittsfield. First, Simon and Margaret came up for a week at Camp Baba and Mimi that included, perhaps most importantly, Simon as the official groundhog chaser, done with such enthusiasm. We had campfires, did water slides, played baseball and went for walks over to the lake where, most importantly, we discovered a dead bird.

We also went to the 4^th of July parade and had a barbecue. Joining us were the John and Marilyn Boyle family, or at least most of them who could make it. John's grandson Robbie set up a tent along the parade route, staking his claim at 4:30 in the morning. Thank you! A lot of reminiscing and inspecting our no-mow lawn and pumpkin patch where Grandma Boyle's house used to be. It's actually turning out to be no rain-summer, making for a pretty slow-growing pollinator field/pumpkin patch next door.

They also inspected our latest project, a grape pergola in the backyard, built with posts from Grandma Boyle's porches. Before the teardown, we salvaged a few sentimental objects, including the number Seven that now adorns the pergola. We have two grape vines, so we're crossing our fingers.

We do have raspberries, the most we've ever had, and a few strawberries. Blueberries are just starting to come in, and lots of lettuce.

The day after the 4^th, we had the changing of the guard. Margaret and Simon left in the am, and later that afternoon, Joe, Thomas and John pulled in the driveway. Joe had to get back to DC for house-closing work and end-of-work work. He will be unemployed basically when he arrives in the Poconos.

In the meantime, John and Thomas have been in summer day camp which they love. They have managed to slow down only when one of their parents calls. Leonor went to Lisbon this weekend with Luisa who will stay there when Leonor goes back to London for work. Sound complicated? It is, but it's what you have to do in the middle of these big life changes. So far so good. Except for one 4am visit to the emergency room for Mary and John. All's well that ends well.

We are enjoying the short time we have with little boys, even those moments when things go off the rails. They love the outdoors, feeding the ducks, throwing and skipping rocks in the lakes, and seeing a beaver at the pond in the park. Of course, we've had campfires (with Simon too), and played all kinds of games in the yard.  At the end of each day, we all kind of collapse.

We didn't miss Annie's birthday, who called from a beachfront in Kerala where she and Sankar had gone for the occasion. It was a nice respite from their land building projects.

We couldn't forget Andrew's birthday either. And his and Lur's anniversary, which go hand in hand, as we remember the Oscar Swan Inn festivities so many years ago.

Quick check-in via Facebook reveals that the Matthew Dickson were at Fort Niagara for a battle reenactment, Claire wrapped up her Ireland and Scotland tour, Bill and Jen went to Colorado Springs. Here's a photo with Billy on a four-wheeler. At least, it's not a motorcycle, Grandma!

Finally, in anticipation for this Thursday, John told us the other day that the Poconos is his favorite place in the world, better than Massachusetts, Brazil, Portugal and Washington DC. Unfortunately, Paula came down with a bout of pneumonia so they're going to have to miss this grand adventure, again. They were so looking forward to it. What a shame.  We'll send photos but it won't be the same. We'll miss you.

Love from up here, and see you this week.