Solstice Celebration

Last Saturday we decided that, instead of taking a weekend trip to NH, we would take a day trip to one of our favorite MA towns, Rockport, to celebrate the solstice and a beautiful summer day. It's located on Cape Ann, right next to Gloucester (the port from "The Perfect Storm"). It's a quaint seaside town with fun shopping and fantastic views. We parked near the main shopping strip, Bear Skin Neck, peeked in a few shops (I treated myself to a super cute new necklace) and then decided to take a walk, which was a bit longer then we thought, to the old granite quarry turned state park. It was about 5 miles round trip, but we were following the coastline for most of it and got to see some really cool historic homes.

This is a cool stacked wall that separated some one's home from the ocean.

Me in front of the granite quarry

Nice view of the coastline from the quarry

The claim to fame of Rockport - the red fisherman's shack

After exploring the quarry and hiking back, we ate some great seafood then headed back into Boston for the Summers Day Revels celebration. Jim, my brother in law, was a part of the festivities. His band, the What Cheer Brigade, led the parade to the main stage to start the festivities and then played a set there later. Mike and I had a fun time hanging out with Kristina and the boys, Jacob and Corwin. It was perfect weather, there were lots of fun activities around and the kids, as always, were a (tiring) barrel of fun!

What Cheer Brigade leading the parade

(Jim is in the red pants playing the snare drum at the far left side of the picture)

Mike, Kristina, Jacob and Corwin

following alongside the parade

Hanging out

On Sunday, we had a busy social day. Our friends, Sean and Sarah with their 6 month old Owen, came over for lunch. Sean was a friend of mine from Tae Kwon Do. We bonded after we realized we're both from Texas - he grew up in Plano. When Sean decided to go back to school to get his MBA at Wharton, Sarah became my roommate for about 6 months while she finished up her PHD at Harvard. They celebrated their 1st wedding anniversary while Sarah was living with me! Flash forward to 4.5 years later and they're in London, where they've been residing for almost 3 years. It was truly great to get to see them while Sean was in town for business and awesome to meet Owen. He's a cute, smiley guy! Maybe we'll get to meet again in the Dallas area for the holidays.

That evening, we had more family time as all of Mike's gang came to our house for a cook out. They were all anxious to see the renovations. The rain threatened but held out long enough to cook, play in the yard, eat some grub and enjoy each other's company. The kitchen proved very conducive to parties so it was a successful first event!

So, all in all, a pretty perfect first weekend of summer! Happy summer everyone!