Shannon's World

We spent a lot of Wednesday in the car – driving 6 hours from Rhode Island to the Barron Compound in Maine. Mike and I were nervous about Libby being in the car seat for that long, but she did great! We stopped about half way in Freeport, Maine but our plans for a picnic lunch were ruined by the rain. We had our own picnic in the car where we enjoyed a great lunch that my Aunt packed for us. Libby was able to stretch out on the front seat while we ate. We had to stop two more times to change Libby, but all in all it was a great trip.

We arrived at Barron Family Cabin #2 and were greeted by Mike’s parents, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews. Mike’s parents built an 8 bedroom house this past year and it was great to have everyone all in one place. Libby loved meeting her cousins and watched in amazement as they ran around, talked and played. Mike and I kept telling her she’d be running and playing next year (that is so hard for us to believe).

The picture below is of all 5 of the Barron grandkids: (left to right) Calvin (18 mo), Micah (10 mo), Sam (almost 5), Emma (3) and Libby (5 mo)

My Aunt spoils us. By spoil, I mean ROTTEN and by us I mean me, Mike and Libby. The woman is the most generous person I know. I have to be careful what I mention around her because she remembers everything. She knows how much I love adirondak chairs. . .guess what arrived at our house as we were moving in?! A few years ago I mentioned that when Mike and I finally settled down I wanted to get a return address embosser – guess what she sent for Christmas?! Amazing!

I think the best gift she sent was when I was in 7th or 8th grade and I was battling with my Mom about shaving my legs. I wanted to do it because everyone else was and my Mom didn’t want me to because she was smart. My Aunt must have got wind of the battle that was raging in the Cross home and she sent me a makeup bag full of razors, shaving creams, lotions and a syptic stick! COOLEST AUNT EVER!

Last Tuesday morning we were watching the Today show and they did a segment on Magnolia Bakery and Sprinkles (by the way, there are quite a few Sprinkles opening up around the country). I shared the story about Mike’s 55 minute wait at Magnolia and my love for their cupcakes. She couldn’t believe any cupcake was that good – I told her they were! Guess what was waiting for Mike and me when we got home from visiting Mike’s Grandpa?! You guessed it . . .Magnolia Bakery cupcakes! My Aunt went online, found the recipe, went grocery shopping for the supplies and made them for us. The amazing thing?! They tasted just like the real ones from NYC – they were SO GOOD.

A big thank you to Aunt Debbie, Uncle Peter and my cousins Garrett and Kyle who let us take over their house for a few days each summer. We appreciate the hospitality, homemade meals and laugs. Come visit Indiana!!

Here is a link to the recipe my Aunt made.

On Tuesday, we headed south to the Rhode Island/Connecticut border to visit Mike’s Grandpa and introduce him to his newest Great-Grandchild. We had a great visit and enjoyed a delicious lunch along the Pawcutuck River. I just love the picture of the two of them below:

After lunch in Milton, we headed to Cape Cod for a visit with our good family friends the Amaral’s (they recently left No Va and moved to the Cape). The Amaral’s daughter, Shelly was there w/ her husband Mike (I was in their wedding 16 years ago!) and daughter’s Carlyn (my glasses twin) and Meghan (my god daughter). We enjoyed seeing the Amaral’s new house and catching up with everyone. Both Carlyn and Meghan are great readers; Carlyn finished Harry Potter in 1.5 days! Meghan is a gymnast and showed off her tumbling in her grandparents backyard (I did a few cartwheels, too!).

Meghan and Carlyn were a huge help with Libby, so much so that I told Shelly and Mike that Carlyn needs to come to our house next summer for a week or two to be a mother’s helper! I hope we can meet up with the Amaral’s and Matheny’s every year when we travel to New England.

Monday brought a day of rest and a little shopping. I went out with my Mom and Aunt to do a little shopping and enjoy some lunch. Monday was our last day with my Mom (aka the Grammy-Nanny!). I feel so, so lucky that she was able to spend practically a month at our house watching Libby and helping Mike and I take care of some projects around the house. I miss her so much and am keeping my fingers cross that they continue to develop their plans to move to Indianapolis.

After a long two weeks in St Charles, I can forget about work for a week as we are on vacation! We arrived in Rhode Island on Saturday (Libby did great on her 4th plane ride!) and introduced Libby to her Great Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. Saturday night we enjoyed a seafood feast of salmon, scallops and stuffed quahog.  It was fantastic!

On Sunday we traveled to Milton, Mass where my best fried just happened to be on Day 3 of her second three day, 60 mile walk for breast cancer. I was so excited about introducing L to Posey and this group of strong and determined woman Posey was walking with. L and P hit it off from the start, no doubt sharing secrets and stories about Mom/me! I love the pic above as it shows off L and P’s matching Team O.W.L. shirts. A big CONGRATULATIONS to everyone that completed the Boston 3 day, but especially to Team O.W.L., who we had the pleasure of eating lunch with on Sunday.