home sweet Atkinson!

after three weeks of traveling, I made it home to the house i grew up in in Atkinson NH tonight. :) I am so happy to be here, and plant my feet on the ground for a few weeks.

went out to a casual dinner with the folks tonight, and I am now happily tucked into bed, in my old bedroom. :D

tomorrow I relax. then possibly do some laundry, and a good clean out of the car. but relax comes first. :)

cape cod Lawson-fest 2012

drove north from NY to cape cod to visit with Kristin (lawson), Jason, grace and Cameron at their vacation house in Chatham. tracy (lawson), Emily and Alivia were there as well, mr and mrs lawson rolled in shortly after I arrived, and Andy came in that evening. it was a wonderful and chaotic reunion to see the Atkinson Lawson's all in one place!

all the kids have grown up so much, it was fun to spend time with them, and watching them play together.

spent two days on the cape with them, shuttling the clan to the beach, avoiding thunderstorms, playing games, reading books, and sharing good old fashioned family meals together.

also had the pleasure of catching up with teddy bear! we even snuck out for a night, and had a lovely kid-free dinner together in chatham.

had a wonderful time with my "atkinson family" at Lawson fest, but my fatigue from being on the road and living out of the car, sleeping on couches and non-stop visiting has totally caught up to me. I'm really pooped!

red house kids & their kids

leaving pa tues morning, I continued north into ny, and stopped by to visit my college buddy andrew, his wife Amy and their cutie kids Nate and Emily in westchester. super fun to see my friends all growed up n stuff with new houses, kids, jobs, etc. so proud. ;)

we went out for a yummy Thai dinner (welcome change after a lot of road food!), and then met up with Duncan for a drink. it is funny how much we have grown up, yet I still feel like we are all the same dorks we were back in the Syracuse red house days!

crashed for the night with Amy & Andrew, and was back in the car again early the next am as they got the kids packaged up for school. and, again. I was a slacker and didn't get any pics with those guys. :( next time....

catch up time with cousin jakatt's

after a lovely lazy morning with Melani, she had to head to work, and I drove out to coatsville to catch up with auntie Maria and uncle steve.

auntie Maria welcomed me right Ito the house, and made me a sandwich for lunch. it was really nice to have some quiet time to chat. after that, mark, Jessica and their kids Braydon (vivacious 3 year old with a new Mohawk!) and emleigh (4 months) surprised me with a visit! shortly after that Erika also came by, and uncle steve returned with maria's cousin patty from holland. it was nice to see everyone, and we lazily hung out for a few hours catching up.

after the kids left, I stayed and had a yummy dinner with Maria steve and patty. our conversations wandered all over the place, and then steve and I dove into his files on our family history. it was super interesting to hear more about my fathers mothers family and our Lithuanian heritage. I am going to have to bug my dad when I get home to dig up anything he might still have of my grandmothers. I know some stories from my grandparents, but I really eat this stuff up! :)

i spent the night, and had such a nice relaxed visit. my extended family is so small, and we see each other so infrequently (weddings and funerals), so this was really special to have this time.

bummed I didn't snap any pics of the kids, I think we were all pictured out after the wedding!