Boston!

After a quick trip to Newport we were onto the Boston portion of the trip and I use the term Boston loosely.  For me, Boston has always meant Canton.  As far back as I can remember we would head out to this "Boston" annually to visit my mother's stomping grounds, it meant that we would visit Canton, a town about 15 miles southwest of downtown Boston.

My fabulous Aunt Maggie is holding down the Cook Family fort out in Canton now and hosts a sort of unofficial family bed-and-breakfast only open to immediate family and absolutely free.  My adult experiences there are as though it is you are on a small retreat, where we sleep in late, take a break from life, drink lots of coffee, and visit Grammy only a few miles away.  I love it!

It was especially wonderful this visit because I met my sister from Philly there.  She took the guest room and I made my home in my cousin Joey's room.  It was a full house with Anne, her boys, and my cousins Joey and Anna.

The weekend went by too quickly, but it was great to see everyone, particularly to see everyone together.  Roman followed Joey (14) around wouldn't leave him.  Joey was trying to be a good, nice older cousin, but Roman just wouldn't leave his side.  Grammy met AJ.  Anne and I spent time with our now teenager cousin Anna.  We went to see her play volley ball and Greg gave her a  brief driving lesson. In retrospect he told me that he was a little nervous when Anna asked, "Which is the gas and which is the brake, again?" But, she drove wonderfully and is going to be a great driver.  Anna and I were both excited to see each other for other reasons:  Greg and I are honored that she will be able to say a reading at our wedding mass and I will be returning in May to be her confirmation sponsor.  It is wonderful how family can be so close and important, even if they are far away and you rarely see them.

And as usual, I wish I had taken more pictures.  Even though you can't see them in pictures, Grammy, my sister, and everyone else was present.

After a healthy dose of the Cook side of the family, Greg and I took a quick look at Boston on our way out.  It was extremely cold so the Harbor was empty and we did not do much outside.  In fact, Greg even begged me to stop in a small dress shop, just to get a break from walking in the cold.  We met a friend for lunch near the Public Gardens ... and then headed back home to sweet Milwaukee.