Shepard family tradition requires us to pack up the car and motor up north on every Memorial Day. So the five Shepards (including newest member Stefan Rose the snail) headed up to Natick on Saturday morning.We met up with Nana and Papa at Joan & Ed's Deli for lunch and then dropped off the littlest Shepards (Marni and the snail) at my parents' house so we could take Stella to the bike store for her birthday present.
The bike store where I bought my first bike as a child has changed a bit over the past 35 years. It got a lot fancier and a lot more expensive (or so it seems). Stella's bike at this store was going for about $200. That would have been about $39 in 1972 money. But $200 for a 5 year old's bike is too much. So over to Walmart so that we could help destroy America.
In the end, we bought a nice purple and pink bike for Stella and a bonus bike for Marni for less than half the cost of the bike at the cycle store (no doubt built for my children by other children... in China).Stella immediately took to the bike and rode up and down Possum Hollow Lane with glee. Marni, not so much.
As dinner time approached, Lisa and I snuck out the back door and head to The Natick Collection for some shopping at Nordstrom. I bought stuff for the kids and Lisa bought stuff for Lisa. Then... off to see the new Star Trek movie.
The next day we packed up the family (snail included) and headed up to Old Orchard to open the cottage. The weather was dreary and cold as we cleaned and installed screens, moved furniture, and swept the place clean. Lunch was at our favorite fried seafood joint, Ken's Place.
When we returned to the cottage, the weather turned warm and sunny and the girls broke out the bikes and rode around the neighborhood. When they tired of biking, they stripped down to t-shirts and underwear and played on the beach.
Our next stop was Karen and Glenn's house in Salem for dinner. It's always an adventure when you mix our two girls with their two dogs. But no one was hurt and dinner was delicious.
Sunday morning included biking, hiking in the woods, and swinging on Nana and Papa's swings. Marni continued to ask about the big animal that lived in my parents' backyard. The "woodchucker" (as Marni called it) didn't make an appearance for her, but she'll be back next month to watch for him again.
Luckily the holiday traffic wasn't bad and we ate, peed, and pooped our way back to Brooklyn in good time.
By 8 o'clock the girls and the snail were tucked in their beds and another fun Memorial Day weekend was fodder for my blog.
