Day 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13.

Okay so there are a lot of days to cover in this post, but some were spent driving to and from New Hampshire to see Matt's extended family. On Friday we all piled into Buck's car. (Buck aka Tom, Opa, Matt's dad) We caravanned to New Ipswitch, New Hampshire for Anne's family reunion. This was the home of Dave and Michelle Lacroix (Dave is my mother-in-law's brother.) The 85 degree weather was such a welcome relief from the humidity and we also were going to be missing a major heat wave in PA that weekend. Some of Anne's family arrived early and we all got a chance to catch up with some dear people. That night we slept in tents in Dave's back yard. Thank heavens for the thick line of trees that our tents backed up against. They provided much needed cover for Terri and I who had to get up and pee behind our tents at least 4 times that night. Saturday we got to see all but one of Anne's siblings. Anne's mother was even there. Seeing Pauline was bittersweet. She shows signs of early Alzheimer's.  I realized that this could be the last time to see her.

After a great meal, we all piled back into the car and headed for Aurnt Suzy's house.  (In Matt's family, the word Aunt is pronounced like the word aren't.  I don't know why, it just is.)  The kids got to swim in her pool and we had dinner with Suzy's priest.  This for me was a first.

Tom was so gracious and got hotel rooms for Terri the girls and I and Stephanie and her two kids.  We stayed at the Super 8 in Vermont which was just up the road.  I never thought I would utter the words "Thank Heavens for Super 8".  The rooms were okay but we were worried about bed bugs among other things, but everything turned out to be okay.  We were next door to a McDonalds and a Duncan Donuts.

Sunday was the day to see Tom's side of the family.  This too was a bittersweet day.  The family agreed to get together to celebrate the birthday of Tom's brother Eric who had been killed by a drunk driver 40 years ago.  We all gathered at Greek owned Italian restaurant for brunch.  Several brought letters and scrap books honoring Eric and shared memories as we ate.  It was a sweet time. All of Tom's siblings were there.

Monday was a mad dash back to PA.  The 6 hour drive really took its toll.  By the time we reached home, Madison was crying and crying because she missed her daddy.  I had her call Matt and she said that I was being mean to her and she wanted to come home.

We slept well that night.