Day Trip to Misquamicut and Watch Hill

The day started out with Paul and I doing an errand to pick up a little crib at his uncle's house that has been in Paul's family for generations. Paul's grandfather (his mother's father) slept in this crib. When Kristen was born, Priscilla got it out of her attic and Paul had it stripped and then painted it. Priscilla got a new mattress and had a pretty yellow skirt and pillow made. Both Kristen and Mark used this little crib. It is small, about the size of a cradle, so they weren't in it very long. This is Kristen in 1972 in the little crib.

When Paul's cousin had his first child he borrowed it, and it has been with him since his second child was born (about 8 years). When Marley was born, they lived in Ohio and it wasn't practical to get it out there. We wanted to use it for Mark and Janelle's baby, so today we went down to his aunt and uncle's to get it. They live in Connecticut. They were at their house at the Cape, but they left it out for us. This is their house.

So...Paul's Uncle's house is not that far from Misquamicut and we planned to make a day of it and go there and to Watch Hill. It is very nostalgic for Paul and I. We used to go there a lot when we were dating. I used to go to Misquamicut with my friend Cheryl in high school and we always stopped at Watch Hill and had ice tea and french fries in the Olympia Tea Room. By the way, it hasn't changed in all these years, except I think it has gotten more expensive, and doesn't even have french fries any more. Also, the summer I turned 16, we went with my cousin's family to Misquamicut and stayed in a cottage on Lawton St. We found it today and took a picture of it. It hasn't changed much. This is the cottage.

We drove around the beach for awhile. These are some pictures of around Misquamicut.

Then we headed down to Watch Hill. It was such a beautiful day, not too hot. We had lunch outside at a little deli and then walked around the main street. These are some pictures from Watch Hill.

Before we headed home, we took one more drive down to Misquamicut and got out at the state beach. It looked like a storm was heading in. It got really windy and quite cool. I took some pictures of the beach but it was almost too cold to stay out there. These are pictures from the state beach.

What a fun little vacation day!

151/365 - Good mama!

Today we took a day trip to Misquamicut Beach and Watch Hill. We were sitting outside a little shop and all of a sudden I heard baby birds and saw a mother robin feeding them above us. She flew away before I could get my camera out, but I waited awhile and got this picture of her being a good mama!

P.S. Happy 8th Birthday Marley!

150/365 - New furniture

We bought new furniture for the family room tonight. Paul has needed a new chair for a long time, and our couch is about 27 years old, so it was time. We bought a leather couch, chair and ottoman. It's coming in a little over a week. We're very excited!

149/365 - Spicy Chicken Filet

This has to be my favorite fast food sandwich. Spicy Chicken Filet from Wendys. Yummy!

148/365 - Night at the Museum

We went to see this movie tonight. Oh my goodness, I loved it. I really like museums and the thought of them coming to life at night just intrigues me. I'm not sure which one I like the most, the first one or this one. They're both right up my alley!

147/365 - Rhododendron

The rhododendron in the front of my house is in full bloom. It was given to us as a house warming present by Paul's aunt and uncle, Pat and George, back in 1973.

146/365 - Mark kayaking

Paul and Mark went kayaking at Lake Mashapaug today. I have Paul trained pretty well. He took a nice picture for my 365 blog. Thanks, Paul.

145/365 - Three Mile Pond

We went kayaking at Three Mile Pond in Sheffield, Ma. today. Four years ago we went there at the end of July and it was like a swamp; I hated it. I wanted to try it again in the spring this year before all the weed stuff grew. It was wonderful. The day was beautiful, warm and sunny, but not hot. The weed stuff had just started to come out but not bad. There is a peat moss island in the pond that is just wonderful. Little islands to paddle in and out of full of birds, frogs, muskrats. There was also a blow up swan that we thought was real until it didn't swim away as we got near. Across the lake there were two, male and female, fake ducks in the water. Not sure what was up with that. I'm so glad we decided to give it another chance. I will definitely go back, just not in July!

144/365 - Happy 8th birthday Marley!

Today we celebrated Marley's 8th birthday. Next Sunday is actually her birthday, but they are going to the camper for the weekend, so we had our family party today. Janelle's mother and sister came up for the event. We all had a fun time singing happy birthday, eating frozen Boston creme pie*, watching her open presents, and then later playing one of her favorite games Apples to Apples Junior.

*The story behind the frozen Boston cream pie is this - two years ago she had Boston cream pie at Toby's mother's house and she said she wanted that for her birthday cake. When I asked her at the end of her birthday party that year if she liked her cake, she said that she liked the frozen one better. I had no idea what she was talking about until Kristen explained that when they had it at Barbara's it wasn't quite thawed when they ate it. So, this year, I froze the cake and took it out before dinner so that it was still about half frozen when we ate it. Everyone got a kick out of the whole story (Stacia brought a pie and Amy made Smores, so those who didn't want frozen Boston cream pie could have a choice). LOL, LOL!!

143/365 - 5th Annual Birthday Build-A-Bear

Today was our annual "Build-A-Bear" excursion. This is our 5th time doing this for Marley's birthday. She told me today that she wanted to do Build-A-Bear every year until she got married. Marley wanted to go to Yankee Candle to get the "bear" but go to the mall Build-A-Bear to get the clothes and accessories (they have a much bigger and better selection). I think she likes the whole process of going to Yankee Candle and looking around up there, but the Build-A-Bear at the mall is much better really. This year she chose a black lab and called him Blackie. We bought Blackie two outfits, a denim pocketbook, a collar and leash, and another leash. What a fun day. Kris called later tonight and asked Marley if she had a good day and she said it was "fabulous."

142/365 - Ferns

My ferns have really taken off. I love how they keep spreading every year.

141/365 - XXI Store at the Mall

So....as a followup to my post #124, the new store with the escalator right at the entrance is now open. It is called XXI forever, and is a store for just what it says, people who are "21 forever." It's a huge store and if I was 21 I'm sure I would love it. The store has only one floor though, so the escalator just goes to the second floor of the mall. Really different!

P.S. This post just had to have two pictures for the full effect!

Lido's Restaurant

Tonight we went to Lido's for dinner. It has to be our favorite restaurant. We started going there on one of our first dates back in the 1960's and have been going there ever since. I love the big mural they have there. Someone painted it for them with caricatures of the owner, waitresses, people at the bar, etc. They also have an old charcoal drawing of Lido's through the years, with the first one in a house in 1951. Paul asked one of the owners (son of the original owner) where that house was and he said it was the old Silvano's restaurant up the street. He said his father started out there and then moved to where the restaurant is now. He also said that Silvano's is now closed because the building is falling apart. He said that the building has a lot of history; it used to be a speakeasy during prohibition.

So...this is probably more information than you care to know, but if you want more info on Lido's go here.

These pictures are of Silvano's restaurant where Lido's began.

Throwback Thursday - Kavanaugh Furniture Store

Kavanaugh Furniture on State St. in Springfield, MA. Paul and I bought our first couch and swivel rocker there. If you want to know more about Kavanaugh's closing after 135 years, go here.

This was August 1972.  Kristen was a newborn.  We moved into a two bedroom apartment from a one bedroom at Belden Ct, Agawam in April 1972.  At that time we bought a couch and the swivel chair (below with Paul's Dad asleep in it) at Kavanaugh's Furniture.

The fabric was Herculon which was supposed to be very durable.  Unfortunately, it was very sensitive to sun and within a few years, you could poke your finger through parts of it.

This is a picture that was on Facebook from a group that was named "You know you are from Springfield if".  I'm not sure what year this picture was taken, but that is what it looked like when it closed.

140/365 - Prims friends

This is Marley and another Prim playing Concentration (a hand slapping game) at the end of Prims tonight.

Kayaking at West Lake

What a beautiful day for kayaking today; sunny and warm. We went to West Lake, aka frog mating lake but, today no frogs. It was just so nice to be out on the water.