kirsten

The staff here at SD just got back from some good, old fashioned R&R. Sipping mai-tais and watching sunsets? Trekking through parts unknown with our provisions on our backs? Ambling pensively through cosmopolitan avante-neo-something museums? No. We flew to Jersey. There we began our mission to parade the little fella through the throngs of Healeys in New York and New Jersey. And, aside from a lot of driving, it was darn fun.

Visiting Kirsten’s family is always an interesting affair, since (for those of you who don’t know) Kirsten is the youngest of 10 (TEN) kids. Here’s to Catholicism! As you can probably imagine, many of those kids have several kids of their own, so when they all get together it’s something like 237 people. Not really, but it’s in the 40s. So get-togethers tend to be raucous affairs, but it sure is easy to get a party together.

We’ll start with pics from the farm we visited in Randolph, NJ, near the home of Kirsten’s brother Steve (& family). In fact, in the last photo you can see Steve entering a barn.

Next we headed to Southampton, but apparently I was too awe-struck by hobnobbing with the haves to take any pictures. So you’ll just have to take my word for it. I really did have lunch at the Bathing Corporation of Southampton. Nothing says you’re elite like bathing at a corporation. Just look at me, I shower at Intel nearly every day! Anyway, I also knocked down a signature Rum Southside (both literally and figuratively, since I drank half then spilled the rest). Oh, and it was there that Driscoll decided it was time to start WALKING. 4 months later than all his pals, but who’s counting? Anyway, onward. From Southampton we unlocked our jaws, got some extra sun on our necks, and headed up-state to the Healey summer house on Canada Lake, in the Adirondacks.

For the Canada Lake virgins (me & D), there were a couple of traditions to learn when visiting. First, there’s the deer on the wall. Otis. He talks, remarkably like someone in the family. Someone never in the room, but possibly near the other end of the vent next to Otis. Next, there’s Uranus. Yes, the Healeys turned out to be quite a bunch of astronomers, though rather laser focused on just the one planet. Nonetheless, many evening hours were wiled away on the dock, discussing Uranus. “I could lie here all night gazing up at Uranus.” I didn’t have the nerve to bring up the fact that it really sounds like they are talking about “Your Anus”. They would have been mortified.

Anyway, it was great fun up there, as nieces and nephews haggled over who got to hold Driscoll next. This is not a luxury we have back home.

Thanks, Healeys, for hosting us newcomers! We look forward to visiting again soon!