Christmas Day on the Farm
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Category Archives: family
Christmas Eve at Anne and Bruce’s
home to RI, dogs, RCB party, beach visit
Time to head home for the holidays! I was really happy that Chip and I were on the same flight. After going out to breakfast with Anna and her mom, we finished up our laundry, drank a mimosa, handed off my apartment key to Jack (thank you!) and caught the bus to the airport…
My brother Clay picked us up at T.F. Greene airport around 11:30 or so (thanks Clay!!) and drove us straight to the Ocean Mist. Ahhhh. It was super windy and raining a little, but I still made my way onto the back deck to watch the waves crash and taste the salty air. Then back in to take some cell phone photos…
We ended up getting kicked out after closing time and heading back to the farm to go to sleep for the night. The next morning I was happy to pull out my real camera to take some photos of the dogs, Beau and Brigus…
That day a lobsterman friend dropped off a bucket of lobsters for the Christmas lobster bisque. Time for cooking…
While we hung around the farm, Liz worked on her dish for the RCB party that would be happening later that night.
It was essentially bread slices with italian seasoned cream cheese wrapped in bacon. I’m not a huge fan bacon (unlike pretty much everyone else in the country), but I image that recipe couldn’t steer you wrong.
I also took a photo of a piece of the photo wall in the hallway at the farm…
Years of memories!
That night my Aunt Marcia and Uncle Bill took my brother and I, as well as some of Bill’s nephews and one niece, out to dinner. I went with a delicious pasta and seafood dish…
After the delicious dinner, it was off to the RCB Christmas Party. This year it was hosted by Luke and Molly at the Hawksley’s beach house in Matunuck. Such a blast…
As hosts of the party, Luke and Molly gave a speech…
After the party wound down and we did a little cleanup, people claimed sleeping spots. Chip and I ended up on the blow up mattress on the floor. He later told me that someone asked who he spent the night with on the floor… that person was probably surprised to find out it was, in fact, his sister (and not in some weird West Virginia/Kentucky type way!). Ha.
Anyways, we got up early and took a quick look at the beach. It was the first time I had seen our beach house after Hurricane Sandy…
Back home to the farm to get ready for Christmas Eve/Christmas. My dad does all the prep work for our Christmas dinner. So, here’s my dad in the kitchen…
And one last photo for this post… my mom recovered one copy of this year’s Christmas card so that she had one to keep (I believe she swapped out this one for a different version)…
So awesome… and Glen even got some photo credit (well, minus the credit) with the 180 nose grind picture!
Rhode Island in september – day 5 sunday the 16th
After my butterfly hunting adventure, I headed back to the beach house for some breakfast.
And Clay and Liz…
…having cheese, crackers and red wine for breakfast. Ha.
Then Liz went home to get some stuff for the day. I went to pick her up and stopped by the bathroom by her house…
Liz and I took a trip down to the Umbrella Factory… so happy I fit this in before my vacation was over!
Saw another one of these at the gas station:
Then some photos driving back to the beach…
After stopping by the beach quickly, Liz and I made the trip out to the farm for football and dinner…
We made the dinner using eggplants, squash, onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, (and maybe more?) from the garden…
Marcia made the delicious eggplant parmesan and roasted squash. I made the salad and garlic bread/almost bruschetta-type bread. So good.
Then back to the beach for some beers by the citronella candle on the deck…
Eventually we decided to move inside and start up a card game…
Awesome game of asshole. And in the end I was the asshole because I had to finally kick my friends out sometime after midnight, because I had to wake up the next morning at 4am to pack and leave for the airport.
I did see some of the sunrise from T.F. Greene airport…
And then back to ColoRADo.
Rhode Island in september – day 4 saturday the 15th
I woke up at a little after 6:30am and remember Sue had told me the sunrises had been so beautiful right around 6:30. It was overcast, though, on Saturday morning, and I was a little late, so this is what I saw…
All well. At least I had one more morning in the Rhode Island coming up.
Anyways, it was Meagan’s birthday! 30th birthday! Happy Birthday!!!
So naturally I met up with her first thing (and her house is about 50 yards away from my house… or less? I’m so terrible at estimating distance).
Meagan wanted breakfast at the Mist, so we waiting until a few minutes before 9am and then headed over. I will say, this was the first time I’ve ever arrived at a bar and had to wait for someone working to unlock the door for me because it was just opening up. Yikes. Ha. It was a little cold at this point, so we stuck with a table inside, but right next to the windows.
We each got my favorite breakfast at the Mist – Something on a Bagel with a Bloody Mary. Doesn’t get much better than that.
While we were there, the sun started to poke through the clouds…
… so beautiful.
After we ate, we stayed for more drinks because a few people said they’d come and meet us. Sara and Tim both showed up, to name a few…
After my second Bloody Mary, I was set and ready to get out of the Mist before it sucked me in any further (this can happen there on the weekends) So I took off before the rest of the crew and decided to walk back home along the beach.
This is the first interesting thing I came across…
That day we invited the family down for a day on the beach and a bbq. The weather ended up coming around enough that sitting on the beach worked out. It started with just Marcia and I…
…but eventually we had a big crew. Can’t believe I didn’t get a picture of the full line of chairs and people. Oh well!
After a bit, we made our way of the beach for a some steamers (clams), burgers, corn, potato salad, tomato salad, and more…
and desserts…
Then some sunset photos on the beach…
Rhode Island in september – day 3 friday the 14th
I crashed the night before way earlier than Chip, so naturally I woke up much earlier… and then messed with him and took pictures until he woke up or responded.
The night before at the Mist, Rose gave me such spot-on awesome birthday present – by the works on Makala and Jus…
The morning was beautiful and the first thing I did was go swimming in the ocean. The waves were small and mellow, and just rolling around in them was so much fun and relaxing. By the time I got showered, etc., I was so starving. Chip and I stopped by Seaview to get one of my favorite sandwich in the whole world…
We drove down to the farm, and then I headed back to the beach after a bit. Got a little more time on the sand and then went with Meagan and Lynne to get a pedicure… why not? I’ve been dying for a foot massage lately anyways.
After the pedicures, both the Arcands and my family headed to Aunt Carries. We ended up at tables right next to each other.
How can I describe Aunt Carries… it’s a BYOB, paper plates and cups place with (sadly to say only) decent clam chowder and yet their clam cakes, to me, define what a clam cake is and should be. They also have delicious pie. And there’s something about the experience that makes me always want to come here when I’m home during the summer.
Rhode Island in september – day 2 thursday the 13th
I love waking up at the beach. Even when it’s a little painful. I think I had a little too much fun the night before. So I whined to Chip who was in the next bunk bed over and eventually got out of bed.
First trip was to Meagan’s house. Her dad was getting ready for his 60th birthday present – a chance to fly a WWII fighter plane. The plan was for him to do a fly-by of the Ocean Mist and he was basically working on killing a few hours until it was showtime. Also, I met Jim:
I also got to meet Bingo!
me and Bingo
After a mellow a few hours sitting and relaxing on the beach, it was time to head to the Mist to get excited for Bill’s upcoming fly-by.
And then the WWII fighter plane appeared in the sky…
And that was that. So much fun to experience!! And then we hung out more at the Mist…
And back to the cellphone pictures…
And then Bill, the man of the hour, showed up at the Mist…
So beautiful.
Then some BloodWizard stokage…
Hell yea!
And then just some more drinks, fun, seeing people, etc..
And then time to go home! Another night of fun and another night of falling asleep to the sound of waves breaking on the beach.
Rhode Island in september – day 1 wednesday the 12th
Woke up on the farm. In fact the only morning of the whole trip that I woke up on the farm. To so much sunlight. And freshly-picked vegetables from my parent’s garden…
I went to work with my dad for a bit. The barn is starting to rot close to the ground I believe, so they are rebuilding the framework basically.
My dad and Brigus
Grandpa Chet
My mom and Beau
A few more from the baby pic pile…
Back outside…
My mom, Marcia and I went to pick some things from the garden…
The numbers above (8036, 8039) were the current weight tally. At this point, my parents and garden volunteers had harvested over 4 tons of food from the garden this year.
After hanging out in the front yard for a bit, Marcia left with Grandpa Chet, and my mom, Chip and I took a trip down to the beach.
A few real (non-cellphone pics)…
back to the cell pics..
Time to head back to the farm…
Back on the farm.
Then off to Seven Moons for a family sushi dinner…
So delicious! And great times with the family.
Next, Chip and I made our way back down to the ocean in Matunuck to hit the Mist. So many people! Yay for reunions… and then we moved to the Joyce’s Pub and I took a few more photos…
That was a FUN night. Ahh. I love being home, love being by the ocean, love my friends. So awesome. Chip and I made it back to the beach house, and Meagan and Frank hung out for a bit. We told jokes, listened to some music and laughed so hard. And then it was time for sleep. To the sound of the crashing waves.
Traveling to RI. Tuesday, 9/11/2012
On the bus to the airport…
In the airport…
On the plane…
T.F. Greene airport (Rhode Island)…
My mom had a bunch of baby pics out when I got home to the farm…
Chip and I managed to make it down to Matunuck and to the Ocean Mist for the last bit of Ticket Tuesday…
Back home on the farm, in my bed room…
Time for sleep!
Memorial Weekend for Jam (Jeremiah Brooks)
Let’s see… where to begin. A friend of mine, a Trick Factory member, part of the Boulder (and beyond) skate family, etc., etc., passed away a few weeks ago. I think I’m still in denial… and actually the more I think about it, I feel like I’m still in denial about other friends I’ve lost years ago. Maybe that’s just one way to go about things. It’s almost as if they’re still somewhere being amazing and we just haven’t crossed paths in a long time.
This past weekend, his friends and family from all over the country came to Colorado to celebrate his life and say their individual farewells. It was truly amazing. What a special person to bring together so many people without even a question or thought to what it might take to arrive here for this particular weekend. I missed the Thursday night Jam ramp jam, but spent a solid three days appreciating the company of so many friends I see so rarely and experiencing a whirlwind of emotions. I didn’t take anywhere as close to as many photos as I expected, but here are the few I took…
(I apologize for overwhelming ratio of crappy quality cell phone photos to photos from my actual camera)
Friday Day
Friday Night BBQ party at Brian’s house
The Morning After – Saturday Breakfast
Saturday’s Jam jam at Arvada
(sorry about the awful white balance job on these photos… geez)
Saturday Dinner at 3 Margaritas
Sunday Morning (almost) Breakfast
Memorial Service on Flagstaff
I have no doubt Jason just cracked a joke.
I can’t think of a more perfect Memorial weekend. I only knew Jam for a little over 3 years but it was always awesome when he appeared in Boulder. Everything everyone said and talked about during the weekend was so true – each positive characteristic about this dude radiated from him and was immediately evident after knowing him for only just a few moments. And it was beyond clear how many people’s lives he touched. Farewell my friend.