Girls Rock Camp

This past summer Audrey attended Girls Rock Camp for the second year in a row. This year she chose drums as her instrument.

Over the course of the week at camp the girls form a band, pick a name, write a song and then rehearse it. They also participate in other activities like self-defense. Then on Saturday after the week at camp there is a "showcase" at a real bar where all of the bands perform their songs on a real stage with real lights and sound system and a real audience of friends and family. It's a blast.

There is a volunteer professional videographer who shoots the showcase. They just posted the results on YouTube. Here is the video of Audrey's band, "The Lone Wolf's" performing.

Disney Cruise

Pictures | Slideshow | Video

We spent the month of May refining my cancer diagnosis and arriving at a treatment plan. Then we had about a week and a half between the end of that process and the start of treatment. We had been saving for a couple of years toward a European vacation with the kids that we thought we might take this summer. We had already delayed that for a year, but we had funds available to go with that week and a half of time. In addition to that, we knew it was going to be a very abnormal summer and thought it would be nice to have a "normal" vacation before the abnormal began.

Given all that, we decided to go on a surprise Disney Cruise. We booked it just a few days before departure. We kept it a secret from the girls until 5:30 AM on the day of departure, when we had to get up to get a cab to the airport.

The cruise was a blast. I just finished editing the video and Carol saw and said "Let's go again!"

Our cruise was 4 nights in the Bahamas. We departed from Port Canaveral and the first night we sailed to Nassau, Bahamas. We spent the first full day there. We went on a short glass-bottom boat cruise as a shore activity. It was cool, although not as colorful as we hoped.

That night we sailed to Castaway Cay, which is Disney's private island in the Bahamas. It is used solely as a Disney cruise ship stop. Most of their cruises spend one day there; one of the longer cruises stops there twice.

Castaway Cay was very fun. We started the day swimming with rays. Charlotte was reluctant, but Audrey really loved it. We got to feed them out of our hands, then swim with them for quite a long time. Then we headed to the beach where we played in the water. We also used bikes to go on a jaunt around the island, including out to an observation tower from which we could see the ship in the distance.

Unfortunately somehow Charlotte and I forgot to drink all day and we both ended up seriously dehydrated and maybe with a little heat exhaustion. I of course had perfect timing and came down with a cold the day before we left on the cruise, so I was already under the weather. We both felt pretty bad that evening. Audrey and Carol went to the Pirate Party and fireworks by themselves.

Fortunately Charlotte and I recovered and were able to enjoy the rest of the cruise.

The fourth day was spent at sea, cruising oh-so-slowly back to Florida. One of the TV channels in the room showed the ship's location and speed and at times we were "sailing" at 1-2 knots! We spent the day in the pools and riding the cool Aquaduck water slide that encircles the top of the ship. We intentionally chose a cruise on the Disney Dream, one of their two new ships (the line only has four ships), solely because it has the water slide.

The crew of the ship is wonderful. Everyone was friendly and it didn't seem fake. We found out from our waiters on the last evening how little they get paid (the waiters make only tips, which you give all at once at the end of the cruise). I went online when we got home to see what the crew members think of it and all I could find was glowing reviews of working for the cruise line. Their room and board is paid, so they keep everything they make. They are also employed through the Bahamas so they pay no taxes. In fact, it occurred to me later that they probably can't even get off the ship in Florida - they probably don't have US visas. They sign up to work 14 hours per day 7 days per week for 6 months at a time, and they still say it's the best thing they ever did. Mostly they love working with a crew that is from all over the world, and believe it or not, helping make families' dreams come true. They actually say that!

At an hourly rate it was the most expensive vacation we've ever taken but it felt worth it to us. We all had so much fun. We're planning to do it again when the girls are perhaps 12 and 14 - there are tween and teen clubs on the ship that the girls want to be able to hang out in next time.

Click on the links below the picture for the photo album/slide show and the separate link for the video.

Ipswich River Cabin

Ipswich River Cabin

While we were at the Ipswich River Sanctuary for canoeing, we passed by the Innermost House. It is a small cabin that Mass Audubon members can rent for $30 per night. We've always thought about it but had never done it.

Even though it was Memorial Day weekend coming up, I gave them a call to see if it might be available. It was! For Sunday night. I grabbed it.

The girls were very excited.

One of the coolest parts of renting the cabin is that you have the entire sanctuary to yourself once it closes at dusk. We took the girls for a walk with flashlights when it was almost dark. They really like the book Owl Moon, in which a child goes "owling" with her dad, walking through the dark woods. However, they did not find this as romantic as the book. They were terrified to be in the woods in the dark. I kept trying to calm them to no avail. We went on maybe a 1/2 mile walk. They survived but were very glad to arrive back at the cabin.

It was a little cool at night so we built a fire in the wood stove. The girls thought that was awesome.

I was amazed when I woke up at 7:00 and everyone else was still sleeping soundly. I snuck out of the cabin as quietly as I could and went for a dawn walk down to the Old Stone Bridge and then to the nearby platform in the swamp. This was in the Month of Diagnosis. We were spending all of this time outdoors because it was a good distraction for Carol and me. We didn't yet know exactly what kind of cancer I was dealing with so we hadn't told the kids yet. I lay on the platform and pondered my future. It was calming.

When I got back to the cabin at 8:15 or so the women were all just waking up. We decided to go for a little hike and then we would go in search of pancakes for breakfast.

The route I chose for the hike was one we had never been on before. It turned out to be fairly long, but beautiful. The girls were tired and hungry by the end.

Then we ended up at the Village Pancake House in Rowley, MA. Just what we were looking for.

We'll definitely be staying in the Innermost House again. We'll have to try it in different seasons.

That wood stove would make for a pretty cozy setting in the winter.

Memorial Day Parade

Memorial Day Parade

Every year the public schools are represented in the Melrose Memorial Day Parade by anyone from each school who wants to join in. Some kids walk, some pull wagons and some ride their bikes. This year we decided to participate on our bikes.

I often refer to Melrose as Mayberry. It really does have that feel. And nothing makes it feel more like Norman Rockwell's America then when Main Street is decorated with flags on all the lamp posts and people are marching down the street wearing red, white and blue.

It's charming.

This video contains some footage of us riding on the parade.

Ipswich River Canoeing

Ipswich Canoeing

I guess the visit to Odiome State Park wasn't enough outdoors for one weekend. The next day we went canoeing on the Ipswich River.

The Ipswich River is quite lazy. It actually starts not far from our house but it wanders through a whole bunch of towns before flowing through the Ipswich River Audubon Sanctuary (our favorite place), then through the town of Ipswich; finally reaching the sea at the Crane Estate. The portion in the sanctuary flows slowly through a very large swamp.

As with our walks through the sanctuary, canoeing there is so peaceful and beautiful. We just can't get enough of the place.