after katie’s shower on saturday we headed to madison to stay at kathy’s family cottage for a fun filled bachelorette weekend.

saturday night we made the long dark trek to hammonasset beach and snuck ourselves right in through the campground and onto the beach. it was tricky, but totally worth it. as cars came down the road we pretended to be trees (in the middle of the road) and would run into the marsh or behind the guard rail to avoid getting caught.

we finally made it to the beach, dropped our towels and stripped off our clothes to go skinny dipping! it was the perfect night for it. there was a nice, low, crescent moon and the water was so warm. it was PERFECT! i wish we could have stayed in longer, but we thought there was a beach patrol person coming for us, so we ran out of the water, got dressed and then realized they turned around. by then it was too late to do anything but sit on the beach and look up at the stars – an amazing way to end the evening.

the next morning we rolled out of bed, got ourselves ready and headed to a small beach in madison. we staked our claim on a shady picnic table, dropped our food off there, then claimed our spot on the sand. it was a perfect beach day, and i think everyone had a fantabulous time – especially katie!

picnic table with decorations

view from our picnic table

view from our picnic table

katie and her amazing sweet tea

rachel

ariel

emma

kathy's going swimming!

not terribly crowded

kathy and ariel

swingin' friends

jump katie!

rachel and katie

talking through the tube

just hanging around

just hanging around

playing games with the kiddies

playing games with the kiddies

this past weekend, we threw a surprise bridal shower for my sister boot . she will officially be my sister in 2 months! woohoo!!!

the bridesmaids and my mom and i worked hard to give the very best shower we could, and i think we were successful! it was a surprise up to the end, as far as we can tell.

it was a hot day, but we had some fans to help move the air around, so it wasn’t as unbearable as it could have been. i think everyone had a good time! thank you everyone who helped, and thank you everyone who came to make the day special for a very special lady!!!

the tent in our back yard

loads of food

more food

everyone signed around this photo for k & b

everyone signed around this photo for k & b

goat milk soap from lyric hill farm for favors

the most perfect favors ever!

homemade pinwheels

lemonade and iced tea

everyone needs a bride mannequin at a bridal shower

surprise!!!

big hugs!

bride to be

delicious red velvet cake and adorable cake topper

delicious red velvet cake and adorable cake topper

gifts galore

katie loves the hammock, so that's where she opened all her gifts

the day ended with a double rainbow!

a few weeks ago when my brother and sister were visiting for dinner, boot decided to blow some bubbles. it was a perfect summer night, and she’s gorgeous!

take some time this weekend to blow some bubbles, i promise you won’t regret it.

my 2nd favorite bubble pic

my favorite bubble pic!

the gardens are looking amazing at the house this year! my mom and dad have put a ton of effort into the flower gardens this year, and this is the first time they’ve ever mulched. we are finally working our way down in the mulch pile. by this weekend it should be gone, and all the garden areas mulched. woohoo!

the veggie plants are growing so much – i probably way over planted for my area, but that’s ok. my cukes are teeny tiny, but starting to grow a smidge. my yellow tomatoes are coming in nicely! the other tomatoes are a little slower to pop, but they were planted a bit later too, from seed. i really need to get some tomato cages – i was holding off because i don’t like the look of them, but honestly the stakes i had are no longer good for the plants. they’re too small to do any good.

looking out the back door

veggie garden

tomatoes!

hartford typically holds their fireworks on the weekend after july 4th. so this past sunday we took a jaunt into hartford and thanks to the kindness of my sister boot we had the best view in the city!

these pics were taken by both kevin and i – its hard to tell who took what photos, so i’m just choosing the best of them and sharing them with you.

view of our fair city from our perch

looking north from downtown hartford

looking north from downtown hartford

cirque du soleil tent!

state capital building

looking west

travelers

this 4th of july we attended a party at the morra family homestead in bolton, ct. it is a yearly event that seems to get bigger and better every year! it was the start of a brutal heat wave up here in new england, so i know i was wilting in the heat. lucky for us there is a nice tradition of everyone drinking from the communal bucket of what is basically an amazing mint julep. yum!

we spent the day visiting, watching the kids on the water slide, drinking from a bucket, eating, drinking, and finally watching some great fireworks!

where the magic happens!

the bucket, curing

more magic

the contents of the bucket, fully cured and ready to drink

will she love it??

not so much!

drink, kevin!

photo by kevin

there's a pro, right there

a few weeks ago i attended an aweseomly fun party at my friend stephanie’s house. there i met my friend rob’s daughter adeline who is amazingly easy to photograph. she spent a long time just playing with the ice from the drink buckets. she would transfer them from bucket to bucket, or eat the ice, or try to put the ice in kevin’s water bottle. it was great to watch her!

rob and adeline

last week we had pizza for dinner. since i am one of the pickiest eaters i know, i usually make my own pizza that doesn’t involve cheese.

due to time constraints i bought the pizza dough at the store. i didn’t do anything different with it, i just rolled it a bit thicker than i would have for the pizza pan, and made it oblong instead of round. i grilled one side with nothing on it, flipped the dough, grilled it for about a minute. then i took the dough inside, topped it with my toppings, and brought it back out onto the grill to cook again for another 5 or so minutes. just until the dough started to puff up.

i was going to go a step further this time and make a pizza that didn’t involve red sauce too. so i opted to use homemade scallion hummus as the sauce, and i put some leftover grilled eggplant and some sautéed spinach and garlic on top.

it was pretty much awesome, and i don’t think i’ll ever have regular pizza again when i’m at home! i really enjoyed grilling it, and i loved my toppings. i can’t wait to try again with whatever veggies we happen to have laying around.

pizza on the grill

yumm-o!

last friday my good friend maria had a horseback riding lesson at seven j’s farm in glastonbury. it was great to see her up on a horse again, even if it was a new horse that she didn’t know! she did great for a first time back in a long time, and i was happy to be there to take some pictures for her.

keep up the great work, maria!!!

the gorgeous seven j's farm

a perfect day

alicia, maria and tank

go maria!

fargo comes to watch maria ride

yep, its a dog walking a horse

fargo

tank

tank gets a treat

banjo

sam and banjo

banjo

on 5 june, hartford had a gay pride event in bushnell park. we had just gotten home from cape cod, but since dad had to go check out some stuff there for work, we took a ride over. we got there just as things were winding down. there weren’t many people left in the park, but we heard that there were loads of people there earlier – which is awesome!

i dedicate this blog to all my gay friends! i wish that i could have celebrated pride with you, but know that i love you very much and miss you all!

downtown hartford

soldiers and sailors arch

state representative beth bye

corning fountain

pride rally

performance pavilion

balloons

state capitol

state capitol

very cool stool made from a tree stump

downtown hartford

theaterworks