The Big E
It’s taken a couple days, but we’re finally feeling like ourselves after a great weekend in Mass. Despite everybody’s busy schedule we were able to arrange a trip to Mass to see my cousins and to hit up the Big E.
Friday night after work we packed up the kids and all our crap into van (Sue’s dad’s) and made our way to Sarah’s. We started off the weekend with a great meal cooked by Sarah. Chicken stuffed with caramelized onions and a slice of apple covered in a honey mustard sauce, stuffed and baked tomatoes and mashed taters. Yummy! I finished mine, James and a little bit of Sue’s. Needless to say dessert wasn’t needed, but I shoved down a slice of chocolate mousse cake.
After a little bit both James and Emelia loosened up and raised hell (their brand) in the living room. Both of them loved her Papasan chair.
I got a chance to check out Gerry’s brewing equipment. Quite a setup he has going. Too bad that none of the brew was ready for consumption. Maybe next trip.
Saturday morning Sarah and Gerry were off to our neck of the woods for a pub/beer crawl. We were up and ready early. Saturday was Big E day.
First stop for the day was Partners for breakfast. Next up was the Big E! Having not been there in probably over 20 years (far longer than my memory works) we relied on Jess and Chris to direct us.
We hit each of the state houses (except for RI), made our way through the various buildings, by the array of people selling just about everything and hit up a few of the food stands. I’m proud to say that both James and Emelia spent most of the time in their strollers behaving themselves.
James got his token ride on the pony. Too bad I didn’t take any shots of the guy running this. I’m 90% sure it’s the same guy that ran the pony ride at the Altamont Fair that we just attended last month.
By the end of the day Emelia was happily riding in Jess’ arms.
Saturday night we ate a quick meal at Parthenon and crashed hard into bed. We were all wiped out. Sunday morning we had a quick breakfast at D&D and made our way to Jessie’s house to drop off Sarah’s key. While there we ran into mom and dad who were in the area to attend a high school reunion and to check out houses. After a quick visit we made our way off to the Lee Premium Outlets.
Not that we need anything, but the kids need clothes. Emelia is going through clothes faster than she can wear them out. Her current size is 12 month (9-12 if you want to get technical), so were stocking up on 18 month for winter (these fit a little loosely), and some 2T for next summer.
By evening we were back at home and tired as hell . Shopping took the last of our energy and keeping the kids quite and content while there did us all in. We ordered some Chinese, ate a quick meal and rested the remainder of the night. A couple days of rest later and here we are.
I’m happy as hell we made the trip. It was the first (but not last) of its kind. Usually the only time I get to spend with my cousins is during other events, which doesn’t allow for much time together. I think next time we’ll have everybody over our place.