Update 41 - Fourth of July Weekend '24

Me and A and a troll.

Nothing much to this entry, more or less a write up of “what I did on my summer vacation”. I drove north for my Nephew’s birthday. A. & I visited my brother and his family in Maine. The weather was particularly warm, but at least we weren’t rained out the whole time. My brother went all out on the fireworks, though my nephew was not the biggest fan of the loud noises. The two-year-old would politely say ‘No.’ and then hide behind his Mum. The kid was amazingly well behaved.

If my branch of the family is the Crow House, then I think this brother’s place would be the House of the Bear. House of the Pooh Bear. The kid loves Winnie the Pooh, but I didn’t get around into suckering him into watching the Great Mouse Detective. My brother and his wife are pretty good parents. We played Cards Against Humanity, Mario Party and Smash Brothers. I won out on Mario Party somehow but I think I was 1:7 against my brother in Smash. Had no idea he was so good.

The Maine Coastal Botanical Gardens were how A. and I chose to spend our Saturday. I couldn’t recommend that place enough. Buffalo has some lovely gardens, but the overall design of the MCBG was bloody massive and intricate. I can’t recommend it enough if you’ve got a day of fine weather and are up north of Portland. As seen above, you can even get your picture taken with Trolls.

We got home Sunday, and I had today off from the office to recuperate from the drive. I’m taking a proper vacation in September, but overall, I was blessed to have so long a break as I did this week. I love getting to spend time with my family.