Happy 4th of July!

This time last year we were celebrating with a big family BBQ in Boston.  Celebrations are very common for this time of the year in America, but for our family it was special as we are spaced so far apart lots in Dublin, some in Florida, some in North Carolina and only a few in Boston.  Timed to perfection, we had been in Florida for a holiday and travelled to Boston to see family.  My cousin drove to Boston from North Carolina (long drive!!!) with her 3 kids, 2 girls and a new baby boy.  Local family were given notice to be available for this party and we all pulled together and had a great day at my cousin Bronwyn's home.

I am an only child, and when I grew up my two cousins Bronwyn and Deirdre were around my age and they lived in Boston.  We spent a lot of time together as my mum  was raising me on her own, and she worked for Aer Lingus and her sister lived in Boston and also worked for Aer Lingus so it was easy for them to put us on a plane and sent us to Boston and Dublin during summer holidays.  I have the most amazing memories of snowy winters  playing in the drifts and sliding down the small hills in the Apple orchards, and hot winters trying not to get sunburned (blonde hair and white, white skin!), swimming for hours and hours every day and catching cat fish in the pond in the apple orchard.

Anyway, to catch up with my cousins, was great a but what I enjoyed most was staying with my aunt Imelda and getting to spend time with her.  OMG what a lovely time we had, my kids tried hard to trash her house and I was on constant alert to keep our bits and pieces to a minimum, but however hard I tried the two small girls did what they wanted and amused themselves throwing her yoga ball down the stairs and running laps of her house, up one set of stairs, through all the bedrooms and down another set of stairs!  Imelda walked our legs off, showing us around Harvard where she works, we fell in love with the area and the houses, the lovely quaint village athmosphere and Harvard Yard!

So today - on this 4th of July, 1 year later, I think fondly of that day, the family, the lovely weather, the kids running and playing, the lost shoes!!!  What fun it was and a new memory firmly embedded in the section of the brain saved for special happy days!

Happy 4th July!