Tree House

My niece and nephew found the tree house at my grandfather's house that my uncle built for my cousins when they were kids. They had fun in there until they discovered a wasp nests living there now! Fortunately no bites!

Best Pizza EVER!

We have a new pizza place on the Vineyard and today we enjoyed our second visit. The Flatbread Company is a small chain that started in Amesbury, Ma over 10 years ago and only has 10 restaurants, all but one in New England. They use all organic ingredients and cook the pizza in wood burning ovens made of earthen mounds.

http://www.flatbreadcompany.com/FlatbreadMarthasVinyard2010.html

This was my nephews pepperoni pizza

My incredible veggie laden salad

My parents had this mushroom and pepperoni pizza

Didn't get a picture of my niece's cheese pizza but trust me it looked good and I think tasted good since she ate the whole thing!

Hancock Beach

Took a ride to Hancock Beach in Chilmark and not only did we explore the shore but the long sandy road to get there was filled with treasures!

Wild lilies. The fields were covered in these endangered flowers. Can't pick them but I sure can photograph them!

Wild berries. Blackberries were everywhere. The field had been burned in the past few years so they were fairly low to the ground.

Huckleberries were everywhere and some of the biggest I have ever seen. I remember as a kid my mom waking me up when the sun came up and we'd go berry picking so she could make us fresh huckleberry muffins for breakfast. At the time it was not exactly my idea of fun but looking back now it's a nice memory.

My nephew and niece exploring the water line. The water looked inviting but it's always a bit cold on the South Shore!

The seagulls are particularly brazen here. I've seen them poke into peoples bags and pull out sandwiches and off they go!

On the other side of the dunes is the pond that is stocked with crabs. They kids spotted a number of them so we'll be going back with our nets and buckets for a crab feast!

The marsh mallows don't usually make an appearance until late August but a couple were already in bloom!

Happy Birthday Zeb

My nephew is celebrating his 11th birthday today. Where does the time go. It seems like yesterday I was racing down Rt 95 to get to my sister before she delivered him! (I made it with time to spare BTW!) I am very lucky to have him spending the day with me today. He was so excited he woke up at 0500 and we called his mom first thing so she could wish him a Happy Birthday! I know it's killing my sister and Brother-in-law not to be here today but we are going to make it an extra special day and hopefully Skype them in later!

Here he is 26 July 2000

and in 2011

Car show

My nephew and niece are into cars these days, often yelling out the make and model of cars as we travel through town so we figured it might be fun to go to a small town car show! The Tisbury fire department held one today and many antique cars on the island were shown. The kids took lots of pictures and checked out every car in great detail! Here is a sampling of our favorites:

Happy Birthday Dad!

78 years young! Hope you had a MARVELOUS day! XO

His grandkids made this awesome sign for him!

Ice Skating in July

What to do in July when its hot and sticky and the beaches are packed on a busy weekend - go to the ice rink of course! My niece and nephew skated for a couple hours and had a blast! I sat on the bleachers in a sweatshirt and happily shivered for a couple hours!

Portuguese Sweet Bread

My nephew, with help from his grandfather the master breadmaker, made a couple loaves of Portuguese Sweet Bread to see if that is what he wants to make for the Martha's Vineyard Fair next month. All agreed that it looked and tasted terrific. He must have "the gene"!

Raspberry Jam making

My niece making Raspberry jam this morning under the supervision of her grandmother! This is her second year making jam and she's planning to enter it into the West Tisbury Agricultural Fair in August. I predict a blue ribbon for her! Yesterday she made Pineapple jelly which looks gorgeous and by all accounts is delicious!

Band in the making

My Dad is an incredible musician and we love to listen to him playing the piano and organ but his latest venture is music lessons! My niece is learning the piano (from her grandfather) and my nephew who has already had a year of trumpet lessons have teamed up and performed together for the first time! They had a blast and did really well! Let's hope this is just the beginning!

Menemsha

Afternoon visit to Menemsha harbor. The kids had a blast catching crabs and giant starfish and then jumping off the dock! Nothing like summer on the Vineyard!

Perfect Day

We had the perfect beach day. My cousin Molly joined us and we got caught up, worked on the Sunday NYT puzzle, had a picnic and she even went for a swim with the kids! Water is still way too cold for me! It was super low tide and she took the kids out to the sandbar way out and they had a ball!

What could be better?

What could be better in the summer than a mid-afternoon soft serve ice cream cone. On a non beach day this week we headed out to explore the island and one of our stops was at "The Galley" in Menemsha for a treat.

Conchs galore

Another great beach day and lots of treasures found in the ocean today including this fella who was sent back into the water for safekeeping!