Reunions & SOC!!

We've been quite busy since we've been back from Maine.  Last weekend we went to PA to visit John's Aunts.  On the way to Aunt Judy's house we stopped at Claws & Paws with Jess, Frank, & Emma.  Claws & Paws is a small zoo in the Pocono area of PA.  Emma fed a giraffe & had fun yelling at the sleeping animals to wake up.   I enjoyed seeing all the exotic cats and avoided the snakes & reptiles like the plague.  At Aunt Judy's, Aunt Tina & Cousin Natalie were visiting from Nevada.  It was a great opportunity to round up the Tenbus clan for some drinks, food, & marveling at the ever cute & funny Emma!!

Claws & Paws

The Tenbus Clan
From the back left:  Natalie, Tina, Judy, yours truly, Terry, Gary
Kelly, Margy, Emma, Jess, Frank, & John

This week I've been working on a few cleaning/organizing projects around the house and watching Hurricane Irene work its way towards the east coast.  Can't believe how many people it will affect.  It will be interesting to see how everything turns out.  We also had a nice "farewell" dinner at Texas Roadhouse with Ryan and Jakki before they both head off to CT to attend college.  Afterwards, we had the longest game of Taboo ever.  Ryan & John were ridiculous with their clues, but somehow managed to beat the girls (which outnumbered them by 1).  So sad.

Last night, we finally reunited with Matt & Tasha who we hadn't seen in oh-so-very long!  We went to Franco Di Roma's for dinner...one of my new favorites (thanks Dana!).  We laughed, reminisced, and shared funny fur baby stories.  Roxy was beyond excited to see them.  We will have to get Roxy & Luke together soon for their own little reunion playdate.

We've also been spending a lot of time playing and teaching the game Settlers of Catan.  While in Maine after bachelorette festivities, Mike & Hilary taught us how to play.  It's hard to explain, tricky to teach, but so addictive that we have lost hours at a time building settlements and cities, making trades, & amassing roads and armies.  We are always looking for new people to "settle" with so if you're in the area & interested, let us know :)

Maine :o)

We recently traveled to mid-coast Maine to celebrate Amanda's bachelorette party.  John came up with me & turned it into a lovely mini-vacation.  We arrived Friday afternoon after another drive north walkie-talkie style, with George.  We checked into our hotel, The Tradewinds, which was right on the water.  I finally got to meet Ashley, one of Amanda's friends from her hometown.  Ashley, George, Amanda, John, & I had a nice lunch with drinks at the Rock Harbor pub.  After a nap (we got up at 4AM), we headed over to Lisle street to reunite with my favorite family of 3- Mike, Hilary, & Natalie.  What followed was a night filled with enough vodka & wine to convince my husband that wearing baby Natalie's sunglasses was a good idea and to convince Hilary, Amanda, & I that waiting at the house for Jill was not acceptable, we had better meet her at the end of the street, shouting.  George, who had already been on a bit of bender from his own bachelor party, had so much fun that John had to give him a piggyback ride to his hotel room after he attempted to pass out on Hilary & Mike's couch.  Needless to say, GK was out of commission on Saturday while us ladies were celebrating.
For Amanda's bachelorette party, we combined both day & evening activities and had so much fun.  During the day we started out with lunch at a nice bistro, shopping on main street, then a walk out to the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse.  In the evening we had wine & cheese at Hilary's, went out for a lovely meal at a waterfront restaurant, then trolled 3 local bars attempting to complete a super fun bachelorette checklist.  Amanda drank, laughed, danced, & all together partied hard.  It was a great group of girls.
John & I stayed in town Sunday, Monday, & left on Tuesday morning.  We took in a few more of the sights, learned how to Settle Cataan, and enjoyed giving Natalie high-fives.  On the way home, we stopped in Lee, MA to do a little back to school shopping at the outlets.  We are about two weeks away from school starting up.  To look forward to before then are a few dinners with the Quicks & the Cooks, some more back to school shopping, and a mini Tenbus family reunion.

A few photos from our time in Maine:

I love these two.

The girls!

Jilly & I at the breakwater

Hilary's beautiful set-up for wine & cheese

The Moo Hoo's

The bachelorette & I :)

Only 38 days until she walks down the aisle.....