Summer 2026! (Part 2)

I got some lovely comments on my last post (my birthday post!), and I finally got around to replying to them today. I love my readers.  I've always been the kind of person who would rather have a few good, true friends than a legion of acquaintances with whom I socialize.  This has carried over to my blogging life: I don't have a legion of readers, but the ones who do stop by are so kind and sweet and loyal.

If you come here often, you might have seen that back in late July I did a Part 1 post about our summer goings-on.  I've been meaning to add to it, and especially to post some more pictures of our week with our kids and grandkids at our Oyster Haven Vrbo lake house, but time has gotten away from me.  My husband and I have been staying at his childhood home, just down the road from Oyster Haven, sharing the house with a number of his siblings.  Two of his sisters and their husbands are also living at the old homestead for the summer, and we have all been getting along swimmingly.  (Sometimes, other siblings also come to stay for short stretches, and nieces and nephews as well.)   It helps that there are 4 refrigerators: one in the kitchen, one in the garage, and two in the basement.  Each couple has claimed one as their own, and this keeps things from getting too complicated when it comes to meals.  Now and then, one of us will cook dinner for the group; but often, each couple is doing their own thing food-wise. And it's all working out beautifully.

On my birthday, one of my husband's younger sisters and her husband made a delicious steak dinner, which we enjoyed with 16 other members of the extended Pearl family who were in town at that time.  So it was a real party.

My husband and I have been spending a lot of time together on the boat.  Most days when the lake is calm enough, that's where we say our Rosaries, Divine Mercy Chaplets, and novena prayers.

 

A couple of days ago, we went out for about 3 and 1/2 hours.  We did our prayers, read our books, talked and lazed in the sun, and then we headed over to a bar/restaurant called "Flip Flops on the Dock," where you can park your boat for free and walk up to the lakefront restaurant to eat.  It was so much fun, such a perfect day!  We each got a cocktail before dinner, because it felt like a celebration.  (Getting old is not a joke, says this newly-minted 68-year-old; but there are some aspects of life in these "golden years," when you have grown kids and a retired husband, that are absolutely wonderful!  Especially when he's someone with whom you love to hang out.  And I do.)

Okay, now for the photo dump from our Oyster Haven week in early July.  (I have lots more pictures, but don't want to share too many with my grandkids' faces in them--especially the children of one of our sons who is not on social media and doesn't want them on it either, which I totally understand and respect.)

Magnet tiles were the craze with the younger set this summer.

The kids played in the lake and on the beach during most of the daytime hours.  But after dark, there were nightly raucous games of Texas Hold 'Em at the kitchen table.  Our grandkids are all getting pretty good at playing cards and keeping their poker faces.

People are always asking how we do meals for 35 during our vacation week together.  It works out surprisingly well (but it sometimes looks a bit like we're feeding an army--a starving one).  I used to cook all of the dinners, but I'm accepting more help these days.  Breakfast and lunch are pretty much handled by the parents of the different families, and they feed their own kids what they like and are used to.  In the old days, I tried to get up and make breakfast casseroles and bacon for the whole gang, or pancakes; but it's just hard, with different wake-up times, dietary needs, food allergies, etc. And the same goes for lunch.  So we let our kids take care of those meals.  I mean, we provide all kinds of staples, like butter, eggs, milk, cheese, bread, condiments, coffee, sodas, waters, adult beverages, etc.  But the kids end up doing a lot of shopping of their own, too.  Both of the fridges were packed to the gills by the end of our week!  

For the dinners this year, the couples each took a night to host.  We had a steak night, a pizza night, a chicken Alfredo night, a taco night, a roasted pork loin night.  And then for the 4th of July, we had a traditional hot dogs and hamburgers cookout.  Somehow, it all works, it really does.  But it's a bit cray-cray!

And we use paper plates and bowls and plastic forks and spoons.  I can't allow myself to feel guilty about how many garbage bags we fill with all that disposable stuff, because I can't imagine how we could keep up otherwise.

I can think of few things that make me happier than seeing my boys together.  There were lots of laughs, as always.

You might recall that last year, while wading out in the water our son #4 got poked in the thigh by a sharp branch on a log that had somehow washed into our cove, and he ended up with a serious infection.  He spent two nights in the hospital on IV antibiotics. Ultimately, he was fine.  But the accident happened early on in our vacation week, and once he was discharged, he was not allowed to go in the lake for the rest of his time there.  This 2026 week at Oyster Haven was going to be his "do-over."  Well, wouldn't you know, he ended up at Urgent Care again, with a swollen elbow. A small scratch somehow developed another infernal infection.  But this time, things were not as dire: it happened later in the week, after he'd been able to enjoy lots of water activity; it required an antibiotic, but just an oral one, not an IV; and most importantly, he did not need to be admitted to the hospital!!  He did have a much better week...but 2027, we're counting on you to be infection-free.

In spite of the elbow, he was a pretty happy camper.

I think now I'm just going to do the proverbial photo dump.  There are so many good pictures from our fantastic week together, but here are just a few.

My heart is full, looking at these images and remembering how magical our week was.  The kids love being together up here, and they stay busy from sun-up to sun-down.  What a blessing it is to have this house by the lake.  On turnover days, when my husband and I have to spend exhausting hours getting it cleaned up and ready for the next renters, I sometimes forget why it's so great to have it.  I need to keep coming back to these photos to remind myself that it's all worth it!

Really.  SO worth it.

This is 68

It's my birthday today.  I'm 68.  (Gulp!  How did THAT happen?!) My husband and I are the same age--he turned 68 almost exactly a month ago.  Yes, that means that we both spent this past year being 67; that's right, we were six-seven.  (If you have young children or grandchildren, you know just what I'm talking about.)  For that reason alone, I should be thrilled to be turning a different number, LOL.  But 68, guys!  Yikes!  Next month, we will be going to our 50th high school reunion!  We are officially old, I guess.

I'm posting this picture of my husband and me with our boys, from our photo shoot earlier in the month, because they are MY WORLD.  These guys of mine are truly the best gifts I have ever or will ever receive.  No other birthday gifts are needed here, I can assure you. I can't even imagine what my life would have been like without them.  And now, because of these five sons of ours, my husband and I have five daughters and 23 grandchildren to love and cherish as well.  It just doesn't get any better than that.

So Happy Birthday to me, the luckiest woman/wife/mother/grandmother in the world. Thank you, God, for the gift of my life.  I know that to whom much is given, much is expected--and I have been inordinately blessed; so I have some work to do before all is said and done, that's for sure.  Please, God, help me to fulfill whatever purpose you have in mind, before time runs out on me.  And thank you, thank you, a million times, thank you!  

Summer 2026! (Part 1)

I can't believe how long it's been since I've been here! The last time I posted anything, we hadn't even left VA for the summer, to head up to NY to manage our Oyster Haven Vrbo rental house and reconnect with extended family on both sides in the hometown where we grew up.

Before we left, son #2 and his wife hosted a party for my husband and the two grandsons whose June birthdays are within days of his.  Our daughter-in-law Ginger (wife of son #2) had "tattoos" made up of my hubby's face, and we all sported them to honor our Pearl family patriarch.  That was a hoot.

But I'm kind of hoping that those wash-off Papa faces are the closest any of my grandchildren ever get to having tattoos! LOL!

There's actually so much to write about--too much!--but the most important thing that's happened in all the time I've been away from this blog was our family vacation week at our lake house with our entire clan (12 adults and 23 kids ages one to 15, in a house that we advertise "sleeps 13"!) in early July.  It was simply magical, as always, and times like that make hanging onto our Oyster Haven house for as long as possible a top priority for my husband and me.  The kids and grandkids all look forward to that week that we block off for our own use (why should renters have all the fun?!)--it's like Christmas in July, truly.  Just so special.

We had a photographer come to take family photos by the lake in July of 2024, but our youngest grandchild (a sweet little one-year-old gal) had not been born yet, so we wanted to get some new ones taken with her included.  Last time around, we had everyone dress in various shades of blue and white.  This year, we went for patriotic red, white, and blue (it is our country's 250th birthday, after all).  We hired the same photographer, and she was wonderful at cheerfully wrangling our large and rather challenging group of mostly youngsters.  Especially because it was an extremely hot and muggy day, in the 90's with about 90% humidity.  Ugh!  We were all dripping with sweat, but she got us efficiently assembled into groups and got those pictures snapped in record time.  And somehow, she managed to make us look as cool as cucumbers.  I'm so proud of the grandkids, because it could have been a miserable experience, but none of them were crabby or whiny.  They really rose to the occasion and patiently posed like champs, and I'm just thrilled to have these precious family photos.

I'm not going to share any of the pictures with the grandkids in them here, for privacy's sake; but here's one of my husband and me with our five beloved sons and their better halves.

Back in 2022, four of my boys came to spend a belated Mother's Day with me, and son #4 had us pose for a funny picture--as if we were a 90's boy band or hip-hop/rap band.   He doctored it up and the next day, he posted this on the family text stream.

"Mama Knows Best" was the debut album of the Mama's Boiz.  He said that our next title was going to be "Don't Step on a Crack."

Son #1 was missing when we made that first album cover, but our family photo shoot presented the perfect opportunity to get a picture of the whole band of brothers.  So before the serious photo session got underway, son #4 had the photographer snap a quick picture for our long-awaited second album.  And then he made some edits to it and this is the finished product:

I think my silly boys are already discussing what the next album is going to be called.  I can hardly wait for that one to drop.  (And Mama really does love those boiz of hers.)

I'm realizing that I'm probably going to have to make this post a two-parter, because I have too many memories and pictures to share.  But here are a few snapshots to give you an idea of how AWESOME our week was.  It looked like we were running a summer camp on our little private beach in our little private cove.  Too good to be true, honestly.

Part 2 coming soon!

Hope you're having a glorious summer, dear readers!

Is it too soon to plan a Christmas tea party?

So, a number of years ago, I hosted a little St. Nicholas Tea Party here at our house in VA, for all the Pearl gals who were six and up at the time (although I did adjust that for a granddaughter who was five but only months away from her birthday).  As much as I would have loved to have the littler Pearl women, too, I wanted it to be an in control, proper and elegant ladies' tea party--so no crazy (and adorable) toddler girls were included.  Just the "big girls" and the four daughters-in-law who lived near us.

It was so wonderful!  It really was. (I blogged about it here, in case you're interested in revisiting that post--or visiting it for the first time.)

It's been five years since that first St. Nicholas Tea Party, which I hoped would become an annual event here at Grammy's house, but somehow didn't. Life gets so busy, doesn't it?

Four of the granddaughters in the above photo, the oldest of our firstborn's seven kids, moved out to the Midwest not too long after that little holiday celebration.  But in the years since then, four of their wee girl cousins in VA have been growing up (way too fast!) and now fit the "six and up" age criteria.  I think that means that it's time for another tea party!  With the five granddaughters we have in the area, the three daughters-in-law, an old college friend of two of my girls (who has become like family), and myself, we would make a party of 12 and that sounds just about perfect to me.  I don't know what got me thinking about this six months in advance...but there you have it.  I'm already making plans.

Too soon?  (Don't answer that!)

I recently ordered a hardcover book for inspiration, and then like a crazy woman, I printed out some invitations that I made up on my computer.

The answer to "Is it too soon?" is obviously "YES!" Because even though St. Nicholas Day actually falls on a Sunday this year and that seems like a perfect time to have such a party, I have no idea if people will be available.  As it gets closer, I imagine I will be making up new invitations!  (Fiddle-dee-dee.  I'll think about that tomorrow, as Scarlett O'Hara would say.)

I'm enjoying deciding which scones, tea sandwiches, and desserts I'm going to make, and how I'm going to set the table.  I've already decided that at each place, there will be a small framed picture of Jolly Old St. Nick, which will serve as both a table decoration and a party favor for each guest.

Okay, full disclosure, dear readers...I found an Etsy offering that I couldn't pass up, with about 30 downloadable vintage-style Santa images for under $3...and I had some of them printed at Walgreen's in wallet photo size, and then put them in some inexpensive frames found on Amazon.  Yes, I did this already.

Cute, right?

But I have a problem.  I admit it.   Party planning for family events is one of my favorite pastimes; but doing so this far ahead might be beyond the pale, even for me!

I'll be back in December to report on this tea party, if it indeed ever happens.  (Fingers crossed.)  In the meantime, I'll be thoroughly enjoy collecting ideas for how to make it the best ever!  

Catching Up as Summer Fast Approaches

We are down to about a week-and-a-half until we head up north for the summer, to manage our Vrbo rental on the lake, enjoy our pontoon boat, and reconnect with different family members on both sides who still live in the area where we grew up.  It's always a very bittersweet time of year for me, because I do love it up there, and why wouldn't I?  It's where my husband and I are from, and where our story began, way back in high school.  He spent his childhood with the lake in his back yard, and his boyhood home is where we stay while we're taking care of our Oyster Haven lake house just down the road.  Aside from being an idyllic place to spend the summer, being up there gets us away from the brutal VA heat during the hottest months of the year.  By the time we return around Labor Day, it's becoming bearable down here again. Then of course there's also the week we set aside at our rental for our own family's use.  All 35 of us will be spending the first week in July at Oyster Haven.  So I'm excited to get up there and start preparing for that vacation week with our kids and grandkids, which we all look forward to all year long.

Yet...all that being said, it's always hard for me to leave this sweet little VA house, where our grandchildren love to gather, and to wave goodbye to the "VA Pearls"--that is, the three sons and their families who live near us down here.  Sometimes I feel quite happy about heading north, and other times a bit sad.  But two things can be true at once, as they say.  I wish, sometimes, that I could be in two places at once! (Actually, make that four places, because I'd like to always be near our other two sons and their families as well--the WI Pearls and the TN Pearls.)

There are always so many things going on at the end of the school year, so the weeks leading up to our departure are usually packed with activity.  Here's a brief recap of some of our goings-on.

Back near the end of May, the NCAA lacrosse tournament was held at nearby UVA, and we were able to watch Notre Dame play Syracuse in the semi-finals, along with three of our sons and seven of our grandchildren. It was a great day for the Irish, and they beat Syracuse handily and advanced to the final game.

A few days later, this same group returned to UVA with a few extra Pearls (a daughter-in-law and three more grandchildren) to watch the championship game, ND v. Princeton.  There was no "luck of the Irish" that day, to put it mildly.  I don't really want to talk about it.  Suffice it to say that Notre Dame did not win the championship this year!  But it was a fun day for the Pearls anyway.

The week before last, we were able to attend the adorable pre-K graduation of son #2's little guy, who is the 4th of his five sons.  He had been given the job of flag-bearer for the ceremony, and he was so proud!

Cap and gown for pre-K.  You're killing me, 
Smalls!  So, so cute.

A couple of days later, we attended the dance recital of two of our granddaughters (son #4's girls).  It was also quite adorable.

Last week, my husband drove up to NY to do some work at Oyster Haven before the busy rental season gets underway--such as getting the dock in and all the boats down from storage.  I stayed behind here in VA, because I had some babysitting to do, some birthday cakes to make for grandchildren, and some projects I wanted to complete before we close the house up for the summer.  After a particularly productive day, he sent this photo of our awesome private beach to the family text stream, and it got everyone excited for our week up there together.

One of the days that my husband was up in NY, the three VA sons (#2, #3, and #4) decided to meet for dinner, and our house is almost exactly halfway between the one who lives north of us and the two who live south.  They thought they might pick a restaurant in our town and have me meet them there (can you see why we picked this town when we decided to relocate back in 2017?), because they didn't want to overwhelm me with cooking duties.

Hello!  Do you boys not even know your own mother? I told them that if they wanted to go out for a treat, I totally understood.  And I also told them that if they wanted "brother time," I didn't need to join them for dinner, but maybe they could swing by here afterward to say hi before they all headed back home.  But they wanted me involved.  (Sniff...why am I so lucky?)  And in that case, I said I would be more than happy to cook for them, if they'd like to meet at our house.  They are the sweetest, and they are always so appreciative of home cooking.  So that's what ended up happening.  

To say that I was looking forward to this dinner is an understatement. Two days ahead of time, I'd already set the table, using some souvenir figurines that my husband brought back from overseas trips when he flew for the airlines (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Julius Caesar, a Roman soldier, and a gladiator) to form a manly tablescape.  The three sons who were coming for dinner had all taken four years of Latin in high school and are huge fans of all things Ancient Greece and Rome, so I thought they'd like that.  I also set the table with my blue-and-white Spode "Rome" transferware plates.

I made buttery pork tenderloin, filet mignon, bacon, Caesar salad, and roasted asparagus.  And we had chocolate truffles for dessert.  I decided not to make any carbs for sides, and to refrain from baking a special dessert, because some of them are watching what they eat and I thought as long as there was plenty of meat, everyone would be happy.

Well, they were. One thing about sons, mamas: they really appreciate when Mom cooks for them!  The way to a man's heart really is through his stomach, as the saying goes.

I initially set five places for four people!  I guess that's because
on a normal night, my hubby would have been there.  
(Or maybe I'm just really bad at math?)

What a fun night.  We laughed--a lot!  I just adore my boys; they are truly the nicest, sweetest people, and they're so funny, too.  Afterward, when I told my husband all about this dinner, I said (for about the millionth time), "How lucky are we that we not only love our boys, but we really, really like them?"  In all the most important ways, they have made us so proud: they are loving sons and devoted husbands and fathers; they practice their faith and are passing it along to their children; they all married wonderful girls who share their faith and morals; they are honest, kind, humble, hardworking, and smart.  But they also make each other--and their dad and me--laugh, so much. They are honestly our favorite people to spend time with.

Those VA boys joked that Mom's three favorites were there that night, but as I've told them before, I have five favorites.  It's a five-way tie--it always was and always will be.

So that's what's been going on in our neck of the woods, as the school year winds down and summer fast approaches.  Stay cool, dear readers.