"Horses Haunt My Life" ...and other signs that Billy is getting sick of being at the horse show

Billy has dutifully followed me to Vermont and we had a great time, but I could tell that being completely immersed in horse show life was beginning to wear on him when he uttered the phrase that spawned the title of this blog. It was towards the end of our time in Vermont, and as we pulled into the hotel parking lot after a long day at the show (Billy came to work with me sometimes to get out of the hotel room), we were greeted by a massive horse trailer.

"Horses haunt my life," Billy groaned. At this point, I understood. As much as I love have an unhealthy obsession with horses, I know he can only handle so much horse stuff. The hotel room was littered with horse magazines I'd brought back from work. A dry erase board full of horse show "to do" lists for work was in front of our (only) window. He went to the show with me to get out of the hotel room, but was then completely immersed in the horse show for the entire day, only to return to a hotel full of more horse people! Oh, and then there's me blabbering on about horse things all day to top it off. It's enough to make anyone crazy!

Needless to say, it was exciting to get rolling on our trip home. I have family in New England, so we decided to take a few side trips to get in some family time (especially before our Big Move...more details on that next blog!). Our first stop was Boston. My cousin and her family live south of the city in Norwood and our friends Pat and Katie from DC also conveniently just moved to Cambridge!

We left Vermont Monday morning and set out for Massachusetts. The drive was remote, but beautiful, and we were excited to see Pat and Katie. Pat and Billy worked at the Pentagon together and he and Katie had just gotten back from a month long trip to Europe to celebrate Pat getting out of the Navy, so it was perfect timing to visit them and see their new place in Boston. 

They have a GORGEOUS house in Cambridge and gave us a great walking tour of Boston. We walked around the Public Garden, Beacon Hill, Newbury Street (where all the shopping is), and the Commons. We also saw plenty of the city as we drove around, including Harvard and Harvard Square (very cool neighborhood!). It was great to catch up with them and hear about their European adventures, plus Billy and I totally fell in love with Boston.

All four of us at the Garden (Pat is growing a "I just got out of the Navy beard')

 We said goodbye to Pat and Katie and set out for Norwood around dinner time. The rush hour traffic was not as bad as I feared, but we did have a slow drive around the city! My cousin, Sarah, and her husband, Bob, met and got married in Boston and now have an adorable 4 year old, Jack! We saw them last year on our family vacation, but it had been a long time and I was thrilled to get to see them again!

Billy and I were really looking forward to not being in a hotel room and having a normal meal at home, and of course Bob and Sarah did not disappoint. They are the best hosts!! Dinner was awesome and Sarah made a bunch of yummy desserts that we stuffed ourselves with! Jack also gave us a fantastic rendition of "If You're Happy and You Know It." He is a riot and it was so much fun playing with him and getting to spend time with everyone.

Unfortunately, Bob had to go to work Tuesday but Sarah had the day off. Billy actually accompanied Sarah to 5:45 am spin class, which I will forever be impressed by! Sarah and Bob both get to the gym about 5 times a week, even with a toddler! They have quite a system worked out and I definitely admire their commitment (to being good parents too, not just working out haha!). 

Sarah, Billy, Jack, and I all piled in the car to go to Gillette Stadium for lunch, where there is also a huge shopping center called Patriot Place. It was very cool to see the stadium, plus I've never seen one with so much development around it! There's a ton of shopping and restaurants in this huge complex next to the stadium, including Toby Keith's restaurant where we went to lunch-I highly recommend it! Especially their kid's meal corn dogs, I may have stolen some of Jack's...

When we got back, Billy was wiped out from spinning, so he took a nap while I played Play-Doh with Jack. The smell of Play-Doh is intoxicating and brought back lots of childhood memories, although as Sarah pointed out, I realize now why our parents never wanted to bring it out--it gets EVERYWHERE.

Jack was extremely camera shy, but I did manage to sneak this one of him sucking down some applesauce in the car on the way to lunch. He's getting so big!! 

 
We tore ourselves away from Boston later that afternoon to get on the way to Newtown, Connecticut, where my Aunt Sue and Uncle Randy live. Since we had just seen them in Manchester a few weeks ago, it was fun to be able to have another visit! There wasn't too much catching up to do so it was nice to just enjoy hanging out with family. We had a blast, especially the next morning when they took us out on their usual morning walk around one of the parks nearby. It was perfect weather and great to get out, but I was especially happy to see my Uncle Randy power walking along! He recently got his second knee replacement, and has been in so much pain for so many years that it was great to finally see him completely comfortable and out and about!

We got back from our walk Wednesday morning to finish the last leg of our trip home. Since we were out of fun places to stop, we powered through the Jersey turnpike, 95, and DC traffic to finally get back to Ogden Road! 

Now we're busy getting ready for our next adventure....out west! I've gone on long enough so I'll save the details for tomorrow :)