Family, Friends, Food, & Fireworks

Well, the 2005 4^th of July weekend is in the books, but it's far from forgotten. What a great weekend it was. Veeco, in an unnatural act of kindness (I'm sure there was some other reason, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt), gave us all Monday AND Tuesday off. A 4-day weekend! Let's see if I can remember how all the debauche...err, fun, went.

The weekend started off with a great meal with the in-laws at a place call Sagamore Grill (I think) on Jericho Turnpike while we waited out the yahoo's on the road. We rolled up to MA with virtually no traffic. Very uneventful drive up, which was nice.

Saturday: Woke up Saturday morning around 8-8:30 and made it over to Bungay Brook with Zac and Anthony around 9:30. I proceeded to win a fun 18-hole round with the best score I've ever gotten when playing 18 (100) and was about 3" away from breaking a three digit score. Went back to the house and just farted around with the folks. went to my cousin's All-Star baseball game and then came home and went swimming. Some of the extended fam came over and we had a nice little cook-out. Fun city!

Sunday: Slept in nice and late and then leisurely got ourselves ready for some fun. Drove down to Fall River and met up with Rob and Amy at their place. We met up there (great drive - even saw a hawk) and headed out to Marc's boat. Spent the rest of the afternoon wakeboarding and hanging out in the boat. After picking up some food (and booze), we headed over to Rob's buddy Jake's place for a BBQ and shindig. The gang there had already ate upon our arrival, so we fired up the grill and made a feast. As the night wore on, we rolled out some 'pizza dough' (very inside joke) and 'cooked' it. Everyone on that lake lights big bonfires on the water's edge, so we got to see them and a fireworks show (private - nothing professionally done) that lasted about 1.5 hours and rivaled anything professional I've ever seen. Great night!

Monday: Hung out with Mom and Pop and said good-bye to Z and Alys. Ant and I played 9-holes at Fore Kicks (I kicked his ass again) and we just chilled. Ris and I made dinner that night - steak, potatos, and shrimp on the grill - and we just enjoyed being on the lake and with each other. It was a great way to spend time with each other.

Tuesday: I got up fairly early for a vacation day (8ish) and headed over to Semco around 9:30 or so. Hung out there and talked shop for a while. Then it was time for Ris and I to get on the road. The ride home sucked, but it was worth it, because the weekend was just great!