Trading Time for Memories in Boyer world

There is a 15 year history with Memorial Day Weekend, the Boyer Family, and Sandy Cove. In 2024, we went with friends from the neighborhood and church. The Gallahers, Boyers, Blanchards, and Randalls took over four spots together in the Pioneer Campground. This was the first time the Boyer's would show up with NO CHILDREN. There was some pre-trip scuttlebutt about Tom being allergic to kids now, but it turned out to be false. We all showed up Saturday afternoon in the midst of beautiful weather. The Ranalls were in a cabin and Gallahers and Blanchards had their campers, ready for glamping, and we had our tent. Not a lot people tent camp these days, so we had a gravel driveway rather than a grassy knoll. Fortunately, we had a thick tarp and cots, and we made it work. As soon as camp was ready we headed straight for the pool to combat the heat. Of course there was also Palmer, putt putt, and the play ground.  Lynne and I made dinner Saturday night, sausage, taters, and green beans pl...

Meme was a naughty patient. On Saturday she began to get significant abdominal pain watching the kids games. She cut her day short and went home for a rest, but the pain was terrible, “like child birth without the break between contractions.” She tried to sleep but the pain was too much for a good sleep.  Sunday morning she took some ibuprofen and the pain subsided/shifted. It changed from a general pain throughout her abdomen and back, to a focused pain just above her right hip. She was able to make it through church without too much discomfort, where she talked to Matt and Laurie. They were concerned. Meme planned to drive to Maryland to visit with friends then have Bible study luncheon on Tuesday, and … she went ahead with her plan even with her pain. Matt and Laurie was somewhat appeased knowing that Meme would be with Tom and Lynne, except that she wouldn’t because we were camping.  Meme made it to our house and Matt and Laurie followed up with her and Laurie did an evalu...

We are those parents now... living for the times when family can be together. And this last week was a beaut'. Chelsea had 96 hours, no more, after finals. Lydia had a couple more days than that. Lynne's parents came up, and my Mom came down. Plus it was Grandpa's 84th birthday. The week would be full of energy, fun, and quirkiness, all the things that make time with the Boyer family great. Lydia showed up first on Friday, and Saturday morning we went strawberry picking in the mud to make some jam. The berries were not great so that we had to cut off the bad parts as we were picking. But in the end we had enough berries. We made low sugar jam using half sugar and half monk sugar.  Meme showed up on Tuesday just in time for a game of Qwirkle, and Lynne's parents showed up on Wednesday. That evening we headed directly for Chic Fila for armed forces night for loads of free chicken sandwiches. Thanks CFA! Chelsea showed up Thursday in time for she and Lydia to head to Missi...

April 19 Tom, Shawn, and Mark were about to head off to Caledonia camp in Pennsylvania for the first annual Hunko camping trip. What a blast it would be! Suddenly  Katie emerged from the house bearing three amazing custom Hunko T-shirts made by Natalia and Katie Jo. Donning our shirts, we headed off Saturday morning towing the Blanchard’s RV palace.  We arrived and headed right out onto the AT Trail. The trail was beautiful! We did almost the entire trail, about 9 miles before returning to camp and setting up the palace.  Mark was hungry so first act was chili con carne with red beans past the Best By Date, corn bread, sour cream, and cheese. Delicious! That would be first dinner; second dinner would be hamburgers over the grill.  The fire was awesome too. Usually we have about an hour, maybe two, but this was the extended version. We burped, we flatulated, we laughed, and we cried.  Sleep came quick in the RV even if it didn’t last until morning. When morning c...

Lynne and I had a great visit  to the USGA’s in West Chester University near Philadelphia for Chelsea's last meet of her first season starting April 12. Having just returned from Las Vegas on business the night before, Lynne and I drove up in spaceship while Tom worked and Lynne drove. After quick hamburgers downtown at a college burger joint, we headed to the field house.  A nice student found us wandering the campus and took us to the field house. At 1400 the semi finals began. Chelsea received a 9.625 on bars . The team struggled, but would get second place out of three putting them into the finals the next day. After the meet we all went to PF Changs. The service with so many people was slow, but we did not mind since we were hanging out with Chelsea. Afterward we all went back to our hotels. We got to play Qwirkle with Chris and Brenda Wallace, Claire's parents. Unfortunately we were rude and beat them. On Saturday, we decided we would investigate Kennett Square the "...

Easter 2024  We spent Easter 2024 in Connecticut with Lydia. As expected, it was a great time. And, as expected, it was a bit of work getting there on Easter Weekend. We started off at 0800 with Spaceship packed to the moon roof, and the platform on the back carrying the cooler. I remember confidently stating that a minivan would be unnecessary as Spaceship's cargo hold would be sufficient for any future needs. At least we did not need the roof top carrier. I also remember regaling friends with the good success we have had on trips charging the car. And then came Good Grief Friday 2024. We arrived at our charging stop to find every stall filled and 6 cars in line ahead of us. We decided to stick it out, and I headed out to find some sustenance. Thirty minutes and two salads later, I returned to find us next in line. We would spend over an hour refueling before getting back on the road. We arrived at the Special Spot to pick up Lydia and Arwen to begin the core adventure in Stoningt...

 Chelsea and dad in Puerto Rico 2023 Day One Wednesday Chelsea accompanied me to blue water and snct.  We got a little behind on our schedule and were 45 min late for dinner at la copa llena. It was rainy so no sunset on the deck. But we still saw a nice sunset. At dinner we had Ricarda Ramos and his father. I think his father had a stroke. He spoke slowly but seemed to follow the conversation. They had a lot of beer and then drove. Yikes. It was a very nice time though.  We stayed at a great air bnb very near the water. It was actually a condo we had tried to buy. I was sad that deal had fallen through.  Day Two Thursday I visited Propper and Pentaq.  Chelsea was going surfing but the surf was too calm and we rescheduled the next day.  After work we walked to Lala Beach. It was a small beach with nice sand but no amenities.  Thursday night was a party in the town square. There were about thirty artisans seeking jewelry, paintings, art and rooster cans...