Monday, January 4, 2016

This Year's Mad Rendition

Oh, don't think for one second our mad friends did not do their mad deed this year.

It was a beautiful day, after all . . .

. . . a mad, gorgeous day.

And there was our merry band of mad friends . . .

Like, super merry. . .

. . . and super mad.

We had First-Timers . . .

. . . two of them.

(Their older cousins begged for years to be old enough to go in. Now that they're teenagers?

Meh. Over it.

And who can blame them?)

But in the meantime . . .

Davey T!

 Into the Atlantic Ocean they went . . .

. . . The Atlantic OCEAN. In January.

 Next stop: Europe.

 And then they emerged.

They always do.

We count on that, every year.

We're all in it together, on the beach, cheering our mad friends on.


Mistah and I lingered a while at Watch Hill and marveled in its beauty.

Schleckah did some schleckacizing . . .

. . . because that's what a Schleckah does . . .

. . . I mean, seriously . . .

. . . this is our back yard.

And look what I learned I can do:

I know, right??

It was a New Year's Day for the ages . . .

. . . see you this summer, Rhode Island.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch . . .

. . . the infamous bonfire.

. . . hey, Santa!

Looks slightly bacchanalian, doesn't it?

That would be a Yes.

Cheers!
There's the fat bastid again.

It was a beauty, this year . . .

. . . one for the ages . . .

. . . and there was serious business out there this time . . .

. . . here's to Zach.

The First-Timer had a mad blast . . .

. . . as did Tommy and Dawnie . . .

. . . as did the Kat-'n'-Kirks.

The place was mad with Dibbles and Prelis . . .

. . . outside and inside.

. . . everywhere you looked.

It was a fabulous time . . .

. . . and we'd solemnly and graciously like to thank our Hosts for the mad festivities. And hope we'll be invited back.

Happy 2016, Lovelies.

Friday, January 1, 2016

2015 final fling

Happy New Year! We closed out 2015 with a visit to Phoenix, wanna see? 

Day one (not pictured): driving, million stops, always forget we lose an hour, yada yada

Night one (not pictured): a wonderful gathering of southwest cousins and offspring, sinfully delicious pizza, cookies, copious wine consumption, visit to other cousins from other side of family, heads up/name game/stray dog chronicles. 

Day two:


Morning at Camp Flatley! I love to sip my latte out there, but it was cccccccold! How we suffer.
Clara and the kids


An afternoon Tempe excursion for a little rock scrambling and gorgeous warm desert sun


These two.  totally just went down the rabbit hole of clicks back through the history of this frousin love. sigh!


commence heart attacks




Mia and Luke took a joyride
 Somehow STILL afternoon:

laser tag! godhelpme. Bill and Joe were there too, but they didn't fit themselves into the frame. 
 Then we all headed to Sheila and Joe's for delicious spags and balls, and I caught the world's best photo of the 3rd generation from both Flatley and Kennedy bloodlines. You have to see the whole series, though. Money shot was the last one







After scolding ourselves for not getting a cousin photo the previous night when another Flatley family had been represented, we made do with our fine selves after rejecting about 40 test shots in which I looked like I was holding in a pee pee. 
  We suggested to Jon that he photoshop himself in there. 


He looks good, doesn't he? 

cranky. 


We ended that long day with a final visit to our Kennedy types, who happen to live exactly one mile from our fabulous hosts

they are adorable to boot

cheers!
 And then just like that, we had a final breakfast with the guys and a quick visit from Sheila and Mia, packed up the rig and hit the highway to home.


Night night, 2015.
This year had ups and downs, but certainly went out with a bang!

Update: