This year’s Admonsters excursion (to conference #17 to be exact) took me out to the environs of Albequerque and Santa Fe at the Hyatt Tamaya resort in Bernalillo, New Mexico. We decided to make this a family affair since very soon Amy will be on a no-travel regimen (due date is October 31, only 10 weeks away). Amy’s parents also joined us for a bit of R&R&Sam. To top that all off, Amy’s aunt (who is from Albequerque) and uncle came down from Denver – and their son Jonathan came out from LA. So all in all it turned into a little Handelman/Siegel/Gardenswartz reunion.
We had a great dinner with Bobbi’s 90-year-old father and the rest of the clan on Friday night, headed up to Santa Fe on Saturday along with 100,000 of our closest friends for the annual Indian Market and Art Show. It was a madhouse, but a great way to see the full scope of what the area’s artistans have to offer. One celebrity spotting, Curtis Stone of TLC’s Take Home Chef. Despite rumors of both Oprah and Dennis Hopper being seen around our hotel, neither was confirmed.
My very talented sisters-in-law who both live up in Amy’s hometown of Rochester, NY have launched a website for their already-thriving hancrafted jewelry business there. Amy and Lisa are marketing and sales professionals who, with the inspiration of Amy’s mother SueAnn, decided to launch this venture. icandyjewelrydesigns.com recently went online, and showcases a wide variety of styles they create. They have a wide variety of original designs with the latest trends well represented, included custom beaded designs, lariats, turquoise and other styles. Anyway, I took many of the photos for the site, so check it out. Visit them here.
The last leg of our vacation began with a 7-hour trek with Amy’s folks down the Mass Pike to Rochester. Sam was our main source of entertainment, shunning even the mention of taking a nap, instead regaling us with songs and stories most of the way. Once in Rochester, we had a great time – heading down to Bristol to see Uncle Stan and Ruth as well as more Handelman cousins than I’ve ever seen in one location. Sam enjoyed his first time in a lake, and on this trip, the male cousins of Boston were replaced by girls, girls and more girls. Sam did not mind one bit. We also took in a game at Rochester’s Frontier Field, and despite anticipation that Giambi was going to appear in the course of his rehab before joining the bigs again, that didn’t happen. More photos can be found here.
We gathered the clan and headed into Boston on Friday of our vacation. Sam has been talking about meeting Mrs. Mallard and her ducklings for weeks now, those famous avian stars of Robert McCloskey’s Make Way for Ducklings. He was not dissapointed! We explored much of the Boston Public Garden, visited the bronze statue of Mrs. Mallard and Lack, Mack, Quack, etc., rode the ‘strange enormous birds’ (aka the Swan Boats) and swam in the Frog Pond – a great respite from the 90+ degree heat wave hitting the city. We also walked Newbury Street from the park all the way to Comm Ave – something I don’t think I’d done for almost 20 years. I’m not sure how I ever afforded shopping there back in the day. We met up with more extended family including Lauren and her husband David plus their kids, as well as Peggy and Mary who are now living in Sommerville. We capped off the day with some yummy ice cream at JP Licks, next door to the Newbury Comics, still going strong after all these years. More photos can be found here.
