Bergeron Family Reunion 2015

The 22nd Annual Bergeron Family Reunion was a great success despite the less-than-pleasing weather!

I was really down in the dumps all day on Saturday watching the weather report and thinking it would have to be cancelled.....for the first time ever!   

Hubby and I decided we'd go up to the State Park and just wait in the parking lot for awhile to see if anyone else showed up.  When we got there, it was misting out.

Sure enough, my very favorite cousin Glenn - a die-hard reunion attendee, showed up with his whole family!  Even grandson Anthony in his little raincoat and his daughters in their rain ponchos. 

He had an "easy-up" so we said, "Let's do it!"

Hubby sitting with all his friends!

A little misty rain didn't stop the kids from playing on the beach.  Some of them even went swimming!

My sister-in-law Angie, her grandson Damien, and my cousin Susie visiting from Maryland....she's from the other side of the family!  But all are welcome!!

My brother Steve brought his little grill and fired it up to warm some chili and cook lots of other scrumptious food.  Glenn, Scott and I hang around for a taste!

Cousin John is a happy (crazy) guy!

and his wife, my cousin Fran, is no better!

Cousin Cathy with her granddaughter Amber

Glenn's grandson Anthony somehow ended out with a chocolate face!    His Mom Bianca is holding him and his Grandma Janice looks on.

A nice conversation between me and my twin cousin Francine.  Her mother and mine were identical twins, and being the same age, we are told often that we look alike.

We turned out to have a crew!  Dad had called in the morning saying he might not go.  But when I called to tell him lots of people were there, he showed up for an hour or so.

Lots of discussions going on

Gary, Tommy, Steve and Jimmy

We tried to get everyone together for a photo.  Some had already left, so there were more than this that attended.

As usual, I wish I'd gotten more photos.  Many family members who were there are not in any photos, including my Cousin Ruth and her husband Rick here from Ohio!

We found out that there will be three more babies born this year.   And my Uncle Chanel is the oldest at age 87.  

I was so happy on the way home.....so glad we had another successful reunion and already looking forward to next year!

Noah's Birthday Adventure

We took Noah on his 7th Birthday Adventure to the Legoland Discovery Center in Boston.

Noah just loves Legos.....and he's pretty fond of trains as well, so we parked at Alewife Station and took the train over to Somerville.

You can't miss the entrance to the museum....it's being guarded by a  larger-than-life giraffe made of Legos.

After a video factory tour and a little ride where you shoot scary Lego characters, you enter a huge room filled with a Boston Cityscape.   This was the most phenomenal part of the place.....adults should go just to see this room.  There were many, many iconic Boston Buildings.

Everywhere throughout were interactive components.  The USS Constitution shot its cannons when you pushed the button.

There was even a replica of Legoland!

You could play a little baseball game at Fenway Park.

The people in the stands had hotdogs and beer!

Gillette Stadium with crowds of people, football players and a jumbo-tron

The Hatch Shell had a band that played 

when you pressed the button.

Out in the play area, Noah found a friend!

Grampy was a Ninja!

Noah built some cars and then raced them on two different tracks.

Another friend!

The huge climbing play area had giant, soft Lego blocks inside.  One half was a "Construction Site"  and the other half was a "Firehouse"

The funniest part of the day was when Noah "couldn't hear us" when we said it was time to come out of the climbing area.  (He really was extremely well-behaved all day).   I asked the attendant if I could go in and get him and she said, "Sure!"   I did - and you should have seen his face when I approached him!  "Hey!! How did you get in here???!!"

Grampy rests on the "Grandparent Bench!"

There was also a 4D movie.  We wore 3D glasses and were able to feel the "wind" and the "rain" on us as we watched the movie.  It even "snowed"!  And at the end, the little dragon "sneezed" on us!  Ewww!

We were so thankful that Noah really loved the Cityscape.  We thought he'd blow right by it since he really didn't know that the buildings were all replicas of real Boston buildings.  But everywhere you looked there were little vignettes and interesting things to see.  We found something new every time we looked again.   And there were quite a few little "surprises"....such as a cow joining the people on the conveyor belt inside the airport, or a shark coming out of the toilet in a Prudential Center office.

Zakim Bridge

Noah is racing against himself - they had the Harvard Sculls on the "Charles River" and the Red Team raced against the Blue Team.

Noah conferring with the Fire Chief

On the return Noah enjoyed the escalators in the subway station.

Noah and Memere waiting patiently for the T.

Luckily for me and Grampy, Noah's favorite restaurant is the Olive Garden where we went for a birthday dinner.   Then a quick stop at Coldstone for some ice cream. 

What a fantastic day with a wonderful little boy!  Happy 7th Birthday Noah!!

The "Fab Four" were FABulous!

Hubby is quite the Beatles fan so when we heard that the Fab Four were going to be within driving distance in Providence, RI, I hopped online and bought tickets.   Little did I know that they'd also be playing much closer in Beverly, MA!  

That's okay....we like to take little getaway weekends.  I found us a  Hampton Inn just a couple of miles from Twin River Casino, where the show was being held.

We drove down in the morning and spent the day at the Roger Williams Zoo.  I won't bore you with zoo photos.....you've seen animals before!  Although we did see an animal I hadn't seen before....a Red Panda......so just one photo!  He wouldn't turn his face towards us, but he had a cute little face and a tail like a raccoon.

Roger Williams Park also has a Botanical Garden.  We checked it out but I wasn't impressed.   

After going to the hotel and swimming for a bit and relaxing, we headed over to Twin River to find something to eat and see the show.

I wanted to eat somewhere decent, but by the time we looked at the Steak Restaurant (way too pricey - it had real white tablecloths!) and got our name into another place, we were worried that we'd be cutting it too close so we settled on Johnny Rockets.

It was fun and the food was decent and we made it to the show on time....what more could we want?

Hubby did take one illicit photo of the casino.  Neither one of us are interested in the gambling but we wandered around trying to find a machine that would let us play just $1.   No luck.  

Finally it was time to go see the show.   I was very surprised that the "Event Center" at the casino was just a big room with folding chairs!   Luckily, I had picked the front row of the second section, which gave us a good view without people standing in front of us.....although it was pretty annoying that there was a constant flow of traffic walking in front of us.   I doubt that I'd ever go see a show again at Twin River for that reason.

The show itself was wonderful.   It was funny that the guy sitting next to us commented that he'd love it if Ed Sullivan would come out and introduce the band like he did in 1964.....and he did!

The band started out with the songs they sang on that original Ed Sullivan Show.  I had a hard time getting photos because we were further away but I got some good ones and later went up front to take a few from closer to the stage.

After a few songs, they did a costume change while Ed Sullivan kept us amused,  and came out dressed in the Sargent Pepper outfits.

And then they finished the show in their regular clothes (from the 1960s!)

They put on a really, really good show!   They had everyone dancing, clapping and of course, singing along.