April vacation.

Last year my few days off in April were so lovely, so welcomed, that I decided to do a few days of vacation again in April this year. And this year Doug has joined me. We're currently through day three of our five days off in a row, and it's been great so far. I'm here to give you some highlights of what's been going on here, vacation-wise, grouped by major category.

Food:
Doug and I enjoy our dinners. We're not so good at breakfast, and are equally bad at eating much for lunch, but we tend to go all out for calories with our dinners. Our vacation dinners have been no exception. Our first vacation dinner was at Wild Willy's in Watertown, and this was on Thursday night, the night we were sprung from work and our vacation officially started. We got a couple of veggie burgers, and I have to say that Wild Willy's offers a mighty fine veggie burger.

Friday night saw us at British Beer Company, which, though a small chain, has really good pub food and a great selection of beers. I confess to never really ordering any of their great beer offerings, but I did once, and I was glad that I did - last year they offered this super-delicious fruity beer called Fruli, just about the best beer I've ever had. It was almost like a glass of strawberry juice, but not as sweet and a little thicker, heavier. I have not been able to find it since (though I admit to not looking too hard), but I hope BBC will have it again this year. I'd actually drink that beer without hesitation.

Saturday saw us eating a very, very sinful dinner at Po' Boys & Pickles in Portland, Maine. I have no photos of our fried pickles, sweet potato fries, or our reuben and muffaletta po'boy, but all of it would have been worthy of a picture (I just typed pickle instead of picture. That's how much I liked those fried pickles). My reuben had Morse's sauerkraut on it, too, which, you may recall, we discovered last year while vacationing in Liberty. That sandwich made me all the more eager for our upcoming Liberty vacation. Days, go by faster. I want to be back on vacation in Maine!

And, finally, last night we stuffed ourselves silly on good, hearty New England fare at the Publick House in Sturbridge, MA. When I say "stuff ourselves silly," I mean it. Look at this plate of food: Yankee pot roast, mashed potatoes, and butternut squash (but left out of the photo were a very large bread basket, salad, soup, and the apple pie and indian pudding for dessert). My stomach and I didn't get along last night, but hey, it was worth it.

Non-Food:
In the non-food realm, our vacation has consisted of doing stuff. We've done some yard work, the majority of it on Friday when the weather was somewhat warm and pleasant. We weeded, Doug started his annual mulching project, and I planted my flower boxes and a couple of planters. Here are some photos of the day:
Saturday we decided to head to Portsmouth, but while we were getting our traditional "crossing the state border into one of the northern New England states" pit-stop drinks in Woburn, we decided to change course. The original plan was to go to Portsmouth, and maybe meet Chris and Chris there for an afternoon/evening meal if our non-existent planning worked out, but we threw caution to the wind and just headed straight for Maine. Good thing, too. We got more time to spend with the cutest little Ruby there is, and spent quality time with her parents, too. Doug and Ruby get along well. I have plenty of evidence of this on film, but here are a few shots to share: Doug's a funny guy, indeed, and he has all kinds of funny things on his face to entertain babies, like large nostrils and a beard, and a funny, high-pitched voice that's normally reserved for the cats. I find that when we're around Ruby I'm more inclined to photograph her with Doug than hold her, because I know that Doug charms her in a way that I don't. I haven't figured out how to make sentences like "Little Ruby, how developed is your palmar reflex today?" sound so funny and elicit so many giggles. Chris is lucky. He's Ruby's daddy, so he doesn't have to try to charm her - he does it automatically with his genetics.

And then on Sunday we did more yard work (won't bore you with the photos of our trimmed shrubs) and headed down to Sturbridge to meet my mother and brother for dinner. You saw our plates of mammoth portions, and while I certainly didn't need this much food my brother certainly did. I love my brother, and for that reason, and because I'm the annoying little sister and it's my job, I am constantly after him to eat more. He's nothing but skin and bones. He bikes something like 15 miles a day, probably more, and eats things like yogurt and nuts, maybe occasionally a full meal. His activity levels and his food intake levels do not match up. At times I wish I could be more like him in this department, especially increasing my activity levels more, but at other times, like when I'm faced with a reuben from Po' Boys & Pickles or a veggie burger from Wild Willy's, I forget that I want people to feel each of my vertebrae as they hug me. Pass the fried pickles, please!