A surprise stop

Needless to say, the boys did not want to leave Vermont, The Chantry, or all of their new friends only 3 days after we got there. Fortunately we had a little surprise for them. When we got in the car we told them that we weren't going straight home, but instead were going to Long Island, NY to visit the Collins! They were so excited, they burst into smiles and giggles, wriggled in their carseats, and squealed with joy.
And it goes without saying that when you go to visit the Collins', you get the royal treatment!
Fortunately we got there in great time, missed the majority of the friday afternoon NYC traffic, and found our hotel, despite a dying gps!
The boys were ecstatic that we were staying in a real HOTEL, but were even more surprised when, upon arrival to our room, found a bucket full of goodies for each of them!

We met in the lobby for dinner, with lots of hugs and kisses.

 it was so fun to see everyone outside of the lake context, and to catch up on our year(s) a month early!

Once we finally got to sleep, after lots of this...

everyone slept pretty well.

The next morning K & J brought us bagels and coffee and we hit the beach...

we spent the whole morning and part of the afternoon enjoying the sun, sand and waves...

our only beach trip all summer!

(k even napped in a little pop-up tent we borrowed)

We also saw the doublemint twins...

who had the identical haircut, sunglasses, swimsuits, cover-ups, beach bags, chairs, shoes,

 and who knows what else!? 

I wish I'd had the courage to talk to them, but I wasn't sure if that would be considered a little too touristy. After all, it is New York. 

Then back to K,K,&J's house for showers and a little play time:

The {Navy} Blue(s) Brothers

It was a fun-packed 24 hours of memory making, and we would do it again in a heartbeat!