And I'm bummin' in a good way. We're ushering out the final days of summer at the Jersey shore, and it's a great week. Siblings, cousins, grandparents -- all under one roof. As we close in on the end of our time together, part of me would like to start the week all over. But not a very realistic plan. School is just around the corner, and a jam-packed fall schedule is waiting to get its grip on us. Plus, if I have to look through my mess of a suitcase one more time in the search for the house keys ......&^%$#

So we'll savor the last few days. We've had a pretty good weather week. We used a couple of rainy days to go bowling, do some shopping. Saw "The Help'' -- really liked it, but loved the book -- and "Glee: The 3D Concert Movie.'' The under-21 crowd gave the latter mixed reviews. Love the music but too short, they said, and the movie didn't fulfill its promise of letting the audience get to know the characters.

As for summer at the beach 2011, we give an enthusiastic thumbs up to fried Oreos, early morning bike rides, Mack & Manco's pizza, Rummikub, beach-blanket time, books and boogie boarding. Thumbs down to "Free Hugs'' crop tops, seaweed, the few men who still insist on wearing super-skimpy suits (yuk!!) to the beach, and one or two tense family moments -- nothing serious, but put several households from different states together for a week, and there's bound to be a moment or two of drama -- and not having our dogs with us!

To the beach!

My daughter and I just returned from a week in New England, wonderfully beautiful and history-rich New England. So as we're driving through Connecticut, on our way to Massachusetts, I remind her that she just finished social studies lessons on the American Revolution and here we were, in the thick of it. How exciting, I gush. What did she want to do first? Concord? Lexington?

Will they have places to shop? she asked.

Argh, I thought. I am a history buff -- some would say ad nauseum. My daughter, not so much. Quickly, I concluded that if this trip was going to be a success, it would need to be the perfect mix of gift shops and Founding Fathers. A compromise. At the beginning, it was painful for us both. She was less than enthusiastic as we walked in the footsteps of patriots, and I as she scoured the gift shops for snow globes and post cards. But soon, we were on the same page ... of history and literature and fun.

There was the trip to Walden Pond. Walden What? she asked. Some day, I told her, she'd appreciate the afternoon I took her to this beach (of what looks like a huge, sparkling blue lake). While she might not know anything about Henry David Thoreau now, I promised, she would in high school and college. And then, surprise, there was the trip through the house of Louisa May Alcott. Even my daughter was awestruck as she looked down at the primitive desk where the author wrote the first half of "Little Women.'' My daughter, a reader and an artist, was similarly thrilled with the original pencil sketches still adorning the bedroom walls of Louisa's sister, May, who was the inspiration for the character Amy in the book. Orchard House was a hit! (And I recommend it as a must-see stop if you're ever in the Concord area!)

So we were off, balancing whale watching with a trip to Paul Revere's house, and Faneuil Hall T-shirt vendors with a dramatic presentation at King's Chapel. We hoped to make some rich family history of our own, and we weren't disappointed.