Little Tracks

vacation (noun):

leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure

Our family vacation to Cape Cod last week fit this definition perfectly. It was so nice for everyone to escape the busy life of work and chores back home. Grampy is a busy man, working two jobs at full force, so it was especially nice to see him relaxed and taking it easy. I wish life was always like a beach! Not sure who swam in the ocean more, Addy or Grampy!

 This year we stayed on the ocean side, actually Nantucket Sound to be precise. The water temperature was just right, close to 75 degrees (according to Dr. Beach) and the waves were just big enough to be fun. Growing up we had a beach house in the town west of Harwich Port where we stayed. It was special to be able to vacation in the same area I did as a child. The ice cream tastes just as good as I remember! The week started off very hot, with sunny and humid days which made it easy to swim all day. The last part of the week was cool and overcast but cleared enough each day to make for more good beach weather. With all to see and do we took hundreds of great pictures and some really cool video too. This may be a long blog entry, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of our wonderful pictures and choosing the best ones to post! I don't even have access yet to the pictures taken from Grampy's camera that we used on the beach.

Addy was a bit timid when she first
 saw her grandparents at the airport,
 but as you can tell that didn't last too long.

Monkey see, monkey do!
They were both in on the action!

Here is Addy riding Grampy's vintage car for kids that pedals.  As we were walking around downtown Chatham we saw them for sale in the window of the Chatham Hardware Store. They come in all sorts of styles from airplanes to firetrucks to cars!
CC Pedal Cars
Sleeping Beauty, Amelia, was still asleep and missed out on this fun time.

After arriving at the beach house or "cabin" as Addy
liked to call it, she asked, "When are we going to
Cape Cod?" What she meant was the beach! So we headed
right over to the beach and both girls were really excited.
Addy immediately said, "I have to start my collection!"  The next
day she said we have to return these shells to the beach
and get new ones because "these ones are old!" There sure was
a plethora of seashells at all of the beaches we went to. Luckily
they made it made to Montana without breaking!

Evening, between 4-7 to be more precise,  is my absolute favorite
 time of the day to enjoy the beach.
The sun is perfect for pictures, you get the beach all to yourself,
 and sandcastles are already made for your kids to enjoy!

So sweet, this was not staged!

Addy has taken to reading my books! Some days
they are "singing words," other days they are "rhyming
words" and other days they are "reading words."
After commenting to her about following along
with her finger, she then took her finger away and said,
"I can't use my finger right now because the words are
telling me to use my singing voice not my finger voice!"

Walking around downtown Chatham
 with the two best dads in the world!

Most houses on the cape have signs like these above
 the doors. I thought this one was pretty cool.

Have I mentioned how much I love the beach!

Our sweet Amelia! She is still at the age where
she doesn't mind posing for pictures.

Checking out the seals at Chatham Beach,
Can you see one in the photo back there?
No sharks today! Shark News

Grammie! Grampy! Sure is hard to get a photo with
everyone happy and smiling at the camera!

One of the best things about Cape Cod beach houses:
OUTDOOR SHOWERS!
We used it everyday, I even took a shower in the rain!
The girls don't like taking showers at home, but
they liked the outdoor one!

Whose that hottie with the toddler on his shoulders?!

Ohhh, sisterly love on the walk to the beach!
Just can't get enough of these two!
 Love the squirt gun Addy!

Did I mention that it was hot and humid?

More ice cream please!

 

Ice Cream at the Sundae School House!
We used to go here when I was little.
 Yummy chocolate peanut butter!

Beautiful hydraneas on the walk to
the beach. We saw so many different
 varieties, all so very bright and colorful.

Lob-stah dinner!
 Tastes so delicious and such a rarity!
We got our fair share of fish 'n' chips as well on this trip.

When I asked Addy what her favorite part of the trip was she said, "When I laughed!" What made you laugh Addy? "Playing with the helicopters and doing magic tricks." She also said her favorite was swimming and flying kites. Then she proceeded to ask me a question, "What was scary Mommy?" I don't think anything was scary on our vacation Addy. She replied, "The screaming monkey mom. There was nothing to be afraid of Mommy it was just Grampy and I!" Grampy had a stuffed monkey that screams when you throw him and they bombarded us from outside the porch.

The girls were troopers on the long flights, but it was definelty a two man job flying with them. Maybe next year the girls will be old enough and me brave enough to stay a bit longer, we'll see.