Weekend in our Paradise

We escaped (the whole family) for a long weekend on Cape Cod. We leave tomorrow- we'd hoped for a beautiful day where we could play all morning and drive home at night, but it looks like rain all day, so we're planning to leave earlier.

We all love it here. Asher cries every time we talk about leaving. My emotions are complicated when I'm here; I feel happiness at being in a place that brings me such pleasure and contains such warm, wonderful memories. I also feel some sadness when I think about my grandparents; knowing that they selected the items in the house, remembering how they used them, remembering how they used to be when they were independent and vibrant. It is amazing to me to be here with my own family when I first started coming here as a self-conscious teenager. I don't know if I could have envisioned what the future held if I had even tried!  I feel a great sense of nostalgia here, too, since there are so many things that remain unchanged over the past 20 years.

We arrived here on Thursday afternoon after a rocky start (Asher was throwing up!), and made a quick trip to the beach, although it was too cold to swim. I ran to the beach to get some exercise, and Eric drove with the kids.

Trying to keep warm! 

Footprints in the sand

 We came back to the house and I cooked dinner for everyone, which we ate out on the deck (Asher's favorite place in the house). Then we rushed out for ice cream, of course!

 Friday was predicted to be rainy and cloudy all day, but after pouring rain at about 8:30, the skies cleared and we had a beautiful, warm day.  I packed our lunch and we went to our favorite pond, Great Pond. The kids played for hours, just entertaining themselves and enjoying the water.

Charlotte is "swimming"

 After we got home, the kids all took excellent naps. I ran around town running my mom's errands since she is in Paris, and then went to the rail trail for a run.  There was much debate over what we would have for dinner and where we would have it, and we ended up making a stop at one restaurant for mac & cheese to go, and another restaurant for seafood for the grown-ups.  I had a lobster roll, and Eric had a clam roll, and we shared a clam chowder.  Then soft serve for dessert- we were really cramming in all the favorites!

The view of the bay from the pier after dinner

My girl and me. Benjamin is hiding behind my legs.

 Today we woke to bright sunshine. We decided to go out for breakfast since tomorrow is Father's Day and we don't want to be in a restaurant!  We went to the Wicked Oyster, our favorite pancake place.  The boys were great; Charlotte's behavior left a lot to be desired.

He needed to sit on my lap before I had finished my meal

Then into our bathing suits and off to Long Pond.  We had the place to ourselves.  It was a little chilly because of the breeze, but it didn't seem to bother the kids. I have discovered that somehow, over the years, I have turned into a totally boring wimp of a person.  In my youth, nothing stopped me from getting into the water and swimming out and back, or splashing around for hours. Now I dip my toes in and think, "Eh. Too cold." I told Eric, I am so boring, I don't even want to get sandy and dirty with the kids. How did this happen?  I am hoping the kids haven't realized yet how un-fun I am, but it is probably only a matter of time.

The kids are playing and I am watching from the comfort of my chair

 The kids took great naps again in the afternoon, and then I cooked dinner at home.  We were going to go out for dessert, but instead went to walk on the beach and look for pebbles.

Two big guys

We did a pretty good job of cramming everything wonderful about Wellfleet into just over 2 days.  We balanced rest and relaxation with fun and exploration; eating at home with eating at our favorite restaurants.  We're lucky to have this piece of paradise at our disposal, and to get away from the craziness of our day-to-day lives. There will be tears when we leave tomorrow, but I am glad we took this chance to visit- the week at the end of the summer never feels like enough.