We went for ice cream at Smitty's Homemade Ice Cream in East Falmouth several times. Their ginger ice cream was fantastic, I only lamented they were out of peach so I couldn't get a ginger-peach combination.
We made our annual pilgrimage to Beebe Woods (pdf),but this time made the much longer hike to the Ice House Pond. It was OK, but we decided that next year we'd wear our bathing suits and go swimming in the Punch Bowl instead. The 300 Committee has done a fabulous job making trail maps available.
We did rent bikes again, and this time made it all the way to Woods Hole. The Shining Sea Bike Path is spectacular. The only real glitch was that DS1's bike got a flat, but I took it back to the shop and exchanged the bike for another, and then caught up with the family later on. We had a great lunch at Pie in the Sky, then wandered around Woods Hole before biking back. Just a lovely, lovely day all around.
This tiny rabbit hopped across the backyard. He was so small that at first I thought he was a chipmunk. Clearly destined to become some predator's evening snack, this little guy was so clueless he was actually hopping towards us. We scooped him up in the container and dumped him back into the woods near where he had hopped out, hoping he would find his way back to his family. We seem to have some kind of futile baby-animal rescue attempt every other summer or so. We know it's pointless, but we have to do it anyway.
We let the kids have a sleepover downstairs. You would think that, since they're spending weeks together, they wouldn't have anything left to talk about into the wee hours of the morning. You would be wrong. DH & I got to sleep upstairs while the kiddos stayed up till all hours, playing Truth or Dare and repeating endless Chuck Norris and Yo' Mama jokes.
I lost track of how many times we went to the beach! It was just enough to have fun, nowhere close to getting sick of it. I finally remembered to take out the camera and get some pictures, including this now-mandatory shot of everyone jumping off the block at Chapaquoit.
I took DH up to Boston so he could catch his flight back home -- sadly, he couldn't vacation as long as we could. We had a fantastic lunch at Erewon of Siam, a Thai restaurant in Waltham -- coincidentally the same restaurant we went to when we were discussing whether or not to move to Arizona, fifteen (!!!) years ago. Absolutely the best pad thai I've ever had. After lunch we drove to Logan and switched the cars, and then DH headed off, and I struck out for Sudbury, to meet my old Marsoft co-workers. It had been a few years since we'd been able to get together, but it never matter with friends as close as these. I think we've known each other for 20 years now.
I'm not sure what else was going on this particular day, but we went for a night swim. Maybe this is the day we went to the movies? We went to see Sorcerer's Apprentice because we thought it was going to rain, but it never did. The days are all mixed up now, not that it matters. Anyway, we were all restless so after supper we went to the beach, and it was hands down the most epic night swim ever. There was a wedding party finishing up photographs on the beach, with the incredible sunset and surf behind them -- what a fantastic idea, although luck had a lot to do with it. The water was warm, the tide was very low so there was no problem with anyone being over their heads, and the waves were fine for jumping. An amazing night.
We took two cars up to Canton and hiked up Big Blue -- the red dot trail, which has a few challenging spots, but nothing too difficult, at least for walkers. There were a couple of mountain bikers coming up behind us, and those guys were really an inspiration, they way they muscled over those rocky trails. The weather station at the top was closed, so we came right back down again, and then drove out to Saugus to have lunch at the Hilltop Steakhouse. The kids loved it, and it seemed just the same to me as it was when I was a kid. That was our only trip across the bridge the entire trip, except for to and from the airport.
Another beach day, excellent waves again. On this day the kids all decided to let the waves pound them as they lolled in the surf. It did not look like fun to me, but I'm not a kid anymore.
My brother took his family to the waterpark in Wareham for the day, so we were on our own. We had a low-key day, a visit to Spohr Gardens, and then a trip to Mashpee Commons to get a snack at Cupcake Charlies, featured on Cupcake Wars, one of the reasons why DD is obsessed with cupcakes recently:
That's a red velvet (DS1), a chocolate cupcake made to look like a Hostess cupcake with a cute name I can't remember (DS2), a peanut butter chocolate cupcake (DD), and a lemon drop for me. They were delicious, and as is usually the case with cupcakes, left us wanting more.
I wanted to take all the kids on the Discovery oceanography cruise, so we piled in the beach car and drove into Falmouth, then took the Whoosh down to Woods Hole. We had lunch at Pie in the Sky, and while we were there, the sprinkles became light rain became heavier rain, and our trip was cancelled. We were disappointed because it wasn't really raining that hard, but everyone else had backed out, and there weren't enough passengers left to take the boat out. I put the boys back on the bus to town after arranging for a pick up for them, and the girls and I checked out the shops and galleries, and got a coffee at CO2 (the second Coffee Obsession) before we headed back ourselves.
DD had been talking about making red velvet cupcakes literally for weeks, and I was fortunate to find the no-taste red food coloring at Wal-Mart. They came out fantastic, and disappeared within 2 days.
The Louisiana Contingent left, and the kids were at loose ends with themselves. We drove to Brewster in surprisingly light traffic, and visited the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, which is charming. But even more charming was the easy, beautiful trail hike across Wing's Island. I wish they had been in a better mood, but they were more up for lunch at Kate's Seafood than the hike. Me, I liked them both just fine.
Oftentimes the hips are more beautiful than the roses, to me.
The day before we left, I practically had to drag the kids to the beach. They were spent, especially since we had already visited my friend R's beach for a long afternoon just the day before. But when we got there, all that resistance was forgotten -- the waves were huge! My sister was with us, and we had a blast. I treated the kids to one last splurge from the ice cream truck, and no one wanted to leave.
Of course there was a lot we did that's not shown here, but really, this will be plenty to stir the memories. Tomorrow I dive into the new job -- by this time next week, my first day as a full-time teacher will be over!
