Catching Up Again

It's been a busy spring and I've fallen behind on blog posts again. We leave on summer vacation in two days so I'd better get caught up! As always, click on each little picture on the left to go to a photo album on that topic.

School Photos School Pictures The girls had their school photos taken way back in November but I hadn't imported them until now. Neither girl especially likes having her pictures taken. Charlotte is afraid of formal portraits, as you can tell from the very forced smile.

Crazy Hair Day Crazy Hair Day April 24th was "Crazy Hair Day" at Roosevelt School. Carol was able to make a cool mohawk even with Audrey's new shorter hair style. Charlotte went with three crazy pony tails. Audrey reports that she had the craziest hair at Crazy Hair Day.

Rockery with Zack Rockery with Zack It was Zack's parents that first showed us the Ipswich River Audubon Sanctuary and its Rockery. We're forever indebted since it has, as you know, become one of our favorite places near home. One Saturday I decided to take Audrey there for a "one on one" outing. I asked her if she'd like to invite Zack and got a very enthusiastic "Yes!" He was available so off we went. They had a blast playing together at the Rockery. We also saw deer in the woods near the trail and Audrey and Zack tracked them for a few minutes. After great outdoor time we all went to the Ninety Nine restaurant for dinner - kids eat free the day after the Red Sox win!

Field Trip - Seacoast Science Center Audrey Field Trip: Seacoast Science Center During the last full week of school Audrey's second grade class went on a field trip to the Seacoast Science Center in Rye, NH. They explored the tide pools and examined lots of critters they found there. Audrey says classmate Emma was the bravest because she held the biggest crab.

Plimoth Plantation Plimoth Plantation The first time we went to Cape Cod in 2010 we saw signs for Plimoth Plantation. We checked it out online and have wanted to go ever since. A few weeks ago we finally made it. We drove down Saturday morning and first went to visit the Mayflower II. It's a replica that was built in the 1950s and is moored in Plymouth Harbor a couple of miles from the plantation. The girls appreciated how small the ship was and they also enjoyed wearing period sailor clothing. After touring the ship and making a brief visit to Plymouth Rock we headed for the KOA campground in Middlebourough about 20 minutes away. KOAs always have good pools and jumping pillows and playgrounds and we knew the girls would have a good time there. It didn't take very long at all for the girls to make friends with a brother and sister. We spent the afternoon and evening with them on the pillow, in the pool and at the ice cream social and outdoor movie. Sunday morning we had breakfast at Dave's Diner in Middlebourough and then headed to Plimoth Plantation. The plantation has a Native American village and also a replica of the pilgrims' settlement with staff dressed, acting and speaking like people of the time. It was quite educational. The girls mostly enjoyed trying out the furniture.

Cape Cod Camping Cape Cod Camping It's become a tradition for us to go camping at Nickerson State Park on Cape Cod in late June. This was our third year and we were really looking forward to our four night trip. We have a favorite loop in which we camp because it has great bike riding and a short walk through the forest to a wonderful swimming beach on Cliff Pond. The water is always a perfect swimming temperature. We arrived in the early evening and went straight into the water. Friday morning we headed to the pond right after breakfast with plans to spend the whole day there. Around 11am, though, a ranger appeared carrying a sign to install in the beach sand informing us that Cliff Pond was immediately closed to swimming due to a blue-green algae bloom that was potentially toxic. Our plan was to spend most of the trip swimming in that pond so we were all disappointed. There was another swimming beach at the next pond over, Flax Pond, but we would have to drive there - it had been our intention not to start our engine all weekend. We figured Flax Pond would be crowded since everyone would head there so instead we went to a movie ("Brave") and then for ice cream. Saturday morning we headed for Flax Pond right after breakfast. The swimming beach was great and we spent almost seven hours there. Carol has been wanting to try a stand up paddleboard for a while and the boat rental company near the swimming beach had them so we gave it a try. Easy peasy! The girls loved riding on the back of it with either Carol or me paddling. We have a blast just staying at the state park but I have also wanted to see more of Cape Cod. On Sunday we decided to head to the ocean. Coast Guard Beach in Eastham is not too far from Nickerson so we headed there. There is no parking at the beach (the parking lot was washed away in a big storm in 1978) so you park a mile or so away and the park service runs shuttles. We loaded our stuff, rode the shuttle and found a great patch of sand to call our own. The girls had been swimming with boogie boards in the ponds but had never boogie boarded in surf. When we arrived at Coast Guard Beach the surf was perfect for it - thigh deep on me with 2-4' waves. Audrey loved it. For about 30-40 minutes Audrey and I surfed wave after wave. Once I taught her how to spot the waves that were going to break near her she got really good at it. It was one of those moments as a parent when I knew I had really given my child a great experience - she was so happy. It is also rewarding to see how comfortable and confident Audrey is in water. Charlotte is more intimidated by surf but she has fun playing in the shallow water and in the sand. The tide was out when we arrived and came in the whole time we were there (again, seven hours). The surf was never again as good as during the first hour we were there but it was still fun to play in. Audrey also enjoyed just being lifted by the swells. We saw a sea lion or seal off shore for a while but no great white sharks; they are regularly spotted a few miles south in Chatham. Monday we headed to Flax Pond again for a bit of swimming before aiming for home. There had been a threat of thunderstorms the entire weekend but they kept going around us or evaporating before they reached us (I was watching the radar on my phone). We would have welcomed a dramatic thunderstorm while in the camper but Boston was having all the fun instead. Finally Monday morning our luck ran out. About five minutes after the girls got in the water it started raining and with thunder within earshot we cut that swim session short. Besides, we still had to visit the Pancake Man and Four Seas Ice Cream. After those stops were checked off we had an uneventful drive home. We had a fantastic time and will be back for the fourth annual visit next June.

May-June Fun May-June Fun To write the text that goes with these "miscellaneous" photo albums I scan through the photos and pick a few stories to tell. This batch, however, is all over the map. Suffice it to say that May and June were pretty nice and produced lots of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors, to get wet, and to eat ice cream. Both girls had really great years at school with Charlotte finishing Kindergarten and Audrey finishing 2nd grade. They both brought home excellent report cards. I first saw Cirque du Soleil in about 1996 during my first stint living in Boston. I thought it was spellbinding and one of the best live performances I had ever seen. I've seen several performances since then, both road shows and permanent Las Vegas shows, and have loved them all. I have fantasized about taking the kids but the "list" prices are so high that it didn't seem worth it. Cirque du Soleil is performing "Totem" in Boston at the moment. A neighbor sent along a link to a fantastic "local deals" site that was offering tickets at a huge discount so I snapped 'em up. We all went to the show on Father's Day and the girls found it just as magical as I did. I loved being able to share it with them.