Rockport is a very scenic little town. We almost didn't stop because it was crowded and we couldn't find parking. But on the way out of town we noticed a sign for a park & ride and shuttle at the town transfer station. It turned out to be very convenient.
Besides going to the beach we've had some other local adventures. Carol has been taking the girls to a playground a few blocks from home. They met a nanny named Adrian and her charges: two girls about the same age as ours from Hungary. They are becoming friends and have had a couple of play dates together.
Last week it was Parker's birthday. Karen invited the girls over for cake at about 7:30 pm. Carol took the girls over and they didn't come home until after 10:00 (I was busy fighting with a network router). It turns out there were two other women there with their kids and it turned into a girls' night out while the kids all played together and watched movies. Carol met two more neighbors. One couple is having us over for dinner next week, and they have also turned us on to the babysitters in the neighborhood.
We are really loving our neighborhood and our house. It was such a crap shoot to pick a town and house in a one-week house-hunting trip. But it has worked out very well. We're happy here.
A few other notes...
There are three wild turkeys that live outside my office. They have a reputation for being very aggressive. Sure enough, when I stopped to take a photo of them the biggest one (the mother?) charged me. At work they refer to them as the "Mercky Turkeys."
We discovered that the Melrose Public Library participates in a program where libraries buy annual passes to local museums and library card holders can use them for deeply discounted admissions. For example, full price admission at the Children's Museum for Carol and the kids would be $30. But with the library pass it is $2 per person. So last week Carol used that program and the girls had a great time.
Finally, some notes on intellectual development. I've written about the leaps both girls have taken in water comfort and swimming skills this summer. They have also both taken some intellectual leaps. Charlotte has become a very creative and expressive story teller. She makes up fairly long stories about critters and tells them to us with panache (and a very large helping of cuteness). Audrey has taken to drawing on her Magna Doodle pad. She's been really amazing us lately with drawings that show a developing understanding of spatial relationships. In the last couple of days she has become fascinated with words and has started copying them from signs, posters, books - whatever she sees around the house. She's been right on the verge of learning to read for a long time. I think this is a big step in that direction.
The interesting thing is that we haven't been actively promoting any of these developments. Most of the swimming advancements came from Audrey watching older kids in hotel and campground pools while we were crossing the country. And Charlotte of course wants to do what Audrey is doing. The developmental stuff, though, they have just started doing all on their own. Of course we praise them for it, but avoiding any hint of desire for it on our part seems to allow them the space to develop their own enthusiasm. Regardless, it's very rewarding to witness.
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