Hollerholleroo

A Beautiful Day on the Cape

 

What a day! Sometimes I really do wonder how I got to be so lucky. 

Ever since Dave and I spent our anniversary weekend at Chatham Bars Inn last October, we'd been wanting to take the kids to the restaurant there for the weekend breakfast. It's not technically a brunch buffet, but we think it might as well be, and we knew they'd really like it. It was quite a while before we could find a free day on the schedule, but eventually we did narrow in on this April Saturday and I'm so glad we did.

We were blessed with rather beautiful weather--a nice sunny day that started a little cool but quickly warmed. When we arrived we were very hungry so we chose to eat first thing. After a leisurely meal, we took a walk on the beach and spent some time lounging on the porch overlooking the water. April is really shoulder season on the cape so it was very quiet. We felt like we had the place to ourselves!

After a quick game of checkers in the lounge (maybe my favorite spot at the resort) we headed into town to browse the shops. It was a nice, relaxing walk. It was so good to feel the sun on our faces after such a long, cold winter. We had fun poking in and around the cute gift shops and (of course) couldn't resist a stop into the local bookstore. We treated the kids to some candy from the old-fashioned candy shop and soon decided to pop into the local library where we struck gold in the book sale room downstairs! We scored a full bag of books for a buck!!

We walked back to the car and came across one of those outdoor chess sets. I couldn't resist the kids pleas to pause long enough for a game and I was glad I didn't. Sitting on the granite bench watching them laugh and play in the sun and warm breeze really made me feel lucky--like this was what life was all about. What's the point of rushing all about and not taking time to appreciate where we are right now?

Our journey took us to Salt Pond Visitor's Center next. We managed to see a couple of films and the kids played in the shell/sand box for a good long time. I love a good (free) visitor's center. We learn so much from them!

No trip to the Cape would be complete without a visit to Hot Chocolate Sparrow so we pretty much had to go. It was a great day for raspberry lime rickeys. They were so refreshing. Soon enough we had to head to Eight Cousins because we didn't want to miss their open hours. After a good long browse, we found the local fish and chips joint and enjoyed an al fresco meal before heading home.

We packed a lot into one day and had so much fun doing so. We are very lucky to live in this part of the world, with abundant natural spaces to enjoy. I'm so glad we take the time to enjoy each other as a family, instead of filling every free moment with classes or social engagements. I know we take a hit for doing this--we don't get hundreds of holiday cards, for example, but I don't think I would be happy any other way. This is who we are and I like us!! 

Yarn Along

I'm breaking my pattern of once a month (last-minute) posting to join Ginny's Yarn Along at Small Things today! I'm pretty excited about the Shalom cardigan I cast on for last night. It was so hard to fall asleep because I kept thinking about working on it! Happily, I have a whole free day today and will surely enjoy many moments of outdoor, unseasonably warm-weather knitting.

I'm re-reading Last Child in the Woods for our homeschool support network this evening, but I'm not sure I'm going to be ready to give it the treatmaent it deserves, especially since I know the knitting is going to be calling me today. I'll probably go to the meeting anyway because I'd love to hear what others have to say. We make every effort to be outside for a good portion of every day, all year-round, but I have noticed that our schedule this fall is making it difficult to do so on Mondays and Tuesdays. It's such a difficult balance to strike, especially as a homeschooler. There are so many great activities out there, outdoor ones even, but it is so important to have unscheduled time as well. I wonder if I will ever get the hang of it!

Washburn Island

We had an absolutely beautiful weekend for our paddling trip to Washburn Island. We could not have asked for better weather! We were all on our toes driving down to the Cape, because we didn't really know what to expect. We had no idea how long it would take us to paddle out, no idea how much gear would fit in the canoe, and no sense of the facilities on the island. All the unknowns made it seem all the more of an adventure, and at the end of the day I think we were happier for the primitive setting. We had the island pretty much to ourselves, which might have been a little unsettling if it hadn't been for the steady boat traffic in the bay. At least we had a sense of civilization just out of our reach and earshot. It was lovely.

When we first arrived, the kids set to work pitching the tent, and Dave went back for a second boat full of gear. We sat on the beach watching for him and eventually spotted him on the horizon. We got a little nervous when he started to drift way off course, but soon enough he managed to get himself back on track. Phew! The kids ran down the coast to meet him and walked back as he paddled along the shore. By the time he made it to camp, we were all ready for dinner! Not long after, we were treated to that beautiful moon rising up from behind the houses on the other side of the bay. Wow! How did we get to be so lucky?

The next day was filled with a lot of hanging around basking in the sunlight and the sound of gentle waves, puncuated by a nice ramble around the island. The kids spent a good amount of time in the water on the other side of the island, technically in the Child's River, but very much like the ocean beaches they are used to. They were being very silly and made up a routine they did over and over that bascially sounded like an army training drill. I have no idea where it came from, but the way they excecuted it was so funny. They were really cracking us up!

After another peaceful night at the campsite, we were ready to pack up and head back to civilization totally rested and relaxed. Dave paddled back with a big load of gear and the kids sketched in their journals until it was time to meet him on the other side of the island for our departure. The whole trip had such a peaceful feeling to it, it was a little difficult to walk away, but at the same time, we were eager to load up the gear and the canoe and know that we weren't going to run out of daylight.

We headed straight to a seafood restaurant where we thoroughly enjoyed a meal prepared by someone else, made even better by the chance to eat it al fresco. Theo enjoyed his first lobster--inhaled it really. Fish and chips never tasted so good, in my humble opinion. For the rest of the afternoon, we strolled downtown Falmouth, where we enjoyed browsing the Farmers Market and many lovely boutiques. The perfect ending for our trip was a decadent two hours at Eight Cousins, the wonderful children's bookstore. After a slight detour for cupcakes, I think I can say that the trip was as close to perfect as I could ever hope for!