While the kids get up at the crack of dawn (which this far north is like 5:15!), we’ve been making the most of it to get out and about early. Porter and Harlan are now on the same nap schedule most days, which is its own kind of magic. Except I’m trying to sneak in this blog post while they’re napping, and Porter is having none of it at the moment. He really needs to rest though, because he wants to go to “Grandude’s beach” this afternoon and see the ducklings. He’s pretty good, but he melts down on low sleep.
So far, we’ve been to a few beaches. We also checked out the pond on the property. There are two ride on top kayaks, and guess who fell in love?
It wore them out! Patrick gave them some verbal coaching, and with a little trial and error, they were paddling out and back and in small circles around the pond. Pretty cool to see them learn a new skill from apprehension and doubt to confidence and excitement in one afternoon. They’re going out again this afternoon.
We also went down to the fish pier to watch the boats loading up to go out and to see the seals that hang out at the pier looking for handouts. It was a beautiful morning for it. This was after we spent a good part of the morning at a playground working on monkey bars. I do not know where children get their endless reserves of energy.
The house has a ping-pong table in the basement, and they’ve devised a king of the court style game so everyone can play. Gilbert has a pretty good serve, and Seamus moves quickly, so it’s been hard to win at KotC very long! There’s a pool table, but they can’t really handle the cue sticks yet.
Today, we went to a different playground in the morning (are you sensing a theme?) and then in the face of cloudy and breezy weather, decided to go to Chatham to walk around instead of the beach. The town library was sponsoring a story walk and facepainting. You walk through town stopping to read a page of a story every 30 feet or so, and then end at the library for painting. Porter didn’t want anything at first, but he got so excited by the fish on one arm, that he wanted more on the other. It didn’t happen for him. Gilbert got a smiling puppy dog on his arm, and Seamus went fierce.
I really didn’t want to wait in the long line, but they were so happy, it seemed worth it at the end. Harlan did not get painted, but he mugged for the camera!
Tomorrow the kids are going fishing, and we’re going to take in a Cape league baseball game. It is so nice to be away from home for a while. We have really enjoyed the children and the change of scenery. There’s still dishes and laundry to do, but it doesn’t seem like such a chore when we’re having fun. Also, the three bathrooms at our disposal make a big difference! I think the best thing is that Patrick and I are feeling so relaxed that we are able to have fun with the kids, and in turn, the kids’ behavior is more to our liking.
Academic Leigh Speaking 