We made it to the Cape. I feel like this is going much more smoothly now. We left at 4:20 am, after having packed the car for two solid days. That part is not going more smoothly. With Seamus and Gilbert out of school the house was a chaos zone. We had stuff down from the attic, were staging a bunch of stuff, and just generally creating mess. Porter had been at camp the week before, so we didn’t really get many errands done. We did accomplish using the entire CSA box either as prepped food, eaten food, or frozen before we left. I consider that a big win!
Anyway, the drive isn’t that exciting to talk about because it went so quickly. We made it through Baltimore before 6:00 am, New York was busy, but Connecticut wasn’t its usual parking lot. We listened to three books on tape, finishing one, a complete story (Everything on a Waffle), and starting another (Maniac McGee). Porter and Harlan both napped a couple of times, we stopped at the scenic overlook in Mystic, CT, and before 2:00 we were unpacking! Gilbert and I found Skip-Bo and he beat me at a game!
The biggest success was that we got a beach day in yesterday. It’s unprecedented for us to get beach time on the day we arrive. This year, we bought a beach umbrella and a beach chair. I brought Porter and Harlan back sand toys from Germany, but Seamus and Gilbert like digging and sand play too. We also brought along the backpack cooler for beach time lunches. We didn’t get that ambitious yesterday, but we did spend an hour at the beach in the afternoon. We left when Seamus ended up freezing from his dip in the pond. Harlan wanted to play with the ducks, and Porter made friends with a little boy swimming in the water. Gilbert caused general chaos.
This morning, we checked out the fish pier (always a favorite for the seals that hang out there) and Coast Guard Beach (instead of going to the beach, we looked at the boats and cemetery). After we got back to the house, we went off to Ridgevale Beach to play in the tide pools. I made sandwiches and we enjoyed lunch on the beach. Porter loved the tide pool and pretended he was fishing. Harlan made sandcastles and then stomped on them. He threw his bucket in the tide pool, hoping the current would carry it far enough so Gilbert would have to go get it, which he would to many giggles from Harlan. The Nantucket Sound side was calm, so we didn’t do much wave-jumping. Maybe tomorrow. Now the younger boys are napping, and the older boys are kayaking. I’m going to go check them out.
We are so happy to be launched! Porter and Harlan both wanted to stay longer at the beach, but they had gotten so tired. I promised more beach tomorrow. A few years ago, we declared it the Year of the Bike, and another the Year of the Hike. Last year was the Year of the Playground. This year, with kids 9, 7, 3, and 2 is the Year of the Beach!
PS: Bonus funny Harlan story: We were out walking with him in the stroller recently, and a woman said, oh, what a pretty baby. I said thanks, but Harlan said, “I not baby! I not baby!” He will repeat himself until you acknowledge what he said. It’s like an echo chamber sometimes! Porter brought his little piano on the trip so he could practice playing Hot Cross Buns and Mary Had a Little Lamb. Gilbert’s been doing Mad Libs in the car, and Seamus is obsessed with World Cup scores.
Academic Leigh Speaking 