Thursday, July 31, 2008

Happy Nails!

Happy Nails!


I am so excited to report that after years of me begging, Katelyn has finally let me paint her nails! She is not really into girlie girl stuff so I was so pumped. Now we have matching nails, so cute! I may never get to do it again so I have to relish the moment. FYI-Cooper was not happy that he couldn't join in on the fun but I have to draw the line somewhere.

New Sod!

New Sod


We are happy to say that after 1 1/2 years in our home we finally have a complete back yard. The upper yard in the back had no sod due to the fact that there were townhomes being built above and the runoff would have killed the yard. Once we got our fence up we decided it was high time to get some grass. We love it. Our backyard looks so much bigger. The only downside now will be keeping the kids from playing up there and jumping off the wall. I have taken care of many fractures at the hospital from falls/jumps from retaining walls. Wish me luck. (If you can't remember how the back yard looked before check out the new fence post from last month.) Now if they will just put some sod in along the sidewalk next to our lot we will be all set.

Vacation Day #5

Vacation 2008 Day #5


Day #5 was pretty laid back. The weather was a bit rainy which didn't get us very motivated. We set out on our way to Provincetown at the tip of the Cape(P-town is what the locals call it). We had hoped that the weather would clear off and decided to head out to Race Point Beach. Unfortunately there was a storm in the distance making its way toward us. We played on the beach for a little while until the lightning was so close and the thunder was frightenly loud. We did however see a harbor seal while we were there which made it totally worth sticking around. It peeked out of the water briefly a couple of times. This was the day that we were really looking forward to as we had tickets to go whale watching. We were worried it would be cancelled but the weather cleared enough that they set out anyway. We went on the Dolphin Fleet Whale watch that left from P-town. It took about an hour to get far enough out to sea to find the whales. But once we found them we saw a lot of them. It was spectacular. Words cannot describe how cool it was to see these huge mammals swimming so close to us. We saw several mamas with there cubs which was so cute as they often dove together under the water. It was a rainy ride on the boat back to MacMillans Wharf and because of the rain we decided to head back to our resort. We did however stop on the way back to check out a couple more lighthouses at nighttime so that the kids could see them actually lit up.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Vacation Day #4-Look out Boston

Vacation 2008 Day #4


Look out Boston-here we come. It was high time to check out the big city of Boston and we were all very excited to see the sights. We took off early to find parking on the outskirts and took the subway into downtown at South Station. The subways were surprisingly clean and not too scary. The kids thought it was pretty cool at first but after awhile the subway seemed like no big deal anymore. By the time we drove to Boston, found parking, and met up with the rest of our clan it was lunchtime so we ate at Finagle A Bagel which was DELICIOUS! It was right next to our first sightseeing stop of the day which ended up lasting about 4 hours. We started with the Boston Childrens Museum which, let me just say, put our childrens museum to shame. There were 3 levels that were jam packed with different themed rooms with so much to see and play with that the kids were in hog heaven. I won't go into great detail but there are lots of pics that I put captions on to explain for those that are interested. We had originally planned to do the trolley tour that day but by the time we finished at the museum the tours had already stopped running so we decided to just hop on the "T" and go find some sights on our own. We first went down to Fanueil Hall Market Place and Quincy Market where we got caught in a downpour. We decided that was a great time to grab a bite to eat in the marketplace and had some rockin' hot dogs/chili dogs! Yum! The rain let up and so we crossed the street and walked through Christopher Columbus Park which had some pretty fountains. It had just rained to it smelled so fresh out and was just perfect! Next we decided to walk along the north end along the Freedom Trail. This is a trail marked with red bricks throughout like 3 miles of downtown taking you past many historical sites including Paul Revere's house, some old cemetaries, past several monuments, and the Old North Church. We walked through little Italy which was so quaint that I almost forgot we were in Boston. Next we took the subway over to Boston Common which is like the Central Park of Boston. The kids enjoyed checking out the Swan boats that you can apparently ride in at certain times of the day. We listened to a musician playing the accordian on the bridge and sadly ran across a young boy that had a seizure on the bridge. An ambulance was called and hopefully he did ok. Kind of scary. We also saw a few other musicians playing throughout the park for money. Katelyn thought that going up and putting money in their buckets was the coolest thing ever. She was so tickled everytime we gave her some change to place in their buckets and was so excited when they would stop playing their instruments to thank her. It started getting dark so we decided to get out of the park before the crazies came out. We took one last subway ride to the Christian Science Church so we could check out the reflection pool that we were hoping would be all lit up at night but it wasn't. It was still pretty though. Then it was back on the subways and back to our cars for a long drive back to the Cape. Needless to say we were exhausted when we arrived back at the resort and it was straight to bed when we arrived.

Vacation Day #3

Vacation 2008 Day #3


Sorry for the delay in blogging on my end. I got kind of sidetracked. I always mean to get on it but time gets away from me. So on to Vacation Day #3. We started out the day by doing my favorite thing-SLEEPING IN! Love it, love it! We decided to pack a picnic lunch and took it to Spohr Gardens in Woods Hole, MA. It is a 6 acre beautiful garden that made the perfect picnic spot. It sprinkled on us a little bit but it didn't last more than a few minutes. After roaming the gardens we drove around Woods Hole and found Nobska Lighthouse. It wasn't open for tours but it was fun to stop and take pictures anyway. It was the first lighthouse we saw on the trip so the kids were excited nonetheless. Cooper and Ryan had stayed home to nap while we had our picnic so we went back to the resort and picked them up before heading to South Yarmouth to the Pirates Cove Adventure Golf. It is a top rated family activity in the Cape Cod area and truly lived up to its name. It was huge, very clean, well taken care of, and lots of fun. The weather was fairly cool and cloudy but no rain! cooper had never been to mini golf before so we were a bit nervous as to how well this would go but surprisingly HE LOVED IT. He was such a big boy. He waited his turn and didn't try to hit or pick up anyone elses golf balls. He even kept his balls on the course which is more than I can say for some of the older kid Tiger Woods wannabe's. We are very excited that we have now found another activity to do as a family both the kids and ourselves enjoy so we will be visiting our local mini golf center soon. After a long game of minigolf we went to a restaraunt called Salty's. The food was really good and the environment was pretty cool too! We ate again out on the patio which was covered and lit with white lights! As you can tell by the name they specialized in seafood so it was time again to try something new. I ordered clam strips for Cooper thinking he would just think they were chicken strips and would like them- not so much! But, I tried them and actually thought they were delicious. I also tried swordfish. Not a fan, it tasted kind of bland. Kind of like eating plain tuna with no mayo. Oh well, at least I tried it right! Anyway after dinner we decided to head back to Surfside and go to bed.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Vacation 2008 Day #2

Vacation 2008 Day #2


We started out day #2 catching up on some much needed sleep. I decided to make pancakes for everyone. As everyone already knows, I am not the greatest cook. We forgot to buy Pam to spray the pan so we had to grease it with butter. However the pan was a bit too hot initially and my pancake looked more like a cow-pie. Once I adjusted the temp my pancakes turned out beautifully and I think everyone enjoyed them. The kids also got to play outside at the pirate themed playground for a bit while breakfast was cooking which they loved. Next up we drove to Dennis, MA which is mid-cape. We started with a stop at Scargo Tower. The tower is only 28 foot high but sits 160 feet above sea level atop the tallest hill in the area. From the top you can see Provincetown which is clear at the tip of the cape. We decided that with the gorgeous weather that day a trip to the beach was a necessity. We picked Mayflower Beach which is also in Dennis. We picked this particular beach because at low tide you can walk a mile out into the shallow waters of Cape Cod bay. It was the perfect beach for us because the kids had endless waters to swim and play in. There was a sandbar out in the middle of the water so Ryan and Cooper had a good time building sandcastles out there. The water was clear and beautiful but a tad on the cool side. The weather in Cape Cod this time of year is still on the cool side. Most days it was in the 70's to low 80's and the evenings were quite chilly in the 60's. After hours of fun at the beach we were all hungry but were by no means dressed for a nice restaurant. We stopped at a roadside place that was recommended by some locals called Captain Frostys Fish and Chips. It was here that I actually tried shrimp and clamcakes (I know, shocking, me and seafood)! Not a huge fan but at least I can say I tried it. We all filled our tummys while relaxing on the outdoor patio with the bees! After a day free of sunburn or beestings Ryan took all the kiddos back to the resort for bed and us girls went to finish the grocery shopping. I'm sure you can imagine how great we looked after being at the beach all day but whatever. We got back around 11pm from the grocery and it was off to bed to rest up for day #3. Oh, I forgot to mention that while at the beach Austin found a sand dollar which we all thought was pretty amazing.