Cape Highlights and A Little Bit About Puppy

I've been begging Michael for days to post an update about our mini-"vacation" over the Fourth of July weekend; but, he's been busy or just not in the mood to write it all out. The consensus, however, from the few folks that actually read our blog is that Michael posts are far more entertaining to read. Although I consider myself a strong writer, I have to admit that I just don't have the ability to include the humorous descriptions that Michael does. So, until he regains the motivation to write . . . you're going to have to suffer through my dry recap. of our Cape Cod "vacation".

Perhaps you have noticed that vacation is in quotes each time that I have referred to it. Why is that? Well spending time at my family's summer home is never truly a vacation. Although time there usually results in going to the beach, good meals & drinks, going out for ice-cream, biking, window-shopping in quaint Cape Cod towns, and spending time with friends and family; it also means a lot of family time. Which for my family means things like planning ALL meals in advance, completing yard-work while the "team" is present to help out, playing musical chairs so that we can ALL watch a movie on a 27" TV, "sleeping in" until 7AM, and knowing where and when everyone is going at all times. I swear I'm not complaining about all of this. All that I'm saying is it doesn't make for the most relaxing of get-a-ways. Overall this trip was better than past visits. My grandparents are sometimes hard to take, and typically after a long summer of continuous family time, there is an air of ... let's say, irritation ... within the Cape house. This was a good visit though. Michael and I hadn't been down the Cape since last August; and because we were unsure if we would make it down again this summer we decided to cram many of our usual Cape activities into 3 days.

Friday morning began with a trip to Grumpy's (http://www.grumpyscapecod.com/index.html) our FAVORITE breakfast place on the Cape (Yes, I am a traitor to the breakfast place at which I worked for 8 years). Even though I couldn't get my first breakfast of choice, neither of us had complaints and left plenty full. After a divergent trip to TJMaxx (someone needed a new bathingsuit. . . .) and reporting home, we headed to the beach. Finally, we were able to truly test out our new backpack chairs and YES, they were worth EVERY penny. No need for a beach bag and no complaints about walking from the municipal lot. So far, best purchases of this summer (well, besides the soon-to-be-here puppy of course). The beach was perfect. The 4th of July crowds still hadn't arrived allowing us space to breathe and relax. Until, that is, an irrate man began yelling at the 4 irresponsible lifegaurds that had completely neglected to see a woman being pulled away from shore by the tide. Not to worry, the irrate man had called the harbor-master, who pulled the woman back in to shore before the lifegaurds even comprehended what the man was telling them. Ohhh, Bank St. Beach.

Friday evening was spent at the fireworks. Yes, it was only July 2nd. Michael and I both found this extremely odd; but, we HAD to stick to the tradition of going to the fireworks at Rock Harbor whether they were on the 4th or not. Waiting for the show we were eaten alive. Finally, Michael and Alex agreed to walk the 1.5 miles back to the car to get the bug spray (thanks again, guys!). Their trek meant that they missed this gorgeous sunset (right), but we were saved from hundreds of bites. And so, Michael and I had to take our traditional Rock Harbor photo this year sans sunset.

Late Saturday morning and early afternoon were spent kayaking a pond in Harwich. This was an exciting adventure since none of my family had kayaked at this spot before. Typically, we kayak Bass River which allows you to follow a path of sorts. Obviously, in the pond it's wide open paddling. Michael and I disagreed about which was better. I prefer the openess of the pond. To me, it's more relaxing and allows you to feel truly away from everything. Michael prefers the river. Always a man-with-a-plan he likes the idea of having a destination and a set way to get there. To each his own. This outing was especially adventurous in that my grandparents actually came along. Yes, they usually try to get involved in every activity we do down the Cape, except for biking and kayaking. They've never shown an interest. But, this time they did. They came to watch and particularly enjoyed talking to any person that walked by (of course). My grandmother actually gave the kayaking a try! There were some nice family moments (below).

Saturday evening Michael and I revisited an old hangout: The Squire. We enjoyed some popcorn shrimp, quality people watching, and probably too many beers. From there we headed to Michael's favorite ice-cream establishment: Dairy Queen. Despite the fact that we now live within 15 miles of 2 DQs, he was extatic to finally be getting a DQ down the Cape again. Even though it was obvious that they were closed due to the pitch-black drivethrough board, Michael insisted if he drove through the drivethrough the boy working there would still sell him a cone. Michael's smooth talking failed this time and he settled for icecream at home.

The 4th was a quiet day at the Cape house. With the humidity settling in, everyone stayed cool reading and lounging around. Later in the day we celebrated with clams casino, steamers, and burgers. In the evening Michael and I took a walk on West Dennis Beach and shared a red-white-and-blue sundae at Sundae School (www.sundaeschoolicecream.com).

After an extended weekend, it was back to reality for both of us. Not too much reality though. Today marked the end of my final clinical practicum, which means ALL of my graduate requirements are completed. Two things left to do: officially graduate (Aug.7th) and get a job. For Michael, he's on vacation next week. We'll just be hanging around N.Andover, training the new puppy and getting ourselves adjusted to a new routine. Things are pretty much ready for Puppy's arrival. His crated area is set up, we have food, treats, and toys, etc.etc. The name list has been updated. There's not much else we can do now but enjoy our last night as "just the two of us" and get some quality sleep.

(7 weeks)