A Whole Lot of Vacation Pictures | Boston + Cape Cod Summer 2013

{verrrry windswept + salty skinned}

We just returned from almost two weeks away and I have LOTS of pictures to share and catching up to do!  My plan was to break up our trip into several blog posts but each time I tried it felt daunting so I put it off.  Instead I'm just going to pile all the photos on you at once.  If you follow me on instagram, you likely have already had your fill of our vacation adventures, but I want to capture more details on the blog for our own memories.  If you want to tag along too, you are more than welcome!

We started out spending several days in Boston before heading to the Cape.  The weather was gray and chilly, which was perfect for exploring the city.  We ate incredible food, walked many miles and acted like tourists.  We lunched in Beacon Hill, had dinner in the North End, rode the Swan Boats in the Public Garden and re-enatced the Boston Tea Party!  I barely slept a wink for three nights because I shared a queen size bed with Charlie and I'm pretty sure he practices Taekwondo in his sleep.

On Saturday, the clouds cleared and Jimmy and Andrew returned to the hotel with a convertible rental car {surprise!!} for our drive down to Brewster.  Andrew was very jealous that Jimmy and I enjoyed one without him on our trip in the spring.  Renting one for the week was his only vacation request, so we obliged.  How we managed to squeeze all our luggage, stroller and bags into that tiny trunk I have no idea.  What one can accomplish when fueled by sheer determination!     

Our week in Cape Cod was spectacular! No humidity and sun every day {very unusual for our Cape Cod vacations}, even if a few mornings started out foggy.  It was the BEST vacation we've ever had as a family.  Better than Disney!  And the first time I've ever returned from a trip with children feeling relaxed and rested.  Maybe we've turned a corner with their ages?  Maybe iPads are heaven sent?  Maybe we were just in a familiar place and it felt so good to be back. Whatever it was, they were such wonderful travel companions -- easy going, happy and flexible.  Breakfast at 11:00 AM? Sure!! Stay on the beach till the sun sets?  Why not!! Let Mom and Dad sleep in?  Of course! {ok, maybe that last one only happened once or twice...} Regardless, we didn't want it to end.

{a bay side beach close to our rental home}

{his vacation face}

Our mornings were slow and lazy and most afternoons and evenings were spent at the beach.  I'm pretty sure Charlie was meant to live by the sea.   He never wanted to leave.  He could spend hours looking for shells, playing in the sand, out running waves, or flying a kite with his brother.  We drove with the top down on our car all week {my hair was in a constant state of disarray, but I didn't mind!}    Andrew also spent 3 days at The Brewster Day Camp and absolutely loved it.  He likes to keep busy and it was nice to be around children his own age too.  

{Charlie had $10 to spend on a souvenir.  He bought a cap gun.  Shocker.}

We enjoyed a day trip to Martha's Vineyard.  I oooooed and ahhhhhed over the homes in Edgartown.  We explored some beautiful shops, lunched on the harbor and cruised around the island in a shiny red Jeep.  We got a little lost trying to find the Alpaca Farm for Charlie, but he was ok with it.  Jimmy and I vacationed on MV about 14 years ago and explored every inch, so we thought we were above using maps and navigation this time around -- I guess we didn't remember the island as well as we thought. :)

 

We stayed in a very old "salt-box" style Cape home that is owned by friends of my parents.  The home is cozy and a little rustic. All showers were taken outside, there are fans instead of air-conditioning, and the ceilings in the boy's upstairs rooms can't be more than 6 ft high.   But the light is beautiful,  the car wheels crunch on the gravel driveway, the furnishings are cozy, it has that great old house smell {not musty, just old},  plus the garden is filled with flowers that I am free to clip at will.  We hung our laundry outside on a clothes line with old wooden pins and spent time cuddled on the sun porch in the mornings in our PJs.  Our days ended reading a 1950's Golden Book about the Seashore to Charlie that he picked out from the General Store on our first night.  And the TV was never turned on. Ever.

{vacation face again!}

{My favorite picture of me with my boys from this trip.  it's almost too personal to share on the blog but I'm going to anyway. Excuse my lack of make-up.  We'd all just gotten up.}

{I made different arrangements for each room. Sigh.}

My absolute favorite time of day to be on the beach is from 5-7:30.  The crowds are gone. There is that magical golden light that makes everyone and everything look extra beautiful.  We had several picnic dinners on the beach.  I'd like to pretend I packed beautiful baskets of food, but it was usually just a brown Trader Joe's bag with a bottle of wine and plastic cups and the food came from the beach snack shack, a very good beach snack shack, but a snack shack just the same {let's just say they are known for their onion rings}.  We also became professional kite fliers...

   {Charlie and Daddy flying}

{Mama flying}

{Andrew flying. With his foot. Show-off.}

It was really a special trip, one that is right at the tippy top for me.  The kind of vacation you always hope to have but aren't quite sure if they really exist.  I have a feeling it will be the one we reminisce about when they are older and grown.  The one we try to recreate but aren't ever really able to.  Everyone has one of those, don't they?  I know I do.  It was the trip I took with my family when I was about Andrew's age.  And it happened to be in Cape Cod too.  It is the one vacation I will always remember in a little more vivid detail than all the others, the one that was filled with the happiest stretch of days with my parents and my brother.  I think this past one will be that for Andrew and Charlie too.

And if ALL these pictures weren't enough.  We made a little film too.  {Can you say vacation documentation overkill?  Haha!  But I'm so happy to have these memories preserved to look back on in the years ahead.  It helps to freeze time.  Even if just a little bit.  Thanks for looking and letting me {over}share!

cape cod summer 2013 from tessa on Vimeo.