Picture Perfect

What a day.

The weather was just picture perfect.  Sunny, lots of blue sky, warm and very little wind.

Could not ask for a better weather day in mid-April here at Cape Cod.

We started off the day by heading out for breakfast.  Attached to the local donut shop that we love is a restaurant which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I chose the homemade cranberry walnut bread french toast.  It did not disappoint. Delicious.

Needless to say we were all so full from breakfast that lunch was not needed.

Sissy & I have decided that we will be heading back for breakfast again either Monday or Tuesday morning.

The rest of our day consisted of 2 great hikes and then heading back to the beach at UT's house.

The girls were happy to spend an hour or so flying their kite.

Tonight we enjoyed dinner at one of the local restaurants.

Choices made for dinner ranged from clam chowder, fried clams, fried oysters, fried fish to hot dogs and cheeseburgers.  We were all happy.

And once again, full.

From dinner we headed over to an ocean side beach and walked a bit.  We found some great drift wood.  And were pleasantly surprised that it was not very windy.

We capped off the day with a stop a Ben & Jerry's for ice cream.

We just finished playing a couple rounds of spoons.  It is a card game that involves cards and spoons.

And it's dangerous.

If you haven't played, google directions to play and get a group of people together to play.  You won't be sorry.  It's easy and fun.  And don't forget, dangerous.

Over the winter my uncle had large rocks brought in to protect his sand bank from eroding.  After the company brings in the rocks and sand they plant plugs of sea grass.

In the last 30 years he has lost many feet of land from erosion.  And he has had to fix his beach stairs countless times.  This will hopefully prevent him from having any more issues.

Before one of our hikes, we stopped at the local seashore museum where the trail started.  I thought it was so neat to read that they would use salt marsh hay to feed the livestock.

And the cows that ate the salt marsh hay apparently produced salty milk.  Go figure.

That's one of the things we learned reading this sign.

I love how these 2 vines have twisted and grown together.

E taking a break from climbing the fairly large glacial boulder that is one the trail of our 1st hike.  We spent quite awhile here while D&E and Hubby, J(my nephew), and my bil climbed up and down over and over.  It was great fun.

My niece, K's converse.  Cute.

Took this picture on our 2nd hike.  It is a trail that can be covered during high tide. Luckily it was low tide and we were able to walk the trail.  Last summer we had to move pretty quick to get back over the trail or we would have been swimming our way back!

Right now, much of the trail is covered with broken tall reeds that are laying on the ground.  Mostly due to the tide pushing it down.

E wanted to take a look down a particular path off the trail.  So she & my bil walked down the path a bit.

And then they discovered all of the baby crabs that were crawling all over the sand. It was amazing to just watch the ground.  Because it looked like it was moving.

Here's one of the crabs we found.  Perched on Hubby's fingers.  Have to watch out for the big claw, that one may hurt a bit if it gets a hold of you.

These are great old wooden supports from an old wooden bridge.  The bridge is no longer there.

When we headed over to the ocean side beach after dinner, we found 2 large pieces of driftwood.  As in tree trunk size driftwood.  They were awesome.

I did my best to convince Hubby to bring one of them home.  It didn't work.

Thatta girls.  D&E trying to lift a tree trunk size driftwood to bring home for me.  It was heavy.  And it was very comical to watch them try to lift it.

They were perfect pieces of driftwood too.  Perfectly smooth.  Beautiful.  Oh well.

Luckily D was a sweetie and found me 3 small pieces of driftwood to bring home.

potd #103.  E took a piece of charred wood and used it to draw a heart on one of the tree trunk pieces of driftwood.  Love it.

By The Sea

We just arrived at my uncle's house on Cape Cod.

He is a snowbird and is still in Florida.  He, my Nana, and my Dad will all be back up north in just about a month.

Each year we and Sissys' family come out to UT's house in late April/early May to open up the house for the year.

It's a long standing tradition.

Before UT and my Dad retired and flew the coop, we all would come out for the weekend in April.

Lots of great memories here at this house.

It is one of my very.favorite.places.ever.

Even though it's not home, it certainly feels like it.  Ahhhhhh.

Took this photo a couple summers ago.  UT's house is on Cape Cod Bay.  This is the walkway from the house to the stairs that lead to the beach.

The stairs to the beach.  In any given year the number of stairs range from 43-50ish. It depends on the amount of sand brought in or taken away from the shoreline during the winter.

Cape Cod Bay.  Very calm on this particular July morning.  This picture makes me happy and long for summer.

A beautiful morning on the beach.  Nice and quiet.  Now I really can't wait for summer.

The weekend in April is always a great one.  After not being here since late August, it's a fantastic feeling to get back to the Cape.

This weekend starts the promise of warm weather and lazy summer days.

Boy, that sounds good.

potd #102.  All packed and ready to go.

Sweet Heart

It has been a long week.

Thank goodness tomorrow is the last day of school before April vacation.

It has been a long stretch since Christmas.

I think everyone is ready for a little break.  That goes for kids, parents, teachers. Everyone.

The girls & I are very much looking forward to a week of no routine.

We are headed to the Cape tomorrow through next Wednesday. Ahhhhh.  We are very lucky that we can go to my uncle's house for a few days.

Sissy and her family are coming too.  And CC Sissy will becoming to see us with my niece M.

Hubby, Sissy's husband, and my nephew J will be heading home on Sunday.  All of us girls will be staying until Wednesday.  Looking forward to spending time with my Sissys and all the girls.

So, tomorrow can't come soon enough.

Now to D and her sweet heart.

Over last weekend she made such a sweet "Happy Spring" card for all of her classmates.  She taped six 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper into a rectangle.

She then wrote them a letter telling them how much she enjoyed being in class with them all.  She wrote that she would be sad when this school year is over and they are not all in class together anymore.

She wrote how much each and everyone of them meant to her.  And how happy she was that she had the chance to be in class with them and get to know them all.  She also wrote how much she enjoyed her teacher and all the things she is teaching them this year.

And she signed it, "Your friend & classmate, D"

She has such a sweet heart.

Today when the girls got home from school, D decided to make a poster for her class.

She started with the words, " We Make The World Go 'Round".

Then she drew the Earth.

And then she added the people standing around the Earth, holding hands.

D counted out each one.  Making sure there were just enough people as she has classmates.  She made sure to include her teacher too.  Twenty-three little people circling the Earth.

She really has such a sweet heart.  She determinedly sat at the kitchen counter coloring the poster.  We were getting ready to head out as a family to celebrate my birthday.  She very much wanted to finish.

The idea of not being able to finish the poster was very distressing for her.  Even though her classmates have no idea she is doing this, the idea of letting them down by not bringing it in before vacation was a wee bit upsetting for her.

Luckily I was quick to assure her that she would have time when we got home from dinner to finish.

Before we left for dinner she was able to finish coloring the Earth.

When we got home she colored in all 23 people.

She did a great job and is very excited to bring it in to school tomorrow.  I will have to post a picture tomorrow of the finished product.

potd #101.  This is an art project that D did in Art class at school.  Their assignment was to use the white square to artistically show something they love to do or something that they really like.  They couldn't use markers, crayons, etc.  They were to only use pieces of paper to cut and glue to create their design.  D decided to use her square to represent music.  I think she did a fantastic job.

Turning Nine

Today is my birthday.  Yay.  Sort of.

Next year is a milestone birthday for me.  From what I hear the "9's" of a decade are not fun.

And from my reaction turning this "9", I would say that is quite correct.

I don't think it helps that I had to handle the Domino Effect last night.

Guess I need to figure out what I want to do/be when I grow up.

potd #100.  So glad I decided to skip knitting to stay home and go to lacrosse with the girls & Hubby.  D was able to try out being goalie.  She did a great job and made some great stops.  One against her sister.  E wasn't too happy about that!  Yay D! And then we got to go home and have super yummy Carvel ice cream cake.

Domino Effect

Note:  This post isn't necessarily kid friendly.......

Hubby was out tonight.  He owes me big after tonights' conversation with the girls.

D was in her shower and E was in their room already in her pajamas.

Little did I know the dominos were about to fall.

She told me she had a question to ask me.  And then she proceeds to tell me that she's pretty sure that the Easter Bunny isn't real and that I make the Easter baskets.

Shoot.  Knew this was coming, but was just hoping it wasn't going to come until Christmas time.

So after trying to dodge the question for a minute, she point blank asked me "Is the Easter Bunny real?"

Bleck.  After Sunday, Hubby & I decided that the next time either of the girls asked questions about the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus we would tell them the truth.

Hubby so owes me.

With E looking at me I couldn't not tell her the truth.  And she handled it pretty well.

There were some tears and we talked about how they are not to say anything to any other kids.  She was good with that, understanding that it's for the moms & dads to talk to the kids.

E & I also decided that we would talk to D when she finished her shower.  Which I did and D handled it very well.  She's so practical and analytical.

And then then dominos started to fall.

D was getting her pajamas on when she suddenly looked at me and asked, "This means Santa isn't real, is he?"

Bleck, bleck.  Now Hubby is really going to owe me, I am thinking.

E quickly tried to affirm Santa's realness, through some tears.

Yup, Hubby so owes me.

Again with both of them looking at me, I had to tell them the truth.  That was when the real tears and lots of them came from E.

D handled it well with some tears.  She really is so practical and analytical.  Can't wait to see what she does for work when she grows up.

At this point E was quite upset.  So upset that none of it is real.  I told her even I wished it was real.  Thankfully, they weren't upset at us for carrying on the idea of Santa and the Easter Bunny.

E took her anger out on the tissues she was holding from crying.  I think she ripped about 5 tissues.

Throughout the tears I interjected some humor to help them.  I love that my girls are so quick to smile about something even through tears.

After a few minutes E looked at me through her tears and said, "Now you're going to tell me the tooth fairy isn't real either."

This really wasn't a shocker.  It was coming, just a matter of time for them to figure it out.

What was really funny is the next thing they asked was what I did with their teeth! So I told them I kept them and we went to go look at them  They both thought that was pretty cool.

There were still some tears from E.  She is definitely more sensitive to this kind of thing.  What she is most upset about is why those things can't be real.

I think I handled it fairly well.  I think they did fairly well with their reactions.  Pretty much what I expected from them.

So yeah, Hubby definitely owes me big for handling this talk with them.

As I expected I am so very sad that this part of their childhood is over.  You really do have them for such a short period of time.

As always, these are the moments when I want to freeze them at this age. 

And on the flip side I am looking forward to making some new holiday traditions with them this year at Christmas.  I think with their sweet hearts it will be easy to get them to do some charity to help keep the belief alive for other kids.

potd #99.  Dinner tonight.  Chili.  This is the easiest chili to make ever.  I think that is why they call it Chili Magic.  Because it really is magic.  All you have to do is brown 1lb. hamburger with some chopped onion.  Then you add in a can of diced tomatoes and a can of Chili Magic.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Voila, you have chili.  Top with some cheese, sour cream and scallions,  serve with cornbread.  Yum.  D&E love it too.

A Hunting We Go

What a wonderful day we had yesterday.

And the girls love to do the egg hunt.  And J loves to hide the eggs.

Sissy took the girls inside while Hubby & J were hiding the bazillion plastic eggs that we had filled previously with mini kit kats, hershey kisses, rolos, and foiled eggs.

Okay, maybe it wasn't a bazillion.  But, it was pretty close.

K & I sat in the sun.  Relaxing.

Oh, and eating a chocolate bunny that Sissy had brought out for us.  Yum.

After what felt like eternity, especially for the girls, Hubby & J finally finished hiding all the eggs.  And then we called the girls out to start hunting.

This one was not found for quite awhile.  Even though it was in the middle of the yard.

Here's another egg that took some time to be found.  It was funny watching the girls walk right by it.  Not seeing it at all.

Of course I had to take a picture of the pretty tulip in Sissy's yard.  It was most certainly planted by Gramma C(my bil's mother.  Sissy & her family live in the house that her fil built with bil's mom.).

Sissy is not known to have a green thumb, we like to call it the black thumb of plant death,  so all the pretty flowers outside are due to sweet Gramma C.

E plucking an egg out of a bush.

I love the placement of this blue egg.  J was quite sneaky hiding it with the blue soccer ball and blue/purple violets.  This was one of the last 4 or 5 eggs to be found. And we had to give lots of hints.

There are 2 eggs in this picture.  The pink one in the jug and there is also a green one perched in the shelf bracket.  Towards the end of the hunt, these 2 eggs were still not found by the girls.  We could not believe it.

Finally, one of them found the green one.  And we told them there was another egg in that area.  All of us figured they would find the pink one pretty quick.

Not so.

D&E looked high and low.  And could not see that pink egg.  It was comical.  Can you see how close they are to the egg???  And yet, they have no clue it is up there!  Finally, E spotted it.  There were quite the squeals of laughter from them when it was finally found.

And then they were off to find what was left.  By this point, they were needing lots of hints from J.

J and his little ducklings.  Trying to find the last few hidden eggs.  J is so good with them.

Here's another well hidden egg.  This one was also among the last 5 that were found.

Towards the end of the egg hunt, D took a moment to pose for me.  Sweet D.  We seem to be butting heads a bit in the last week to 10 days.  So, I love moments like this one.

Sissy's garage through the forsythia.  I love the red. I want a red barn in the worse way.  Not a real barn with animals.  But a mini red barn.  There is a store near us that sells furniture and house things as well as all sorts of gazebos, sheds, wooden swing sets, and mini barns.

Every time we drive by, I tell Hubby that he needs to buy me a red barn.  I would use it for gardening stuff.  And maybe even a little workshop of some kind.  Gotta work on that one.

potd #98.  E came home sick today.  She started last night at bedtime with a very stuffy nose.  This morning she claimed that she really didn't feel well.  I knew she didn't feel great but thought that she could make it through the day.  Knowing full well that she would most likely be staying home tomorrow.  So, I coaxed her to school. Let's just say I was not surprised when I got a call from the nurse right around E's snack time.  Through my conversation with the nurse I decided to have her go back to class to see how much longer she could last.  She did good.  She lasted until noon and then I got the 2nd call from the nurse.  And off I went to pick E up.  She spent the rest of the afternoon snuggling on the couch.  Keeping her home tomorrow to rest and get better.

Sunday Songs on Resurrection Sunday

He is Risen.

He is Risen, Indeed.

Rather than saying Happy Easter, our paster prefers to say Happy Resurrection Sunday.

So, Happy Resurrection Sunday to all of you.

Here are the songs we sang today:
Christ The Lord Is Risen Today
Christ Arose
God Arise
Days of Elijah

All of these are great songs.  The one that stuck with me all day was Christ Arose.

We sing a few hymns every now and then.  This one is definitely amongst my favorites.

Love the lyrics.  And there is a certain majesty about the tune.  A classic.

Up from the grave He arose
With a mighty triumph o'er his foes
He arose a Victor from the dark domain
And He lives forever with His saints to reign
He arose!  He arose!
Hallelujah!  Christ Arose!

We had a very nice morning with the girls before heading to church.  They enjoyed their Easter baskets.

 

And I/Hubby dodged questions about the Easter Bunny all day.  Let me stress, all day.

It's getting hard to dodge the questions.

Something tells me it won't be long now before they really figure it out.  And there will be more questions.

So Hubby & I need to decide what to do when the questions start again.

One sure thing is when the Easter Bunny goes, so will Santa & the Tooth Fairy.

While part of me is ALMOST ready to let it all go, there is a really big part of me that is very sad about losing D&E believing in those "characters".

It's another sign that my girls are growing up.  Boo.

I really need to figure out how to freeze them at 8.

After church we headed to Sissy's house for a wonderful Easter dinner.  We had a ham with lots of yummy side dishes.  Her mil makes the best potato salad.  Yum.

And there was an egg hunt.  I think my nephew J had a great time hiding all the eggs. Hubby helped him, but J just loved finding sneaky spots to hide the plastic filled eggs.

potd #97.  A purple egg hidden around some pretty little Johnny Jump-ups that have sprouted on the edge of Sissys' back porch.  I will post more egg hunt pics tomorrow.