Beach Bums

Yup, we have definitely settled into the beach bum lifestyle.

Just in time to go home tomorrow.

Boo.

I am so in denial about getting back to reality tomorrow.

It's been a good 5 days at the beach.

Today brought mini golf and lunch at Arnold's.

Sissy had fried scallops.  D had clam chowder.  E got the fried whole belly clams. And I had the lobster roll.

Yummy lunch.

And fun mini golf.  Little bit hot.  But lots of fun.

D&E tied for 1st place.  Then came Sissy.  And then came me.  Dead last.

At least our scores were close.  56, 56, 57, 58.

Then our late afternoon was spent on the beach.

Cape Sissy and niece M came up for a short visit.  It was nice to hang on the beach with them for a while.

Because the tide was so late, Sissy and I decided we would head up about 5:30.

Then we would eat dinner with my dad, nana, and Uncle T.  Uncle T was making spaghetti & meatballs for dinner.  It was yummy.

After dinner, we would go back down to the beach to swim.

We thought the water would be warm.  And it was.  But it didn't feel like it at first.

Once we were in though, it was very nice.  And the air was cold.  Which made it hard to get out of the water.

Our towels felt very good wrapped around ourselves when we came out of the water.

Yet another stellar day here at the Cape.

Now to head home tomorrow.  Which we are all looking forward to.

But we will miss the beach too.

We'll just have to come back for another visit this fall.

Fall is beautiful on the Cape.

Looking forward to our return trip already.

potd #225.  D with the crab she caught today.  This is huge.  Way huge.  She is really scared of crabs.  But today, for reasons I am not sure of, she decided to go crab hunting with E.  And catch crabs.  E was so sweet with her.  Teaching D how to find them.  What to look for in the sand to find the crabs.  And she did it.  All of it.  So very proud of her.  Way to go D!

Beach Blanket Bingo

We are really enjoying our trip to the Cape.

Lots of family time.

Lots of beach time.

Such a fantastic combination.

Going to sleep tonight E said to me, "I love this house, Mom."

Me too, E.  Me too.

It's not a trip to the Cape if you don't get some saltwater taffy.  Yum.

Girls favorite flavor this year:  cotton candy.  Can't blame them.  Tastes just like it.

Here is a minnow E caught today.

The minnows get big this time of year.

We headed down to the beach this afternoon when the tide was still coming into shore.

Which means there were lots of tidal pools.

One particular tidal pool had a few crab(blue claw) carcasses.  We noticed that the minnows were surrounding them to clean out the meat that the seagulls hadn't been able to get.

So, D&E decided to use a couple of the crab carcasses as bait to catch the minnows. Especially the big minnows.  They're smart & fast.

It worked like a charm.

E caught lots of minnows.   And a few large minnows.  Happy girl.

Ah, this picture makes my heart happy.

E reading on the beach.  We were out on a sandbar waiting for the tide to come in further.  So we could swim.

D in the background, happy as a clam(pun intended!), just playing in the shallow water.

It makes me so happy to see my girls enjoying the same beach that I did at their age.

Sissys together at the beach.  Absolutely love this.

And absolutely love seeing them together like this.

Makes up for all the times they were bickering over the last week or so.

potd #214.  Happy card players.  D & Nana.  Such great, fun memories being made.  And Nana is always ready with a smile for the camera.

Card Shark

This morning E played cards with my Dad & Nana.

D played for a bit, but it was E who hung in there for awhile.

They were playing an old card game from not only my youth or my fathers' youth, but from my nanas' youth.

It was "Steal the Pack".

Here is a description of how to play.

It's great fun.

And let's just say, things can get crazy when people are starting to steal another players' pack of cards.

Nana is a great card player.

And she's competitive.

At 95, practically 96.

Sissy and I decided after watching her play this morning, that we wouldn't want to meet her in a dark alley.

Ruthless.

Such great memories are being made this vacation to the Cape.

I am so happy my girls will have not only memories, but such good memories with my Nana.

She truly is the best.  And she loves the girls to bits.  Loves all of us to bits.

potd #223.  This is such a fantastic picture.  It just screams FUN!  No doubt about it, these 3 were having loads of fun playing cards today.

Beachy Afternoon

Well, today could have been a complete wash out at the beach.

The weather really did not look that great.

Cloudy.  Little bit of rain this morning.

Yuck.

And then, amazingly, the sun started to peek out from behind the clouds.

And it did that throughout the day.

At some points it was downright hot.

At all points it was downright humid.

Thank goodness Uncle T recently put in central air.

It is surely saving us this weekend.

Anyhoo.

We had a great day.

The girls went to play tennis with Hubby, my bil D, and my nephew J.

Sissy, niece K, and I hit a couple of thrift shops.

Then we stopped to grab some stuff for dinner.

And we called the guys and asked them to stop and get the steaks for dinner.

Yum.

This afternoon was quite pleasant.

Cape Sissy and niece M came up for a visit.

We all went over to a nearby park with walking trails along the beach.

We really weren't there for the walking trails.

We were there for the annual "picture by the whale bones" picture.

There is an old house on the property that used to belong to one of the old whaling captains.

And at the entrance of one end of the property are two "whale" bones.

I believe that long ago the whale bones were real.

Unfortunately, the ones there are no longer there.

Time and vandals have a way of taking care of that.

But it's fun to get a picture of the kids by the whale bones.

Sissy has been doing it with her kids since they were 5 & 2.  It's fun to look back at the pictures from year after year.

D&E by the whale bones.  Behind them is the house.

It is a wonderful property.

Here are all 5 cousins.  Such a fun picture to take.  

I was not ambitious enough to take my pictures off my camera tonight.

I am sure the ones on there are much better.  But these are fun to look at too.

After getting all of our pictures taken, we headed back to the house to go to the beach.

It was a wonderful afternoon.

Just the right amount of sunshine mixed in with clouds so we weren't too hot.

And the water was gorgeous.

Hoping the weather continues to get better and better.

Too bad Hubby has to go home tomorrow.  K, J, and bil D are heading home too.

Well it's tough to stay, but I guess Sissy and I will manage.

And we get some extra time to spend with Uncle T, Nana, and my dad.

potd #222.  Such a great picture of E and J.  They were doing some serious minnow catching/hunting.  This picture makes me want to never go home.  I truly do love the beach.

Beaching It

We are back at the beach for a few days.

Ahhhhhhh.

Feels good.

Even on a mostly cloudy day.

Heavy rain tonight.

Hoping it all clears out tonight.

We are all hoping for a beach day tomorrow.

Went for a walk on the beach with the girls this morning.

It was lovely.

Lots of shells and a few pieces of sea glass found.

D even found a few heart shaped rocks for me.

Happy beach girls.

This is the upstairs to Uncle Ts' house.

We can sleep 8 people up here.

There are 3 twin beds, a day bed, a queen bed, and the "mattress" bed.

What's the "mattress" bed you ask?

Well, its about 5 mattresses all stacked up on top of one another.

They are stacked that way because the stairs to go up are so steep, the box springs couldn't get up there.

So, we have the crazy "mattress bed".

And it's really only for kids and teenagers to sleep.

It's cozy up there.   But we love it.

This weekend there are 11 of us here.  Including my Nana.  Yay!

Love being here at the Cape with my Nana.

4 generations of our family in the house.  Just awesome.

Cape Sissy and her daughter will be up to visit tomorrow.  

If they stay over, that will make 13 sleeping in U. Ts' house.

Not bad for a 2 bedroom house.

So happy to be here for the next few days.

potd #221.  To me, these are the best.steps.ever.  They lead directly from U Ts' house down to the beach.  Happiness is these 52 steps to the beach.

Bounty

potd #220. This was my bounty from the garden today. This makes me happy. Hard garden work paying off.

Summer Cold

Hubby came home with a cold last week.

He had been away for work & he started to not feel well on the plane trip home.

Now, D has the cold.

She was a bit off yesterday.  Little bit cranky.

She was not quite herself but I couldn't figure out what was wrong.

We had a few talks about her needing an attitude adjustment.

Then this morning D woke up all congested and sounding like she had a frog in her throat.

I had the a-ha, light bulb moment.

Bingo.  This was why she was off yesterday.

D was a trooper today.

We ran some errands with Sissy.

And then this afternoon she just chilled on the couch.

At one point I checked on her and asked her how she was feeling.

She said to me, "I feel gloomy."

Too cute.  And I knew just what she meant.

Hoping a good nights' sleep will help.

No time for a cold.  Getting ready to head off to the beach for a few days.

potd #219.  Nothing like a Coolatta on a hot summer night.  Hit the spot.