Why do vacations go so quickly?

This summer we were hoping to make it to Utah, sadly with Christian's job prospects at the time being zero, we could not rationalize purchasing the cost of three plane tickets.  We decided that instead we would rent a cottage on Cape Cod for a week which was a little more than the cost of 1 plane ticket.  We planned to have a nice little family of three outing, but three weeks ago, my mom decided she and my dad wanted to join us for her 50th Birthday present.  

We were super excited to get to see some more family this summer!  We rented an adorable cottage in Dennisport just 3/10 of a mile from the beach.  The ocean temperature was so awesome this year; it was warm and lovely to swim in.  We had such a nice visit with my parents and a great time exploring the Cape. 

Grandma and Grandpa watched Berkeley while we had a nice date; we rode a nice 26 miles on our bikes.  We stopped at Seymour Pond on our bike back and had a nice swim to cool us off.  I love biking but don't feel like I get to do it enough, which is probably why I am no good at it.  I just prefer running or swimming more. 

This was the first time both of my parents swam in the ocean.  It was fun to plan around in the ocean with them and share their experience.

Every day that we visited the beach, Berkeley made Grandpa or Dad dig him a hole.  Once he was in his hole he would ask everyone to go get water from the ocean and fill up the hole.  This process was relentless.

Christian and my Dad went on a deep sea fishing excursion; they brought home some yummy black sea bass which we grilled that night.  My dad even caught this cute little shark, but let him go.

Dad and Berkeley had fun flying the CARS 2 kite on the beach

Berke finally overcame his fear of the waves and came out into the ocean with me.

We went out for ice cream one night; it ended up being by a putt putt coarse (not uncommon for the Cape), so we decided to play 18 holes.  I won!!  Berke was a crazy man experiencing a sugar high from his ice cream, and we all had a fun time.

Berke's last hole at Skaket Beach; there was already water inside so that was a super BONUS!

Berkeley was so tired from the sun and running around at the beach that he sat in my arms and was asleep in 5 seconds, snoring and everything.

One of my favorite Cape towns is Chatham.  We had fun seeing the lighthouse there, shopping and having a delicious lunch.

We also took a ferry to Martha's Vineyard for the day.  

The Edgartown lighthouse is one of my favorite spots. 

This was the adorable cottage we stayed in.  It was wonderful to get up and run along the ocean front most mornings, something I could seriously get used to!!

We also went whale watching! Whales are so big, beautiful and graceful.

Our cute little family; love these boys so much!

On our way home, we stopped in Plymouth to see the Mayflower II and the famous rock.

Berkeley absolutely adored his grandma and grandpa; he was thrilled to get so much extra attention and love.  He was very sad to see them go:(

I was so happy that my parents got to share this experience with us.  It was wonderful to have a week off of work and be surrounded by family and nature.

Old Orchard Beach

This weekend I decided I needed a "break from myself" with my crazy planning and trying to do too much, thus stressing myself out. I decided I needed a trip to Maine, which is my favorite New England state to visit. We were originally going to go to Ogunquit, ME, but heard about an amazing deal on a hotel in Old Orchard Beach last minute and changed our plans.
We left Friday night and got in around 10:30 p.m. Berke remembered we were going to the beach and was demanding to go to the beach right then. He lost that battle, but did wake up nice and early so we could be out on the beach by 8:30 a.m.
Old Orchard Beach is BEAUTIFUL! It is by far my favorite beach. It is great for running, playing Frisbee, walking your dogs, etc. It is a very clean beach with great sand and no rocks. It was not exactly beach weather but we made the most of it and pretended it was. Berkeley LOVES the beach and the ocean.

We had a blast running in and out of the tide, building stuff in the sand, playing Frisbee and taking awesome jumping pictures. These are the best ones we got on film.

I know, you are impressed with our skills.
Around 11:30 Berke man CRASHED! He napped for 3 hours and then we decided it was a bit to chilly to go back to the beach, so we headed to the carnival. There Berkeley rode his first rides (which he still talks about every day), he loved riding on the truck and the Harley the most. He asks us everyday if we can go to the park and ride the Harley. He's gonna have to wait until we get to Utah so he can ride his Grandpa's real Harley.

During the whale ride, every time he saw us, he would say, "I want to get out." But then he got off and talked all about riding the whale. I guess he had fun.

After that we headed to the Pier to check things out, and then walked around the cute town. We enjoyed some delicious pizza and goods from the candy store. Berke devoured his first candy necklace.

That night Berke slept for a few hours but then was awake at 3:30 a.m. demanding to either watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or go to the beach. Yep, he never went back to sleep. Needless to say, we were kinda tired. We gave in at 6 a.m. and put on Mickey and headed back to the beach around 9 to play in the sand one last time. The kid was rolling around, digging and having the time of his life.

I highly recommend taking a little get away to Old Orchard Beach to all my New England Friends. It is only 1 hour and 45 minutes away from Boston. It is really fun for kids and has an amazing beach that is 7 miles long.