Family Vacation: Cape Cod

I have been wanting to go to Cape Cod for quite some time now and so this year we made it happen. We went with our good friends from Brooklyn and had so much fun exploring with them. I planned out the entire trip and even places to stop on the way up to Cape Cod. We had plenty of Lobsters Rolls to try out, bakeries to stop at and ice cream to devour. We loved our vacation and enjoying time with friends as well. Charley and James get along so well and I love seeing them play together. On the way up, we stopped at a cute little town called Newport, Rhode Island. We had some yummy ice cream, stopped at a candy store and walked along the pier.

The first day in Cape Cod, we took a ferry over to Martha's Vineyard. It's a cute little island with plenty to see and do. Spencer and the kids rode the oldest opperating carousel in America! Then we rented bikes and rode around the town with the kids in tow. It was a great way to see more of the island. We rode and got some yummy ice cream and then rode to the Gingerbread Houses. They are these beautiful rows and rows of houses that look like gingerbread houses. People actually live in them and there were lots of people just on their porches reading or talking. It was really cool! Then the last thing we did that day we bike out to a lighthouse. It was right around sunset and it was beautiful bike ride along the coastal road. The houses we passed were HUGE and just these beautiful homes! Spencer and I joked about one day having a home on Martha's Vineyard :) 

The next day we got up and went crabbing! The boys really wanted to do this so we found a fishing store and bought all the supplies and then went to a place that is well known for getting crab. We tried for about an hour with nothing! The kids had fun playing in the stream though. After a while, we went to another place and they were able to catch 2 crabs! Afterward, we went to one of the best family beaches on the Cape called Corporation Beach. It was super fun playing in the sand and in the water! Charley is a little scared of the ocean these days. A while ago her and Spencer fell into a huge wave and were toppled over into the water. I think it scared her pretty bad she she won't even go near the ocean now. This beach in Cape Cod was perfect because it didn't have huge waves. She was still a bit apprehensive about going into the water, but eventually Spencer took her in and just held her for a while in the water. I think it helped her to just be in there and see that it wasn't as scary as she thought. Hopefully her fear of the ocean isn't too damaging. She loves the pool and bath so I think it is partly just the sound of the huge waves crashing on the shore.
One thing I loved about our vacation were the summer nights outside. We BBQ'd and ate outside and it was the best! I really miss having a backyard and being able to let the kids be outside without me all the time. They loved the backyard too and loved playing with the water faucet. We also made ice cream in a bag with everyone one night! So yummy and easy to make.

Sunday was a pretty relaxing day. We went to church and then drove up to a lighthouse in Chatham. Bergen fell asleep in the car, so we didn't venture too far from the car once we got to the lighthouse, but it was a pretty view of the ocean. Church was a super small ward. Most of the people there were visiting and they don't really have a Primary unless visitors come. Everyone is together (no Nursery either) for both hours and they do a lesson all together and then signing time.

Our last day on Cape Cod, we went up to Provincetown. In the morning, Spencer actually wanted to go crabbing one more time, so he woke Charley up at 6:30am to go with him. They stopped at the store and bought some donuts for breakfast and then went to the same place they had tried a few days earlier. Charley actually got really sick and they ended up coming home after only 30 minutes out there. When they came home, I unpacked the bag Spencer had brought with them and it was so cute, he had packed Charley tons of snacks for the morning and a bag of candy! I thought it was so cute that he wanted to have this fun little bonding experience with her and was just as excited as she was and had thought to bring some candy for them to share! Charley was sick the rest of the day, throwing up 4 or 5 times. Poor girl was such a champ when we went up to Provincetown. She was pretty dehydrated and didn't want to eat anything so we bought her some Pedialite to sip on throughout the day. Provincetown is such a cool town! There is one main street, Commercial Street, that has tons of places to eat and shop. We walked along Commercial Street until we found a Portuguese Bakery I found on yelp that had amazing reviews. I wanted to go for Spencer since he served his mission there so we bought a few things to try. Afterward, we went to a super yummy Lobster Pot! I had a stuffed lobster that was amazing!! Then we went to a bakery that I wanted to stop at and got some yummy cookies and brownie.