Top Ten SITFOB Family Vacation Memories

Yesterday we drove home after a two-week vacation on the Cape … drat, if only we had flown home, I could have said “and are my arms tired!” (ba da dum! chshshshshsh!). 

Anywho …

Despite several rainy days (2 full days, 2 half days, 7 inches … but who’s counting?!?), we had a fantastic time!  Still, it’s good to be home, getting closer to that magical day when the big yellow school buses come and take all the darling SITFOB children off to days of wonder, filled with coffee, reading, writing, walking … oh, wait, that’s what happens at this end of the school bus run, I’m pretty sure they don’t serve coffee at school!

So (or, anywho again, if you prefer), in between loads of laundry, mowing the lawn, cleaning the car, and restocking the refrigerator, we’ve had some time to think about our top vacation memories.  In no particular order, they are:

• Getting drenched by high tide at Cahoon Hollow.  Yes, we knew the tide was coming in; we didn’t realize that the slope of the beach was such that ONE WAVE would travel fifty feet and absolutely drench those of us relaxing in chairs watching the kids tease the waves.  Our flip-flops, bags and kites drifted down a little ‘hight tide river’ as we doubled over with laughter.
• Enjoying ice cream at as many places as possible.  We slowed down our research during Week Two, adding only Sundae School (on the suggestion of Michelle at My Books My Life) and Buffy’s to our list, with a second visit to Emack & Bolio’s.  To celebrate our homecoming last night we walked around the block with cones and ice cream from our local Bedford Farms.
• Bonfire at Nauset Light Beach on the National Seashore.  The visitor center gives out a very limited number of bonfire passes 3 days in advance.  We were told the passes are very popular, so my friend Laura and I drove up to Eastham early on Tuesday morning to get in line.  Thunderstorms didn’t deter other bonfire hopefuls; we were sixth in line at 6:45 a.m. (yawn!).  The early bird does catch the pass; we walked out at 9:15, scheming our approach to building the bonfire on Friday night.  We had 17 people (four families) at our bonfire – paddle ball, cooking over the fire (“dinner” of hot dogs and s’mores), chatting, and laughing.  Big laughs when the park ranger came to check our permit and LM5 offered “hey, you want a beer or something” and opened the cooler.  Yup, Mr. Hospitality!
• Futile attempts at a SITFOB pyramid.  We need to do this before the younger kids get too big; lots of blooper shots, but nothing to send with a holiday card.

Biking in parade formation.  We explored Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge one day, and biked to the local airport for breakfast another day (more about our delicious HangarB experience in an upcoming Weekend Cooking post).

Rainy day fun.  Although we were a bit stir-crazy by Tuesday evening, we did make the most of our indoor time – teaching the kids to play Hearts, Euchre, and Gin, and constructing a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle.  You’d think rainy days would be ideal for reading, but not when there’s a big family in a relatively small house; I read only two books the entire time we were away!

Seeing a drive-in movie.  I wrote a little about this last week; it brought back great childhood memories for J and me, and, hopefully, created some for our own kids!

Boating and dune-jumping with friends (thanks, H & T!)

• Fishing!  We had a blast casting our lines (Rapala poles from Target; fairly inexpensive and functional) from the fishing bridge.  We caught a rock (!), the bridge, a boat (bad aim casting; the boat was moored, so it’s our secret!), a bizarre-looking ‘winged’ fish which we believe was a sea robin, and this “catch of the day.”
• Ending the vacation with the Chatham Band Friday night concert — this has been a summer tradition since the 1940s!  Neon necklaces, helium balloons, picnics, and the Bunny Hop are all part of the fun.  J and I even danced a waltz and a few foxtrots!

We’ll finish unpacking today, slowly getting ready for the routine of work and school; the kids start on September 7 … I hope to get some reading/relaxing in, too!