Dispatches From Cape Cod, Part 1

We are up in Cape Cod with my in-laws for the week. It's my first time and so far it's just perfect. Our little cottage is 2 houses in from the beach. The water is warm and very calm so Lil Pip and I are swimming around like mermaids. When we arrived on Saturday night we took a walk down to the beach at sunset and she waded in so deep her dress got wet. Five minutes later she was duck diving waves. It was like witnessing a communion with the sea. Baptism? Whatever. You get the idea.

My grandmother had a tree growing in her front yard covered in trumpet vine. Every day she'd sweep the fallen flowers off the walk.

Driveways paved with shells.

Hydrangeas! Check.

Privet hedge! My favorite summer smell.

Every house has cedar shingles. Why doesn't every town do this? There are no ugly houses.

Wildflowers by the side of the road.

LBI

Jumping in the waves, pants be damned!

Happy to be reporting from the first vacation the Mr. has ever planned. In ten years. It's really something.

We are enjoying a lovely house in North Beach on Long Beach Island, steps from the beach and the bay. There's a park with playgrounds and tennis courts around the corner that I can't wait to hit up!!! I am grooming P to love tennis in hopes that she'll want to be our ball girl while we play. 

The beach up here has been replenished since Sandy, which means sand has been pumped ashore from the ocean floor. The beach is huge, with a big hill of sand that you have to walk over before you can see the waves breaking. At this time of year it has a post apocalyptic feel. But there are tons of shells, the water's warm, and no one's around. It's a life-maker.

We found a great restaurant that just opened in June called Arlington. From the looks of the sign I knew exactly what it would be -- new American/farm to table. We did a U-y and were psyched to end up at a place that had good drink, food, decor. In a beach town there are usually so many bad restaurants to avoid. Smelly carpets, bad seafood. It took the vacation to another level to find great food.

Big sky beach.

New Acquisitions

The Little One and I have been going on mother-daughter trips to Marshalls lately. It's kind of the best. Any kind of mother-daughter recreational activity is something to be really cherished, and the retail therapy is a great bonus. Today we stopped at the bagel place in the same shopping center and had my little girl's favorite lunch -- a bagel with cream cheese and a side of lox. She gobbles up the lox like a penguin. We sat outside and she was delighted by her food, the people and pets passing by on their way to a pet store, the flags, everything. It was the perfect temperature. A perfect date.

Later we went to the beach -- our seventh time this summer! -- and stayed til after the lifeguards left. We practiced drawing pictures in the sand with our toes, building and decorating sand castles, chasing birds, and saying "blimp!"The three of us cuddled and counted to twenty and giggled until it was time to eat dinner. 

It was a perfect Sunday and I have some sweet new shoes to boot. It may seem excessive but I have had to throw two pairs of shoes three pairs of shoes (including the best black sandals ever made!) out in the past month because they literally fell apart. 

Breaking Our Record

The beach has never been my natural habitat. Despite growing up a mile from the ocean, I'm a fair-skinned freckled gal and could never be classified as a beach bum. But now my daughter loves the beach, which changes everything for me. It's the only place where time flies with a two year old. Once you give up the aversion to sand being everywhere, you can really relax and have fun. She loves digging in the sand, jumping in the waves, chasing the birds, cleaning off shells, pointing at the planes, and going in the ocean with mom and dad. It's truly the best.

We just tied our personal record for the summer of six visits (which doesn't sound like a lot!) and I know we'll be going back for more. 

Oh, and Little SP will be able to keep track with us... She's counting to 10!!!