Sand and Sun. Yes. Please.

I don't think I will ever go to the beach again without taking a picture of them from behind while they look over the ocean.

Andrew building sand animals with the kids.

"Jumping the waves!"

"Dump Sand."

She loves being in the water.

He loves running from the water.

More wave jumping.

We had matching toes for the trip. 

Andrew got the kite to fly again and the kids had a lot of fun with that.

I can't believe she's almost 5.

John is showing me that he has sand on his tongue. 

And he's almost 2.

And he still loves to be a ham at 3 1/2. 

Hanging out in the chairs that Grandpa and Grandma brought down from the cottage.
By this time, the tide was coming in quickly and we had to move everything 3 times back before we left for lunch.

I do love a good day at the beach.

This is the first time in 5 years that we have gone to a beach without a baby. Last time, John was still little, but walking at least. We had such a fun time playing with the kids. I looked over to see a tiny tent housing a small baby in a play chair and thought, wow, it wasn't that long ago really. Amazing what a year can do. The house we were at was so close to the ocean and had an outdoor shower with warm water. That was a life saver. No one ever went inside all sandy. Genius. One of my favorite things about the water was John constantly, and I mean constantly saying, "Rocks in the wa-dder, rocks in the wa-dder..." He loves throwing anything, but if it splashes, that is a major bonus. Peter and Ella brought home quite the collection of those very rocks too. 

Pilgrims and Natives oh my...

I've been home a few days now, and getting settled back in was much easier this time as Andrew's parents were here over the weekend. We finished our outdoor projects, as well as all the laundry (5 loads) and put away, which is a feat for me in itself. It was nice to have a relaxing weekend with Grandpa and Grandma. Putting the rest of our vacation pictures on here has been in the back of my mind for days now, but I try not to bury my face in the computer when we have company. So, today is low key, and I did what any "i-have-something-i-want-to-get-done-but-the-kids-aren't-napping-yet" mom would do...I put on Blues Clues (today's choice) and started typing. I have to get up every so often to make sure that the eyes in the back of my head aren't fooling me, but yes, they are okay. So here are the pictures. Our second day in Plymouth we went to the Plimouth Plantation (not a spelling error, it is an "i"). It was a neat place to see much of the history and re-enactment of the 17th century. There are days I wish I could just spend a week back in time and see what it really was like. Others, I'm thankful for modern conveniences. 

This is the Monument to the Forefathers. On it are the names of the Mayflower passengers. The name John Howland is the man that Barb Cornelius is very distantly related to. 

Here is Barb in front of Plymouth Rock. The pillars encase the rock itself.

The kids in front of the "Mooflower."

This would be the picture that inspires my son to think that "in order to build a boat, you have to take all your clothes off." The Wampanoag Natives knew how to keep cool I guess. 

The frame of a Native house. 

Back to my roots, loving the fur :).

Cooking with the children.

Great footwear.

Seeing the cabinet making and woodcarving in action.

Watching this guy make cups made me miss my pottery days. It sure is a great skill.

This is the English Village as it was in 1620. It is a replica of what Leyden Street (the original street in Plymouth) looked like. I have more pictures of the modern Leyden Street.

The cannon up in the fort.

Inside the houses, pot over the woodfire, hanging herbs, a few utensils and dirt floors.

John and Peter couldn't stop chasing the rooster. 

In the garden with Grandpa and Grandma.

The bed in another house we saw. See the tiny cradle, I want one of those!

In the Nye Barn, John was pretty fascinated by the goats. 

That night was very pretty at the beach. We spent time there after dinner. The kids had a great time playing in the little tide pools looking for rocks and shells. 

Fun Wishes

Being on vacation means that while my kids are napping, I have no cleaning to do, I can nap if I want, read if I want, and mess around on other blogs if I want. Here are some of the results of my dabbling today. Little wishes if you will. My birthday is in October. Feel free to send me anything from any of these sites. I promise to yell shout and jump for joy upon it's arrival. 

Just kidding. No I'm not.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/barnowlprimitives

http://www.allorahandmade.bigcartel.com

http://www.etsy.com/shop/evystree

The Pilgrim Wrap

Yup, you heard that right. 

That's what I had for lunch today. It was warm turkey (not the lunch meat kind), stuffing, and cranberry sauce. They used a bit of mayo as well. I figured while I'm in Plymouth, I should get something pilgrim-ish. :) Andrew had his first bread bowl of New England Chowder.

It was a soggy day here, but we tried to make the most of it by getting out for the morning. 

We saw "Plymouth Rock," the Mayflower II, and took a drive out to the Cape. It was very wet and windy out there, but now we can say we saw Cape Cod. I have actually been there before with my family, 11 years ago. The kids thought it was funny that we almost blew away trying to get a picture.