March 2024
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V-A-C-A-T-I-ON

We just got back from a week in Bourne, at the house where we got married. My Dad and a bunch of his friends rent it every August. We all had a fantastic time, especially Lilian. You’d enjoy yourself too, if you were two-years-old and had an entire house full of grownups at your beck and call. So many people to play with! One of my Dad’s buddies made her pancakes every morning. And so many cookies!

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Dance for me, minions!

The yearly festivities include a pasta sauce competition.

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Yummers.

There was also plenty of time for snuggles.

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Papa snuggles

Also, for relaxing with an adult beverage and catching up on the NY Times crossword puzzle app.

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Get it?

The house we stayed at is near the Cape, but it’s not really a beach-y type place. There’s a pool, and plenty of woods to run around in, and an organic farm, and really I’m not complaining about not being on the beach. Especially when there’s a little channel off of the bay that’s a five minute drive and open to anyone renting the house. Lilian is apparently taking after her Dad… she doesn’t appear to like the beach very much. Or maybe she just didn’t like the feeling of sand in between her toes? As long as we let her stay on our blanket, though, she was as happy as a clam.

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Pinwheeling.

I made it my goal to go paddle boarding every day we were there. I had to work the first two days (Thursday and Friday), but I went every day after that. And it was glorious! I went a few times by myself for long paddles across the bay. The wind and current made it pretty tough, but I love me a challenge. I also took a few of the other vacation-goers, which was just as much fun. It’s nice to have people to understand why I’m so crazy about it! I think a few folks are going to get boards of their own.

And, hey, I taught myself a new trick! Yes, that is Crane’s Pose. And, yes, my feet are just barely hovering in the air. How long did they hover? Well, it was longer than it takes to snap a picture. How much longer than that? Well, not that much longer. But I can barely do this pose on land, so I think it’s pretty awesome to be able to do it on the water. Anything that involves stability, balance, core strength, etc is a lot harder on a paddle board.

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“Look Mom! No feet!”

Even without the channel, the pool is pretty sweet. Even Kristian spent some time in it!

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“I spent an hour blowing this thing up. We are going to have fun, dammit”

My little water baby suddenly decided that the water was too cold for her, but happily rode around on an inflatable turtle without so much as getting her feet wet.

We also made time on Wednesday to drive across the Sagamore Bridge and visit my Grandma. She is apparently not so great at answering her phone these days, so it ended up being a surprise visit. She cried when she opened her door and saw us!

(Tears of joy! I promise!)

She gets tired pretty easily these days (you would too, if you were 91-years-old), so we only stayed for about an hour. But it was long enough for Kristian to fix the time on all of the appliances in her kitchen, and for that she will be eternally grateful. I sometimes feel bad that Lilian doesn’t get to spend more time with her Nana (it’s about a 2-2.5 hour drive when we’re home and then we can’t stay very long), so I was so grateful to be able to use our vacation as an excuse for a visit.

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Wild Women

(Not pictured: lunch afterwards with my Uncle.)

We did this same vacation last year and, while it was fun, it wasn’t exactly relaxing. Partially because Kristian had to head back to work and I ended up solo parenting. Partially because parenting a one-year-old involves a lot of work. You have to watch them like hawks. And they are always finding new and creative ways to get their hands on choking hazards. Two-year-olds? Have much better survival instincts. And they’re so much more fun! I miss the baby phase sometimes, but I didn’t realize how exhausting it is to keep a baby alive until I had a toddler and could relax a little.

Speaking of relaxing… don’t go and think you can relax completely around a toddler. Because, that’s how shit like this happens:

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This used to be a very nice door.

(I do believe I went and buried the lede in this here blog post.)

How does shit like this happen? A certain little someone’s father starts filling the bathtub. And then that certain little someone’s father steps outside the bathroom for 2.7 seconds. And then a certain little someone closes the door, because she thinks this is hilarious. And then that certain little someone latches the door, because toddler.

You have a locked bathroom door. You have hinges that are located inside the bathroom. You have a tub that is rapidly filling with water. You have a small child in the locked bathroom, and said small child has a large noggin and no fear of the water. You have 30 seconds to decide what to do, but then you’re pretty much left with one single option: bust that door down.

Nobody drowned and the door was replaced with a near exact replica (thanks to a lot of help from my Dad and his friends). So, all’s well that end’s well. But we have certainly (and by “we,” I mean, “Kristian”) learned our lesson about watching LJ like a hawk at bath time. Even when she’s still fully clothed and waiting to get into the tub.

(Did I mention that she jumped back when the door busted in… and fell into the tub?)

(Yeah, I feel pretty good about the decision to kick the door in.)

Let’s end this post on a high note, shall we? One advantage of vacationing with your Dad and all of his friends: ample amounts of free babysitting. We drafted a teenager to take charge (you need someone who’s going to be responsible, right?), and went and had ourselves a real, honest, grownup date on our last night. I wore heels! And one of my Stitch Fix dresses! And then I never got a good picture of my outfit. Because my husband doesn’t understand that there is only so much thigh that you can show in a photo for public consumption. And I really should have stood up for the photo. So, you get a dark, blurry, selfie-in-the-mirror. Yay!

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We took a drive over to the Cape, checked out Downtown Falmouth (still recovering from the yearly road race), said “hi” to the ocean, and had ourselves a real, live adult conversation. We had dinner at Bleu, which is apparently popular with the wealthy, country-club set. Which means we pretty much had the place to ourselves when they all cleared out at 8:46pm on the dot. We did manage to snag ourselves one of their lounge-ier tables in a cozy corner. A perfect spot from which to sip adult beverages and people-watch with abandon.

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The food was delicious, the company divine. We really need to get out more.

All together, we were down in Bourne for a week. I did have to work for three of those seven days, but I still had the evenings for fun. And then we had a few more days at home after it was all over (the rental was Thursday to Thursday this year to accommodate a couple of weddings at the house). I started the week off with the mother of all neck spasms (the doctor took one look at me and then basically threw muscle relaxants in my general direction), and ended it feeling refreshed and renewed. I had almost forgotten how important it is to decompress and unwind.

(Almost.)

I’m so grateful that my Dad and his buddies were so willing to share their vacation with us. And so understanding of us destroying their door. And really grateful that Lilian was on her best behavior, allowing us to actually relax and enjoy our vacation.

I’m already looking forward to next year!

3 comments to V-A-C-A-T-I-ON

  • omg! i almost had a heart attack reading that surprise horror nestled in to your post! yikes!

  • Molly

    Ahhh, that LJ. She will keep you young…just overlook every gray hair she adds to your head! Gotta love that little rascal. So grateful all ended well (except for Mr. Door, perhaps.)Enjoy every moment – looking at the photos I lose my breath at how fast the time is flying by.
    Love,
    MJ

  • Great to spend so much time with you and all our friends. Sure we could have done without the LJ locked in a bathroom with a filling tub drama, but thank goodness it ended okay! Love you all.

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