Cape Cod

As part of our annual stay-cation, this year we went to South Yarmouth on the Cape for a few days of fun at the beach. Our hotel also had a terrific pool which given the choice, the girls chose as our first thing to do when we checked in.

The girls at the zero entry pool with mushroom spray...


Hannah wasted no time in diving right in and swimming.


right under the bridge to the "deep end" (which was actually only 4 feet deep, but to her it was deep)
Hannah wanted nothing more than to practice her newly learned swimming skills the entire time! Daddy and Emme all cuddled up after pool time.
After pool time, we went for a walk on the beach. There were horse shoe crabs washed up all over the beach. The Cape is the one of the few places in the world where these type of crabs live. Hannah thought they were very interesting.
Swings on the beach! Very cool!
Dinner at Fresh Ketch in Hyannis.
A little t.v. time in the morning. Completely dazed! And this is why we limit their t.v. time!!
Next day...beach time!!!

Emme loved playing with all of the sand toys!
The girls built a sand castle with Daddy!
For lunch, we went to the sister resort to ours next door. Hannah liked the lobster timer that told us when our food was ready!
While Emme (and Mommy) napped, Hannah went to the kite making activity with Daddy. Her handmade kite!
Daddy flying Hannah's kite with the girls. It was pretty cool to see all of the kids flying their newly made kites!


And for dinner at the Lobster Boat restaurant...lobsters!! I think Emme sees them coming and boy is she excited!
The family feast!
Hannah driving the boat outside the restaurant (you can see why it's called the Lobster Boat).
and of course, Emme gets a turn!
After dinner, we went to a Beach Party put on by the hotel.
There was a band playing music and of course, the girls had to dance! Daddy was such a good sport as they were the only people dancing!
Emme feeling the groove!
After a night out dancing, Emme was a taking a rest at the pool. Such a tough life!
After a swim at the pool and some beach time, we checked out and headed to the waterfront in Hyannis for some lunch and a stroll.
And now 2 days home to do laundry and re-pack for our trips to Maine and New Hampshire next week!

Davis Farmland

On Wednesday, the girls and I went with our friends to Davis Farmland, a children's discovery farm with many rare breeds of animals. A whole new level of petting zoo.

First stop, do it yourself face painting. A good and bad thing. Hannah started going overboard, but then restrained herself with an angel (by mommy) on her right side and a heart (by herself) on the left. Emme, a kitty (by mommy)

And then pony rides! Hannah got the "fast" one.

Emme on her first pony ride. She was a little hesitant and made sure to hold on to me the entire way, but she did it!! Slowly becoming more adventurous! It was her favorite part of the day!
About to go into the petting zoo portion where there were corrals with animals and some animals roaming freely, we stopped to pet a pony. Later we learned that the red hose around the top of his fence meant that he is an unpredictable animal and therefore we probably shouldn't have been petting and then posing with him...oops. (Hannah's friend Abby went a little overboard with the face paint...)
Brushing a another pony on the lawn of the petting zoo.
And then accessorizing said pony with pony tails in his mane! Leave it to Hannah!
We had food to feed the animals, but you had to be careful as some of the larger animals (goats in particular) were very aggressive. Hannah petting one of the baby goats.
Hannah on high alert from bigger goats.
Emme meanwhile stayed on the other side of the fence after being very scare in one of the corrals by all the larger goats. Almost all of them were bigger than her and like I said, were very aggressive. She was much happier watching mommy feed them through the fence.

Hannah feeding the nubian goats. They really wanted the food!!
Feeding the Scottish Highland cow!
As I said this was like a petting zoo on steroids and as such, here's Hannah milking a goat. Emme said she wanted to do it, but the goat was all milked out by the time it was her turn (or rather no longer happy to be milked by small, unskilled hands).
So she opted for milking the fake cow and seemed perfectly happy with this...
Hannah holding a very young goat!
And finally Emme even pets a goat!
and would only hold one of the babies with Mommy. She was still quite unsure of the whole thing and once the goat started moving around, she wanted nothing to do with it!
In the pen with the calves born this Spring.
After our animal adventures, we headed to the spray park there. Emme loves running through the kiddie car wash!
While Hannah loved the bubble blast!
Poser Emme!
Hannah's favorite part of the day, the bouncy slip and slide!

Her friend Abby! They spent almost the entire time at the spray park going on the slip and slide.
While Emme kept to the more mellow portions of the spray park!
But everyone had so much fun nonetheless!!! To round out our day, we stopped at Chipotle for dinner and got home just in time for a story and bed!

Salisbury Beach Camping Trip

This weekend we ventured on our first ever camping trip (second if our backyard camping trip last year counts). A lovely 2 nights at the Salisbury Beach State Reservation. We arrived Friday evening and set up camp straight away. The campsites came equipped with quite a few amenities including water and electric outlet, a fire pit, grill, and picnic table. And seemed to really only be lacking shade (a very small scattering of trees) and privacy (it was a VERY open layout due to the lack of trees).

Joe and Matt setting up Casa de Molon.

next door to Chateau Walton.

Hannah and Jake helping to unpack our car while Sophie and Maddie do dishes in the background. Everyone has to earn their keep camping!

An after dinner flashlight walk with the kids (which I actually think was just to the bathroom and back, but fun nonetheless).

Thomas, Jake, Sarah, and a very happy Joe roasting marshmallows for s'mores at Camp Blu.

Emme reaping the rewards from Daddy's roasting while Sophie gets her marshmallows ready.

Hannah prefers the burnt variety.

The next morning, some of the girls enjoy a game of Uno Moo at the O'Neil's lodge.

The campground was about a 1/4 mile walk to the beach. Oddly, we were the only ones that actually walked and that was only because we had our wonder wheeler plus to hold all of our beach paraphernalia. Walking a quarter mile whilst carrying all of your beach gear is very difficult.

We set up our temporary day camp at the beach and lots of fun was to be had!

Hannah and Emme playing baseball. Hannah kept pitching the ball to Emme and while she gave it her all every time, I don't think she actually ever hit the ball! But at least she looks cute while trying!

Sophie and Hannah, future surfer girls...currently, trying out boogie boarding for the first time (well, for Hannah anyway).

When we got to the beach, it was high tide and a little scarier for Hannah. We went in the water, but the waves were very strong and the current even stronger. We played on the beach for quite a while, but eventually she came around and ventured back in...and then discovered how much fun boogie boarding could be...

Joe would help her catch the wave and she would ride it all the way in.

Emme checking out the water with Daddy.

Back to our camps! The kids picking "carrots" ??? This is what I was told they were doing.

And night 2 of roasting marshmallows (at Casa de Molon this time) along with our nightly entertainment of Matt on guitar. He took requests..."if you're happy and you know it" was a favorite.

and finally Sunday came...time to pack up and go home. As it was raining, we all ate breakfast and packed up rather quickly. Emme playing with sidewalk chalk while we were packing up.

Sophie and Hannah roasting breakfast sausages at Camp Blu.

And while the Dads did the finishing touches, the moms took the kids for a tree climbing expedition.

And cute little Amelia with her pinecone!

We had so much fun! Hannah's favorite part - boogie boarding at the beach. Daddy's - sleeping in the tent. Mommy's - hanging out with our friends. Emme's favorite part - Sarah. : )

And the verdict...there will definitely be more camping trips!