The Cape

Cape Cod is a very special place for me. I vacationed there every summer from birth-age 22. My parents had a beach house there for about 12 years. I never appreciated it when they had it, instead grumbling that they would make me spend weeks at a time down there away from my friends. I hated that the house didn't have a phone making me ride my bike to the town pier to call my friends back home. I realize now what a brat I was. The idea of being at the beach for up to 5 weeks at a time with no interruptions sounds like heaven on earth.

Rich spent his vacations in Southern Maine growing up and we end up going up there quite a bit to visit his Aunt. It is also much closer with a lot less traffic so I no longer get to The Cape as often as I would like. We do get there at least once each summer to spend time at my Aunt Bonnie's house for a mini Fraser family reunion. She has a beautiful Salt Box house nestled at the end of a dirt road with a small pine forest behind her. Her gardens and landscaping are like something out of a magazine. We gather at her house every year in late July or early August to celebrate 4 birthdays; the Patriarch and Matriarch of the family Pa and Gramma Jeannie (or Nee-Nee as my kids call her) and Bonnie's twin grandsons who this year turned 8. We had a great day laughing, eating and telling stories. I always leave there wishing that I got to spend more time with my 'Cape Cod Cousins'.

This year we decided to make a weekend of it and boy did it turn out to be an adventure! Rich took Friday off of work so we left Thursday night when he got home. It was pouring rain at home but weather.com assured me that it was just going to pass by The Cape with just a 30% chance of rain. When we left the house it was pouring buckets. I kept assuring Rich that it was going to clear up South of the city but instead it was raining harder. The traffic was pretty heavy due to the weather and we never got above 35MPH. Finally around Plymouth MA it was raining so hard that we had to pull over. This is when I started to get worried. There was no way that we could set up the pop-up in that kind of weather and since it had already taken 2.5 hours (normally a 70 minute trip) it didn't even look as though we would make it to the 9PM check-in time. I called my Aunt to see if we could camp out in her living room but she insisted that we not only stay the night but she gave up her bedroom to Rich and I.

The rest of the weekend was a bit more enjoyable. We spent Friday setting up, driving around and going on a short hike and then ended the day at one of my cousins houses for dinner. We spent all day Saturday on Coast Guard Beach and then invited my sister and her family and my cousins to our campsite for dinner and smores. Sunday was the party and the weather was perfect! The kids had a great time with their cousins as always. It is so funny to watch the kids play. Lauren and D (the older of the twins) and Kathryn and E always pair off. I think that the girls have a little crush on their second cousins (first cousins once removed?). This year Will was right in the middle of things learning not only how to drive the motorized jeep but the motorized four wheeler too. He felt like such a big kid. The little boys (Zack and Charlie) kept the adults entertained all afternoon.

After a weekend of fantastic weather we left Cape Cod with the same weather that we arrived in; a nasty thunder storm. As we neared Boston the clouds parted and we were treated to an amazing sunrise. Here was the view through the front windshield

Zack and Charlie will be having a party soon to celebrate their first birthdays. We tried to get the perfect picture of them and while I didn't quite succeed I did get some really cute shots. You be the judge:

Last but not least the picture that their siblings will someday blackmail them with: