Chatham 2021

Ok so here we gooooo! Our summer vacay was in Chatham and while on the shorter side, here is all the fun and sun we had this year! Same crowd, same beaches, same lunches, you know ;) In fact, if you read this post, you almost don't have to read this one lol. Although actually, one of the bonuses this year was my bestie Katie and her family (also our neighbors in Natick- first introduced in the linked post above) hung out with us a bunch since they were visiting her parents who live there too. 

So the first day we went straight up to our favorite most breathtaking beach - White Crest in Wellfleet. 

"The chair" - it was a thing. 

Me and Kari

Alex, off to a strong start:

Me and Katie

From left: Erik, Ben, Kari, Holden, GG, Callie, Me, Ashton, Jason, Alex, Katie, Kellan, Brian and Crosby. The best crew!

Two years ago the waves were big and seals abounded (?) so this year we actually got to swim and it was great!

The men all walked down to the Beachcomber for some oyster shooters and then it was time to go home and get through the very difficult task of sitting outside, having wine and a raw bar with Grandma and Grandpa ((just arrived). Tough stuff, vacation ;)

Next day notables included the men swinging the sticks,

the Whydah Pirates Museum (with actual treasure in the form of gold coins, Ashton was going ballistic. It was actually super fascinating, the rise of piracy and the history behind this one particular ship). Arrrggggh!

Bumper boats

And then Hardings Beach for some fishing and fish tacos.

Grandpa was all "Don't worry, I caught dinner" but in the end the tacos were from a restaurant ;) 

It was a gorgeous night for dinner on the sand!

Not so lucky on Thursday. Wind and increasingly bad weather. It was this (with chattering teeth):

and this.

Suppose I didn't really have to post those two photos, but hey.

Then we got some really good beach time and for the last night Katie babysat and the grownups went out. Ridgevale followed by Perks and then Brax Landing.

If I don't have at least one picture of kids peering into a bucket, I do not deserve to be blogging about a beach vacation :) 

And then in a flash, one last group shot and it was time to go :(

In between all these photos, we had amazing dinners every night and went shopping and spent some wonderful days together! So glad we got some QBT (quality beach time) but hopefully we will be able to get back to BI for 2022.

Next up, the epic month of Ashton's tenth birthday. Here's a preview...

Summer Blog Salad

Well what have we been up to since my last post (May - gulp). The answer is: a lot! Of course the burden of documentation has been mounting so I shall condense it all into a nice mix. 

After Mother's Day came Father's Day, naturally. And I was especially proud of the gift we gave Jason this year. There was one particular favorite photo this winter I took of him and the boys skating on our backyard rink on a snowy night:

I took a chance on a website called Instapainting and the result was amazing! They took this photo and turned into an actual work of art. It came rolled up on a legit canvas, I was so impressed.

A true oil painting! I had it framed and he loved it :) We all wrote a note on the back, the boys traced their hands, and it is hanging over the piano. 

So if you ask me, that was perfect :) In terms of what actually happened on Father's Day, Jason got the pleasure of escorting the boys to a massive lacrosse tournament while I stayed home. Also perfect ;)

The boys had their last day of school and then we started the summer! So far we've been to Vermont twice, Long Island once, and Chatham for a week. The boys have had some time at hockey camp, flag football camp, and there has been a lot of general hanging out with friends and family. In no particular order, it has all looked something like...

(I caught a baby shark!)

Oh! And on the birthday front, I went to California in June to celebrate (my) GG:

And Jason turned 44!

Which brings us nicely up to date for the most part. Next post is the Summer 2021 trip to Chatham, and then Ashton turns TEN!! Double digits ahhhhh!! It'll be a doozy!