Favorite Memories of Cape Cod

One day left on Cape Cod, and I'm happy to say we'll be taking many happy memories back with us. Most of the people I've met here seem to be "regulars," coming back season after season. And I can understand why. This place has a way of getting under your skin - in a good way. I hope to be back soon - with Peter next time. Until then, here's just a few of my favorite memories to tide me over til the next visit. Seeing a humpback whale dive into the water, it's enormous tail arcing gracefully before disappearing beneath the water. Hearing Lily go "wheee" on the slide at the playground.




Grilled swordfish, lobster rolls, fried scallops, clam chowder. And whoopie pies.







Hearing Lily sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame at the Chatham A's home games.







Looking up a the enormous sand dunes from Cahoon Hollow Beach in Wellfleet.







Hearing Lily say "I want to do that again!" moments after completing the Pirate's Adventure boat ride in Hyannis.







Watching the seals play off the Chatham fish pier.







Hearing Lily ask "Mommy, will you build a sand castle with me?" at Oyster Pond Beach.







Picknicking and dancing on the blanket at the Chatham band concerts on Friday nights.







Hearing Lily say "I won!" after a game of Go Fish, Old Maid, or the newly acquired Ladybug game.







Playing paddle ball, tag, hide & seek and tumbling in the lawn.







Hearing Lily say, "Good Mommy, you listen very well" after she leads a game of Simon Says.







The graceful, genteel mansions of Newport, Rhode Island.







Hearing Lily cackle with glee when the ferry to Nantucket pounded over the (very) choppy Atlantic Ocean.







Riding bikes on the Cape Cod Rail Trail.







Hearing Lily cackle and go "Eeeee!" after dipping her toes into the crashing surf at Lighthouse Beach.







The panoramic water view outside the window at the carriage house.







Hearing Lily say "That was fun!" after getting off the pony carriage ride at the Green Animals children's party.







Chipmunks.







Hearing Lily say, "Ice cream, ice cream" when the ice cream truck arrived at the beach.







The sound of screen doors slamming.







Hearing Lily say "You finish this part" (referring to her melting ice cream so she could indulge in the cone.





Putt-putt golf





Hearing Lily say, "Will you help me find a friend?" at the beach and playground.






Watching all sorts of wonderful Disney/kids movies, incuding "The Aristocats", "Madeleine," "Eloise," "Benji" "Lilo and Stitch," "The Muppet Movie" and "Air Bud." There was of course, one forgettable movie at the theater - "Kung Fu Panda." Of course she loved it.



Seeing the impressive marionette performance of Hansel and Gretel.





Hearing Lily say, "I love you, always and forever."

OK, this has nothing to do with Lily...

There's a street in Chatham called Cross St. And there's a street veering off of it named Criss Cross. I just thought that was cute.

Cape Care Free

Lily and I might be 2,000 miles away from home, leaving all the cares of work and bills, school and bedtimes behind us. But all this togetherness is having a not unexpected but definitely unintended effect. She's getting tired and subsequently testy. My patience is wearing thin and my voice speaking too many "nos" and "stops". Yet it's nice to know that at her age, there's no discipline Mom can dole out that a long ride in the big blue swing at the playground won't cure. I'm always her best friend again after one of those marathon pushing sessions. And I have the growing collection of dying dandelions and hydrangea flowers in my purse - the ones that Lily picks for me daily - to prove it. And we're back to not having a care in the world. Or at least not in Cape Cod.

A Star is (Almost) Born

Ever since Lily has been born, I've been queried as to whether I'd ever considered signing her up for modeling and heard second-hand comments to the same effect. Well, yesterday, Lily was discovered.

Yes, no other than the world renown modeling firm Landscape Structures asked Lily to model for their photography shoot yesterday.

At the Chatham playground.

Along with 25 or so other kids who just happened to be playing there at the time.

For their 2009 catalog.

So I dutifully read the release form - "authorize Landscape Structures to use all imagery and release from liability...yada...yada...yada" - and affixed my signature.

And then 5 minutes into the shoot, Lily (who has spent upwards of 2 hours at this playground on a single visit) decided she wanted to leave.

Oh well, I guess Hollywood will just have to wait.

4 going on 14

So this morning Lily waltzes into my bedroom - ok, stomps is more like it - buck nekkid, raises her arm and announces "I'm getting older." Still awakening, I manage to mumble a "Sure, you're getting older. What makes you think so?" And she replies, "I'm getting hairs under my arms." I peer, see nothing, and she quickly qualifies her statement, "Little ones." I ask her where she heard that, and then she said that Pete has hair under his arms, and he told her it was because he was older. Funny for a day.





In other news, we ventured to Newport Rhode Island yesterday to absorb some of the Gilded Age glamour. It was very grand, genteel and gracious, I must say. And just outside of town they had this lovely topiary garden where the topiaries were in the shape of animals. It's called Green Animals, in fact.

We were fortunate they were having an annual "Children's Party" that very day, complete with jugglers, magician, vaudeville-type act, dog show, puppet band, brass band, balloon animals, and pony rides. All in this beautiful setting - large white farmhouse with wraparound porch on a huge lawn overlooking some body of water. And the gardens of course.

All in all, a nice way to spend a day.

Top 5 Things I've Learned in Cape Cod

1) Moon jellyfish don't sting like ordinary jellyfish, so they're not so threatening.

2) Moon jellyfish do however, look like a big disgusting booger.

3) Despite their name, razor clams are not threatening and apparently are good in garlic sauce.

4) Seals come in a spotted variety. We saw one and can verify.

5) Argyle sweaters are alive and well in New England. Unfortunately.

What a "Bah-gan!"

A germ-a-phobe I am not. I interpret the 5-second rule about eating dropped food quite liberally - somewhere along the lines of 20 seconds (about the time it takes before the dogs manage to find said dropped food and clean it up.) And admittedly I bestow a lot more kisses on mild cuts than Neosporin.

But there's just something about the idea of wearing used shoes that I find...ah....disagreeable. So of course the first thing Lily's eyes spied at Chatham's First Congregational Church yard sale this morning was a pair of sea blue sparkly sequined slipper sandals. I'm not all that fond of yard sales, but we were passing by en route to downtown and the sandals just gleamed and glimmered away, too irresistible for her 4-year old girly eyes.

I inspected said shoes, and they did indeed seem to have a layer of that ubiquitous sand embedded in the sole. But they weren’t otherwise obviously filthy or rank. Not that my nose ventured too close to them to really tell. So I shelled out the quarter and Lily promptly abandoned her beloved flip-flops to don these instead.

Yuck.

On the other hand, my eyes happened to land on an 8x8” baking pan, perfect for the brownie mix I had purchased before realizing my rental unit didn’t come equipped with all my beloved baking supplies. Now I realize that some people might find the idea of used cookware far more objectionable than used attire, but in my mind, it was a find. And at 10 cents, what a “bah-gan!”. I’ve heard New Englanders are renowned for their thriftiness, and I think I would have done them proud.

Gotta go now - there goes the timer on the brownies.

Yum.