(For a trip down memory lane, you can see 2008 and 2010 here - we missed 2012 due to a certain little person's arrival and my terror at traveling with 3 under 5. You'll notice this year's chronicle has more detail, as I've discovered travelogs are the only way I can actually remember the trips we've taken.)
Then Josh dashed over to the one motel in walking distance to get a room. Amazingly, it was available, warm, clean, had 2 beds AND a crib, AND a free continental breakfast. It felt like Heaven. We left the van at the dock for the ferry men to carry over sometime in the night, fairy-like. ;)
We have to start with the fact that an island off the Cape is not the easiest place to reach from TN. Josh and I chose to divide and conquer; by cobbling together airline discounts, we got us all to Boston, just not on the same planes.
I took Isaac, who was a napless champ, mesmerized by the airport, excited about the airplane's "arm" out the window, leery of the heights, thrilled with the tray table, obsessed with the lollipops I gave him with each descent, and quite proud to sit in the cockpit at the end of our final flight (thanks to the best flight attendant I've ever had)...
I took Isaac, who was a napless champ, mesmerized by the airport, excited about the airplane's "arm" out the window, leery of the heights, thrilled with the tray table, obsessed with the lollipops I gave him with each descent, and quite proud to sit in the cockpit at the end of our final flight (thanks to the best flight attendant I've ever had)...
Meanwhile, the big boys were discovering a thrilling new restaurant (Noah: "We went to Burger King again because we love it so much! If I was a food critic, I'd say 'Five stars for Burger King!'"), reading, coloring, drinking SPRITE, and watching "Scooby Do." They have ARRIVED.
Once in Boston, we picked up the rental minivan (yes, even when renting we try to get my all-time favorite family vehicle) and headed toward the Cape. On the way, we stopped in Plymouth, which Noah and Aaron have actually studied and were able to "appreciate" (i.e. they have dressed up in paper versions of the tour guides' costumes).
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| That's the Mayflower II (which the boys preferred to attribute to pirates) and top left, THE ROCK (not the prison) |
We even managed to squeeze in stops at two of my favorite regional retailers: Friendly's and The Christmas Tree Shops. Dunkin' Donuts used to be a priority till they became ubiquitous.
Finally, we were all lined up to drive onto the last ferry of the night. We had waited in the dark and wind of the docks, watching a seal play among the yachts nearby, witnessing the ferry unload an impossible number of semi-trucks, when a rain-slickered, neon-vested crew member started walking down the line of cars, delivering the bad news. The ferry was cancelled due to blustery weather. Cancelled. We had a minivan full of luggage and tired little boys in a small port town on a wintry night and nowhere to go. It took us a second to recover.
Then Josh dashed over to the one motel in walking distance to get a room. Amazingly, it was available, warm, clean, had 2 beds AND a crib, AND a free continental breakfast. It felt like Heaven. We left the van at the dock for the ferry men to carry over sometime in the night, fairy-like. ;)
In the morning, we jumped on the first passenger boat to the island and found our van waiting for us on the other side. After 28 hours door-to-door, we made it to the oh-so-worthwhile Heaven on Earth: my relatives' house, which I would like to fold up and take home in my pocket.
That day we watched a creepy-out-of-scifi insect/drone/toy take our pictures from the back deck, visited the 18th-century colonial downtown (where the boys unfortunately learned that you must say "Ahh" while driving the cobblestone streets), and helped the boys get to know the fam -- who were, for the record, AMAZING with our kids...
They quickly figured out the key to my boys' hearts (l-e-g-o-s):
That day we watched a creepy-out-of-scifi insect/drone/toy take our pictures from the back deck, visited the 18th-century colonial downtown (where the boys unfortunately learned that you must say "Ahh" while driving the cobblestone streets), and helped the boys get to know the fam -- who were, for the record, AMAZING with our kids...
And expanded the boys' horizons (Woohoo!):
Meanwhile, Josh and I got to rest, read (Josh The Giver, me Trains and Lovers), write, eat, chat with adults, noodle on the Times crosswords, and generally enjoy all the things we only do at someone else's house. #bliss
Which brings us to the big kahuna...Thanksgiving! In ACK, The Second 1/2.
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