Sand Castles and Sunshine

Sounds like my kind of vacation. I still miss my spring break beach trips to San Diego with my friends. David still says that he liked our Smuggler's Notch ski trip better, but I was cold and the kids had the flu, so I'm going to say that the beach beats it all (edit by David-I actually didn't say I liked Smuggler's Notch better. I said that I would prefer a ski trip to a beach trip. I completely agree that this trip was the best family vacation we have done. The Dotys were great to hang out with and the house was nice, the beach was fun). Plus it was only 2 hours away and the kids slept most of the way there and back. Utter paradise!
Actually, I think that this was the best trip we've ever taken as a family. Our trips to Salt Lake have elements of vacation in them - time away, fun things to do, etc, but I don't really consider them a "vacation." It is a necessary part of life to stay in touch with family. Plus, David rarely comes with us, so they don't really count as a family vacation anyway.Our friends, the Doty family, rented a beach town-house for 2 weeks in Hyannis. They graciously and generously offered to let us come down for a week to share the house which was more than plenty big enough for all of us with 6 levels of rooms. The very best part of the house was that you stepped out the back door and your feet hit the sand of the beach. My personal heaven. Hyannis was surprisingly bug free too and it only rained the first day we were there. It was 70-80 degrees every day. Not too hot, but just hot enough to enjoy the ocean and the pool.This trip was so great. I almost wished that we wouldn't have had internet access. I'm too addicted to e-mail to avoid checking it and David is too addicted to the computer to avoid taking a laptop with us. But, I spent very minimal time checking e-mail.
We did go on a 2 hour train ride to Sandwich. The kids slept 3/4 of the trip, so we called it the nap train, and then on our last day, we went on a pirate adventure ship in the harbor which was an extremely fun outing, but other than that, we simply played on the beach or at the pool with the kids. We didn't go out to eat except for lunch at a clam shack after the pirate cruise. We cooked 3 (totally divine, might I add - Linda is AMAZING) meals a day and stayed at the beach house. I loved every second of it.
The Dotys have 2 little boys. Benjamin is 3 years old. He and Grace have identical alpha personalities, so they had a lot of clashes over toys. Hattie and their little boy Jack (one year old) were totally delightful most of the time. It helps that they both still take naps!

My favorite memories are:

Watching Grace gather seashells. She never met a shell she didn't like. It didn't matter the size, color, or condition. Every one was something to take home.

Watching Hattie play in the surf and look at the sea creatures. The harbor was full of jelly fish, little tiny fish, crabs, and sea weed and kelp. It made swimming a little tricky and ominous, but wading along the tide was excellent.

Taking long walks down the beach with the girls to see what we could see and find.

Looking out at the harbor at night at all the lights on the sailboats and ships.

Smelling the sea breeze in the morning.

Going out on the beach as many times a day as wanted or needed.

Shopping on main street in Hyannis with Linda. We found lots of treasures.

Watching the Olympics on TV at night with Grace. She is so into all of the events!

Putting the kids to bed in their huge bedroom with blue and white twin beds and fish pillows and reading "Good Night Cape Cod" to them every night.

Driving there and back with the kids asleep in the car and getting to talk to David uninterrupted, while seeing the bridges over the Cape Cod canal.