Adirondacks and Cape Cod

 

It has been a really long time since I've written a blog! Sorry.... but I never know if anyone reads these things anyway! So if you do read them, I've been busy. This August has been basically non-stop. I feel like tonight is the first night I've had in a long time to just sit and deal with all the photos and fun I've been having. So yes, I've been busy - but it has been almost totally fun (work included).

Jay and I flew back east for the first week of August and spent time split between families. We came back during this specific week because of the Barber family tradition of vacationing in the Adirondacks near Inlet, NY during this week. Our flight landed in Albany, NY and we were scooped up by my parents and whisked off to Inlet. The entire AASSS (Adirondack Association of Shooting Star Searchers) membership was present: the Lockmans, my sister and her family, my parents, and all significant others! 

We spent our first full day at Limekiln Lake, basking in the not-so-hot-sun and kayaking. Jay and I borrowed Katie and Chad's kayaks and ended up in the middle of a loon family on the lake. This was an Adirondack moment is there ever was one. We were surrounded by the two parents and their single large chick. We were able to watch the parents feeding the chick and one of the adults even swam under the kayak I was in at one point. Bliss!

The next day we (minus the Barber-Justs....but we had our fun with them too!) headed off to spend the day paddling the Big Moose River near Old Forge, NY. This is a very young river, meaning it twists and winds its way through the forest and land. It is a gorgeous river. Around each bend there is yet another sandy beach with steep drop-offs into the river that are made for jumping into and goofing around. The day varied in the level of heat from the sun though and sometimes it was hard to convince me to get wet at all!

 The Big Moose River

Julie L., Scott, Mom, Jay, Julie, Dad, Scott's brother-in law Chris and sister Lauren, Katie, Bobbie, and Bob (Chad took the photo) on the Big Moose River.

The next day was spent with the Barber-Justs as much as possible! We went on a nice mellow walk around Moss Lake. Jackson (white t-shirt two photos up from here) got to hold a toad! And Henry was a superman with his awesome cape on the entire hike. Those guys are getting big and they are both fantastic! After this walk, we went to the town beach in Inlet and played in the sand. Henry and I built some castles with dragons and Jackson and Jay built a volcano out of sand! On the way back to our cabins I stopped and picked up a "Pirates Mad Libs" to give/play with our nephews. Jay and I got all dressed up for our fancy ADK dinner in Inlet, but we spent most of the early evening playing Mad Libs with Henry and Jackson. Want to know my favorite plural noun that one of them came up with (maybe it was Henry??)?  Sara encouraged them to make the noun as gross as possible and Henry (??) came up with "George Bush"!! Ha! And it was perfect because we could make it plural.... remember there was a pirate theme, so it was "George Bushes Yaarrrrr!!". Don't you love Mad Libs?

After playing Mad Libs with kids (I seriously recommend this for many great laughs), we headed out to The Woods Inn in Inlet for our annual dinner. The sunset is always lovey but nothing beats the company of family and friends that might as well be family. It was a perfect evening.

We left the Adirondacks the next morning and drove through Rhode Island where we were able to stop and visit with our friend Christine and her two kids, Sarah (newborn!) and Ryan. We always wish there was more time for our friends, we miss them and love them so.

But the Cape called with warm weather, humidity (yeah!), and beaches. We met up with Allison and Jim in time for a fantastic dinner. But nothing beat our next day! Allison, Jay and I walked down to the inlet of the Sippewissett marsh. We spent the day swimming in the water against the tide, checking out all the cool critters with our goggles, and basking in the hot sun. Ahhhhhh....another perfect day in New England. 

 Common terns (right?) at the marsh.

 You can feel summer right now

 Sippewissett Marsh

That evening we headed out to a super tasty French restaurant in Hyannis, MA called Pain D'Avignon. Allison asked them to reserve some bread for us to purchase at the end of the evening.....but they just gave us a bag loaded with bread and rolls at the end of the night. Just look at that bread!

The next day we headed off to South Cape Beach where Jay was tempted to mess with the law but thought twice of it (see above photo).  =)  It was a warm day, but muggy and cloudy. We managed to get into the water and play in the waves before heading home to a warm shower and a visit with Jay's sister, Lee! Time flies.....we spent the evening and next afternoon on the Cape before we had to drive back to NY so we could catch our really early flight back to Seattle.

We miss our families so much that it is not possible to explain how it feels. Going back east to see everyone certainly helps with all the time we spend apart, and nothing could be better than a week of real summer where I got to wear shorts every day!!! We had such a great time and look forward to many good times ahead! To one week of summer! It was great. =)

More photos are here: https://plus.google.com/photos/111221596171793333099/albums/5775472403936770881?banner=pwa

I've got tons to write about still including our visit with Jay's sister, Lee, out here in WA as well as the weekend backpacking trip we just went on east of the Cascades. This weekend we are taking advantage of the holiday to head to Desolation Sound along the central coast of Vancouver Island and mainland BC. Can't wait! Stay tuned for me to take forever posting stories!