Picket Fence Post » Cape Cod

August 5, 2008

Another Summer, Another Sojourn to the Cape

Filed under: Family Melodrama, Great Moments in American Parenting — Tags: Cape Cod, Family Melodrama, family vacation, New York Times, Provincetown, Wellfleet — Meredith O'Brien @ 7:56 pm

We’re still trying to shake off that vacation feel and jump back into our regular, everyday life . . . but we’re not doing so well. The reason: The Boys’ first season of Pop Warner football started last night with equipment pickup. They just had their first practices (which lasted approximately 47 hours and run for 49 consecutive days, while $98,000 worth of new equipment put a huge crimp in my credit card and The Spouse and I look forward to months of making the 20-minute each way trips to drop them off and pick them up from their bazillion practices. So I’m gearing up for a long, grumpy season of hauling boys and their smelly equipment around . . . but I digress. I promised Cape tales in this blog entry. Here are the highlights:

Lucky Number Seven

We celebrated the 7th birthday of The Youngest Boy during our summer holiday by playing a rousing round of mini-golf (thank God no one won a free second round on the 18th hole) at one of the Cape’s 118 mini-golf establishments. The one we went to has a farm theme . . . because when you think Cape, you automatically think farm. The birthday boy not only miraculously got two holes-in-ones (miraculous given that he viciously pounded the golf ball on numerous occasions sending the white sphere of death sailing through the air), but we also allowed him and his siblings to waste much of our hard-earned cash in the arcade afterwards. Who knew that the most fun was to be had NOT in playing the games, but in cashing in tickets ”earned” by playing the games to get a prize worth 17 cents? (For the record, all the kids selected from the prize area some form of plastic weaponry and plastic rings guaranteed to cut off their circulation.) After mini-golf, plastic guns and birthday pizza, the birthday kid also got to go to the beach and later enjoyed a chocolate Hulk birthday cake. Plus presents.

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July 25, 2008

8 Great Things About Summer . . . Plus a Brief Blogging Break

Filed under: Family Melodrama, Misc. — Tags: Cape Cod, Mad Men, summer — Meredith O'Brien @ 10:46 am

I spend a lot of time complaining on this blog. In earnest.

Thus, as I prepare to attempt the Herculean task that is packing the family’s stuff up for a Cape Cod vacation, I’ve decided to be optimistic in the hopes that my hyper, over-caffeinated mania — which has descended upon me like a storm cloud this past week as I tried to attend to all of my work commitments – would fade and a peaceful, Zen-like calm would sweep over me. So, in the name of naive optimism, here’s a list of my favorite things about summer (leaving my gripes about vicious mosquitoes, youth sports practices encroaching on summer and high gas prices off the list):

1. Lighter Laundry Load. The laundry is easier to wash in the summer – beach towels notwithstanding – because the kids are wearing T-shirts and shorts, meaning more of them can be cleaned in fewer loads.

2. The Smell of Sunscreen. Makes me think of the beach. And I love the beach.

3. Fresh Fruit. The abundance of sweet blueberries, strawberries, nectarines, plums and peaches puts the bitter winter fruit to shame. Plus fresh fruit makes for an easy snack for the kids to get for themselves while I’m toiling away at the computer.

4. Swimming. No matter how maddening the day — balancing deadlines and refereeing sibling spats before they spiral downward into bloodbaths – the moment I hop into the pool, the frustration literally washes away. (It quickly returns by the time we get back to the house, but we’re trying to be positive here!)

5. No School Projects. No scrambling, no last-minute errand running, no nagging worry that you’ve forgotten to remind your kid to study her spelling words and get all of your kids going on their science projects.

6. Powdered Lemonade Mixes. They’re cheap (yeah, they contain sugar, but it’s summertime, so get over yourself). They come in ginormous cans. Plus the kids can mix it up themselves, if you overlook the granules of lemonade mix all over the kitchen.

7. Eating Outside. If you eat out of doors before the evil mosquitoes descend and carry away your youngest child, the inevitable spills and dropped food that accompany any meal with young children won’t tick you off.

8. VACATION! Speaking of vacation . . . I’m going to be bold and take a Picket Fence Post blogging break for a whole week. I’ll be back in the first full week of August to regale you all with all manner fanciful tales of the modern family’s summer vacation, so don’t forget to check in here. In the meantime, watch (or set your DVR for) Mad Men on AMC, second season premieres on Sundays at 10 p.m. Trust me, you won’t be sorry.

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