Escape to the Cape

 For part of April vacation, I went to the Cape with my mom. Elizabeth, Rocco, and Shane joined us for part of the of time too. We went to Chatham hoping to see seals, but they proved to be elusive. It was nice to walk on the beach, though.

We enjoyed exploring this funny cute little beach shack

You can see the rain falling in the distance

The Mayflower sailed by here, trying to get down to New York. But it had to turn around and dropped anchor at Provincetown instead, before heading on to Plymouth.

I love the history here on the Cape. Some of the pilgrims are my ancestors. "Pilgrims' pride" is definitely a thing for me. 😊

Downtown Chatham is great for shopping. We went to the Fisherman's Daughter and I saw this fun sweater that reminded me of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, so I took a picture and sent it to Sam. I seriously considered buying the sweater too.

I always enjoy Ducks in the Window. There was a Katniss Everdeen duck which was fun because the boys and I have been watching The Hunger Games movies together. So I texted this picture too.

I got these two Egyptian ducks and a British one and they are now proudly displayed by my jacuzzi tub. I love ancient Egypt, and England.

One of my other favorite shops always has unique things. Of the owls down below, I have the middle one and the one next to it on the right. Next time I go back I want to get the snowy owl on top of the stack of books.

A really cool steampunk clock

We ate a delicious dinner at Captain Parker's. They have the best clam chowder!

I got a cup of chowder, and lazy man's lobster.

On Sunday I rested and relaxed in my room for awhile. My mom and I also played an epic game of Monopoly with Rocco in which he took great delight in crushing us both. 

Shane had fun playing with the bath toys. Some of those toys I used to play with as a kid!

On Sunday afternoon we went to the Cedar Swamp Trail in Wellfleet that I discovered last summer. 

Aren't we cute? 😁

Group selfie

Then we walked up on top of the dunes, which I love doing. The views are fantastic (and the height is dizzying!).

There's cool history here, too!

This makes me think of the moors in England. (Not that I've seen them in real life...yet!)

It's a little scary being so high up with kids!

It's very steep, and much higher than it looks!

Then we went down on the beach (not by way of the dunes!) and the waves were huge and Rocco and Shane had fun getting soaked! It was cold but they didn't care. Well, not until the car ride home that is. 😆

Big pieces of driftwood 

The next day I bought new seat cushions for the kitchen chairs. I'm very happy with them!

I enjoyed delicious treats from Trader Joe's.

Pretty spring flowers outside of the house.

I love my Cape house and Cape Cod. It's a blessing to have this house and I don't take it for granted, especially these days. It's always so nice to escape to the Cape!

Basement to Apartment

 These are the last pictures of my basement before it becomes an apartment for my sister Elizabeth and her two sons! They're moving in soon because she and I are both going through divorces at the same time (you can't make this stuff up!) and this is a way we can help support each other and our sons since we're all going through some of the same things at the same time. The number of people living in my home is doubling and I'm excited about it! (Hopefully we'll all feel the same way in a few months! 😆)

The bedroom opens up into a kitchenette. They're going to divide this room in half, one side for Liz and the other for Shane.

Their dining room table is going to go where the foosball table is.

Half of this room is going to be Rocco's room. We're putting up wall partitions for it.

It's a walk-out basement so they'll have their own entrance in the back (although they can of course use the upstairs entrances too). I think it will be a cute little apartment for them while we all do our best to settle into this new phase of our lives.  

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! 🍋