Cape Cod Sog Fest

 This year we did NOT luck out with the gorgeous weather we had last year on our late-spring weekend on Cape Cod.  Thankfully, we took Friday off and headed down early that day since it was the only nice weather day we were going to get.  We thoroughly enjoyed the sunshine that day, walking out on the Sandwich boardwalk to have a picnic lunch near the dunes and then spend the afternoon picking treasures on the beach.  Aiden found part of a lobster shell, among other wondrous and stinky things, and he stuffed it full of irish moss and declared it a delicacy.  Haley just poked her fingers in the sand and marveled at little periwinkles half embedded in the tidal mud.  HaPa and Grandma (Mema) met us at the beach, and when we were done with exploring, we headed off to get ice cream cones before arriving at the Seaside Cottages.

Sandwich Boardwalk

near our lunch spot in Sandwich

Yum!  My second ice cream...already had a dish of peppermint!

That night we hooked up with the Perlmutter/Stevens clan and also saw the Rockwell family, and had a nice BBQ dinner.  Already we had to eat inside since it had turned cooler and very windy...and it didn't get any better.  Saturday was a total wash-out, with rain and 30 mph winds.  The triathalon that Andy was scheduled to run in Onset didn't seem like a fun prospect, so he skipped it and joined us with the kids at the Cape Cod Children's Museum for the morning.  After lunch the skies cleared for about 1 hour, which was enough time for a quick (and I do mean quick...Oliver and Aiden may have set a course record for speed) game of mini golf at Pirate's Cove.  For dinner we hit a local seafood place for lobster, chowder, clams, and cod.

Mini golfers

Oliver puts Nate in the stocks

Arrrgh...

Oliver meets Jaws

Sunday the weather was still gloomy, windy, and cold, but the driving rain had subsided, so we headed out to Provincetown for the day.  We did manage a little birding at Race Point Beach, and the strong winds had blown some pelagic birds like shearwaters and gannets close enough to spot from shore.  There were also many large seals popping their heads out of the surf to gawk at us, which the kids thought were great.  But it wasn't pleasant for the little ones being out on the exposed beach with the howling winds, so we headed into town to stroll Commercial Street.  P-town was just as I had remembered it- kind of like the Key West of the North - lots of cute bed & breakfast places, quaint houses, and shops from cutesy to kitchy to kinky.  We had lunch at a Cape Cod diner with lots of Portuguese specialties, and made sure the kids got their hands on some penny candy afterwards.  After shopping a bit we headed back to the cottages in South Yarmouth for some last chilly beach play and another BBQ dinner.  There was a lot more time spent inside the cottages this year, and they're small for adults plus a quartet of rambunctious kids... but we made the best of the weather and had a good time still.  Hopefully next time we visit the Cape the weather will be kinder!

Aiden surveys the saltwater taffy in the penny candy store

Ben with his haul of penny candy