Cape Cod Day #6

Another beach day...we had a lot of those.  After all, we were staying right up the stairs from the water.  

Tuesday Ethan went out with the 'big boys' (Steve and Papa) clamming on the flats almost all day.  He LOVED clamming.

James got a lot of exercise pulling the other kids on a rope behind him while they rode on the skimboard behind him again, and again and again.

Tuesday was lobster night.  We all went to Hatch's Fish Market in Wellfleet to see the lobsters up close.  This is the biggest they had in store at the time, and 11 pounder!

Thanks to Bob and Georgine, there was plenty of lobster that night for everyone.

That evening we were also able to get a picture of the whole clan together. 

(Left to Right: Johnsons-Alana, Steve and Bo, Warnicks--Megan, Nora, Gavin, Elise and Dan, 'young' Bob behind them.  Amanda and Bill, Kirsten (newly engaged to Mike-behind Grandpa Bob), Bill and Vinnie, Bob and Georgine, Brad and Margaret, our Family--James, Megan, Preston, Brielle and Ethan, Ian, Annie and Abigail, Evan, Valerie and Joey.)

And we also enjoyed sunset overlooking the bay.

Cape Cod Day #5

Monday was a beach day on the bay side.  

In the morning, the tide was out, so we got to spend time  beach combing for clams, crabs, shells, or anything else that caught our fancy.

I'm pretty sure Preston ate a lot of dirt.  He also learned to sign crab and loved pointing them out as he saw them along the beach.

We found a lot of big crabs.

Preston with his Great Grandpa Bob

As the tide comes in over the warm sand, the water heats up and makes it perfect for swimming.  Ethan was doing summersaults in the water.

Aunt Jeannie got to be with us for the weekend, but had to head back to work that night.  We had fun with her for the few days she got to spend with us.

That night James took the big kids to watch a baseball game.

Brielle, Joey and Elise hanging out on the side of the baseball field.

It sounded like everyone had a great time watching and/or playing on the sidelines.

Cape Cod Day #4

So, Day #4 was Sunday the 3rd of August.  The closest church was a small branch about 30 minutes away.  After church we got together outside for family pictures.

And a couple of our kids as well.

I love this color of shirt on Preston.  And, it even as a crab embroidered on it, so it was the perfect Cape Cod outfit.

After church it was time to try getting some clams from the Salt Pond.  This is a tradition for Grammy and Grampy that they have been doing for years and years and years...

The kids got to try out the clamming experience for the first time this year.

You basically walk into the stinky, muddy water.  You then mush around in the mud with your feet until you feel something hard

and then bend down and dig it up.

A normal size quahog clam we found was about the size of my palm, so seeing the nursery of the baby clams and how small they start (the size of my pinky nail) was incredible.

Ethan was very excited about the horseshoe crab he found.

The kids then spent the evening 'relaxing' in the hammocks.  These provided entertainment everyday for the whole trip.

Cape Cod Trip Day #3

Saturday, August 2nd we left our hotel in Dedham, MA and drove out to the Cape.  Almost all rentals on Cape Cod go from Saturday to Saturday, and as there are only 2 bridges that cross over onto the Cape, the roads can get pretty congested with everyone coming and going.  We left early in the morning before the traffic got too congested and our family spent some time exploring Woods Hole while we waited for out rental house to be cleaned and ready for check in.

Woods Hole has a draw bridge that goes up every 1/2 hour to let boats through.  It was pretty cool watching the street rotate almost a full 90 degrees.

And, very fun to see a sailboat passing through.

We spent some time at the Woods Hole Aquarium.  There was a Seal show that James and the big kids enjoyed watching, even though it was out in the rain.

Preston was more interested in walking around, exploring and finding the hands-on exhibits.

We traveled on some back roads up the Cape, enjoying the scenery and avoiding the crowds.  As you can see, it was a very rainy day, which was an exciting change for us coming from the hot, dry CA weather.

We stopped for lunch at Cobie's Clam Shack in Brewster.  They had very good fish and chips, and clam chowder.

 

After getting to our house we settled in and went to visit Bob and Georgine at the Collin's home whey they stayed along with all the Atlanta Finlays.

That night we had a yummy dinner with everyone.  Swordfish and pasta.  We also got to celebrate Steve's Birthday with him.

All of James' siblings, spouses and kids were staying in the same house, so we were able to get kids to bed and stay up for some games.  It was so fun to be together.

Cape Cod Trip Days #1 & #2

Thursday morning started early.  Our flight left at 6am, which meant getting up around 3:30 to get out the door and to the airport on time.  

We had a brief layover in SLC, where the toddlers spent their time checking to see if they were carry-on size.  They were pretty excited about finding this little area just their size to come in and out of.

There were 15 of us...all the California Finlay crew all flying on the same flights.  We played a little bit of musical chairs and the toddlers made friends with people walking the isles.  Everyone traveled pretty well, and after getting rental cars, checking into our hotel, swimming and quick dinner it was bedtime.

The next morning we drove into downtown Boston for a day to explore Boston Commons and the Freedom Trail.

We stopped by the 'Make Way For Ducklings" statues.

Then continued along the trail to learn more about our Nation's History.

One of the kid's favorite stops was seeing these box pews at King's Hall church.  They each climbed in them and used them as their forts.

It was a pretty hot muggy day, so when we stopped for a break Ethan and Gavin cooled off in the fountains.

Even though the Freedom Trail is only 2.5 miles long, we ended up making it about a 7 mile day with side trips and walking to and from the car.

We stopped at Mike's Pastry for a treat.  The cannolis were incredible.  The box on the top left shows the 'lobster tail' a giant cream-puff dessert.  It was a great pick-me-up energy boost to continue our journey.

Our last stop was touring the USS Constitution.  We then cooled off and rested our feet by taking the water taxi back across the Charles River before walking back to the cars.

And to end the evening.  We visited Uncle Jack (James' Great Uncle).  He was supposed to join us out on Cape Cod, but he had taken a fall that required some time at the hospital.  He is such a nice and friendly man, and we were glad to spend time talking with him.