A slice of Cape Cod

As I previously mentioned, we were able to enjoy a day trip to the Cape a few weeks ago.  We live less than an hour from the bridge but, unfortunately, we tend to avoid outings in that area due to the predictably unpredictable traffic.  Traffic onto the Cape is heavy late Friday/Saturday morning while traffic coming off of the Cape can be a problem Sunday afternoon/night.  You never know how much time it will take you to reach your destination.

With the thought that we could miss some of the weekend traffic and crowds, we decided to head down there on a Friday morning.  Of course, this was made possible with my 80% work schedule and Rich's unemployment.  We are trying to take advantage of both while they co-exist.









We reached the Centerville area in less than 90 minutes and drove directly to the beach.  While we were unloading the van, the lifeguards announced over the speaker system that there were blue fish in the area and that they could bite so swimmers should stay away from them.  We were also told that these fish were jumping out of the water near seagulls.  (I think everyone's a bit more aware of what's in the ocean due to the recent shark sightings and attack.)  This lead to Allie asking if the "snapping fish" were going to get us every time we went for a swim.  We did see some activity but it was in deeper water and you can bet your bottom dollar that I was not venturing out past my waist.

Identical triplet guide:

Allie - blue fish
Anna - pink flowers
Emily - pastel hearts







The currents weren't strong or dangerous on this day but with this beach, the drop off to deeper water comes quickly and the girls were hesitant to play in the waves without an adult present.









Allie was the adventure seeker on this particular outing and decided to partake in some body surfing.









Because I wore my bathing suit (I don't always when we go to the beach), I earned the 'parent of choice' award for the day.  This means that the girls wanted me to bring them into the ocean.  I had to toss all of my bathing suits after the girls were born because bikinis and my former size 0 mid-section stretched out to almost 36 weeks of a triplet pregnancy don't really mesh well together (and I try to keep our freak show appearance to a minimum.)  This is a one piece and it's too long so I wear swim shorts with it.







    


Who needs free weights when you have kids?




Allie and I went for a walk alone to hunt for shells and take in the sights.




















And then it was Anna and Emily's turn.







In the middle of the afternoon, we started packing up and removing sand, which is quite a lengthly process, before driving to Hyannis to enjoy an early dinner at Baxter's.  (We do use the baby powder method for sand removal, which I highly recommend.)  Rich and I both love the Cape and dream of owning property there some day.  I'm also a bit of a real estate geek and love watching shows like Property Brothers on HGTV.  There's a neighborhood where we always check out the real estate listings so we drove through there on our way to Hyannis.  It's amazing to see how much property values have dropped over the past eight years or so.  Back in 2005, houses (in that area) with approximately 1,000 square feet, 2 to 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, less than a mile to the beach were listed (and selling) for $500,000.  Those same houses are now selling for approximately $350,000.

We arrived at Baxter's just ahead of the dinner crowd so we were able to find a table right next to the deck with a view of the harbor and boats and we didn't have to wait very long for our food.  Now, the girls are usually very well behaved in restaurants to begin with but I was pleasantly surprised with how much they enjoyed eating there while watching boats pass by.  In contrast, there was a three year old girl there who spent most of her time running around.  I guess I hadn't realized that my kids had matured to this stage of enjoying nature and the world beyond "playing."




Months can pass by without strangers asking if the girls are triplets and then, somehow, we become a public spectacle.  The girls behind the counter had asked if they were triplets when we ordered our food.  Not a big deal.  But all of a sudden, while we were eating, we were surrounded by all these people asking if the girls were triplets.  It was a bit entertaining because this one guy didn't believe us.  He kept saying, "No way.  You're kidding right?" Does it look like I'm kidding?

Because the girls were really into watching the boats and sightseeing, we drove over to the other side of the harbor and walked down the pier.  Unfortunately, many of the boats had not returned for the day so there wasn't too much to look at.  We've promised them a return visit with an boat outing.  There were some larger boats offering a one hour tour of the harbor, which I think would be perfect for us.










On the drive home, the girls told us that they had had a fantastic day.  Allie exclaimed that it was just as fun as a vacation day.  We stopped for ice cream after we crossed the bridge and then sat in traffic.  It took us 50 minutes to drive 3 miles.  I wanted to cry.  We kept the girls entertained with CDs.  We are hoping to return for one more beach day before summer officially ends.