From Cape Cod
My wife was finally allowed to take time off from work. With six weeks spent in either Richmond or Atlanta this year, it's nice that she finally gets some time away with the kids. The only drawback is that she's got to sit in on a conference call this afternoon.
Once again, we're vacationing on Cape Cod. This is our third time out here, the second with kids. I'll admit that I'm not too psyched to go on trips with my kids. To me, vacations should be relaxing, stress free excursions where I get to have lots of fun. Since I'm the stay-at-home parent, these trips don't qualify as vacations as I still have my job to do. While Tammy's here to help out, it's still the same job, just in a different location. One has to pack up enough toys, diapers, etc. to make sure the kids are covered.
At home, I don't go out to dinner with my kids. On trips, I'm forced to. Dining out with my son, Alex, as a baby and as a toddler was not fun. When he was a baby he'd scream for attention, forcing my wife and me to inhale our food and exit the restaurant ASAP, running from the "shut yer kid up, will ya" glares. When he was a toddler, he'd trash the place. One time he hit me in the eye and I open it for 15 minutes. He was never like this at home. While he wasn't an angel, he at least behaved.
When Rebecca came along, there was no way I wanted to deal with two kids out at a restaurant. So, we never ate out as a family. On the drive up here, we had to stop for lunch. Tammy and I figured that Alex would be old enough to behave and that Rebecca would be the troublemaker. After all, Alex is 5 and Rebecca is 1 1/2. We stopped at a Friendly's just over the RI - Mass border on I-195. We ordered a grilled cheese for Alex. He's always bugging Tammy to make him one when she's home. He even agreed to it. Instead, he complained that he didn't like it and sulked when we wouldn't let him fill up on fries. Rebecca, on the other hand, gladly ate all the apple sauce I gave her and chowed on the fries.
Last night we decided to eat out at The Sea Dog, a restaurant/bar. We ate there the previous time we vacationed here and remembered that they had good beer and food. Plus, it was one place that Alex behaved himself and the staff liked him too. But all was not great. Alex started whooping it up and being a spaz. I was forced to use the "voice of authority" in conjunction with what my wife called the "Vulcan Death Grip" to get him to settle down. He had chicken tenders, normally his favorite food, but getting him to finish a negotiated portion was a struggle. Rebecca, by contrast, chowed on rolls, goldfish, and fries. Not really nutritious but she behaved.
But it's not all bad. Despite the uncooperative weather, the kids have only had their usual squabbles ("That's mine", "She's bothering me"). While it doesn't make for a relaxing time, they haven't been any worse than at home. It helps that we rented a house instead of boarding at a hotel. There's alot of space and the place is nicely furnished with two TV's and VCR/DVD players so we can reward Alex with TV time (the newly animated "Transformers" is big with him right now) and not worry about Rebecca bothering him.
This is still off season so we were able to save 60% or so on lodging. It made the week affordable. I don't have any pictures yet (and I don't think I ever loaded any photo editing software into this laptop) so, if you're interested, you can check out their website. We snagged Cottage B, which has two main level decks and one observation deck up on the roof. Wireless internet access feeds in from the other house. The signal is weak but it works.
We can see Cape Cod Bay from the living room, even on this foggy, rainy day. It's a very short walk to the beach, which Alex has been eager to go to, despite the inclement weather. He's finally showing a desire for exploration, something he lacked last time. More on that for a later post.
There's a bird feeder which attracts several types of birds. Of course, there's chipmunks and American Red Squirrels scavenging for seeds. But the birds aren't having any problems getting in there for food. I'm making a list of birds we've spotted and I'll post those later.
I know this post is a departure for me, especially writing about my kids, but a change of pace will probably do some good.
\_/
DED
Once again, we're vacationing on Cape Cod. This is our third time out here, the second with kids. I'll admit that I'm not too psyched to go on trips with my kids. To me, vacations should be relaxing, stress free excursions where I get to have lots of fun. Since I'm the stay-at-home parent, these trips don't qualify as vacations as I still have my job to do. While Tammy's here to help out, it's still the same job, just in a different location. One has to pack up enough toys, diapers, etc. to make sure the kids are covered.
At home, I don't go out to dinner with my kids. On trips, I'm forced to. Dining out with my son, Alex, as a baby and as a toddler was not fun. When he was a baby he'd scream for attention, forcing my wife and me to inhale our food and exit the restaurant ASAP, running from the "shut yer kid up, will ya" glares. When he was a toddler, he'd trash the place. One time he hit me in the eye and I open it for 15 minutes. He was never like this at home. While he wasn't an angel, he at least behaved.
When Rebecca came along, there was no way I wanted to deal with two kids out at a restaurant. So, we never ate out as a family. On the drive up here, we had to stop for lunch. Tammy and I figured that Alex would be old enough to behave and that Rebecca would be the troublemaker. After all, Alex is 5 and Rebecca is 1 1/2. We stopped at a Friendly's just over the RI - Mass border on I-195. We ordered a grilled cheese for Alex. He's always bugging Tammy to make him one when she's home. He even agreed to it. Instead, he complained that he didn't like it and sulked when we wouldn't let him fill up on fries. Rebecca, on the other hand, gladly ate all the apple sauce I gave her and chowed on the fries.
Last night we decided to eat out at The Sea Dog, a restaurant/bar. We ate there the previous time we vacationed here and remembered that they had good beer and food. Plus, it was one place that Alex behaved himself and the staff liked him too. But all was not great. Alex started whooping it up and being a spaz. I was forced to use the "voice of authority" in conjunction with what my wife called the "Vulcan Death Grip" to get him to settle down. He had chicken tenders, normally his favorite food, but getting him to finish a negotiated portion was a struggle. Rebecca, by contrast, chowed on rolls, goldfish, and fries. Not really nutritious but she behaved.
But it's not all bad. Despite the uncooperative weather, the kids have only had their usual squabbles ("That's mine", "She's bothering me"). While it doesn't make for a relaxing time, they haven't been any worse than at home. It helps that we rented a house instead of boarding at a hotel. There's alot of space and the place is nicely furnished with two TV's and VCR/DVD players so we can reward Alex with TV time (the newly animated "Transformers" is big with him right now) and not worry about Rebecca bothering him.
This is still off season so we were able to save 60% or so on lodging. It made the week affordable. I don't have any pictures yet (and I don't think I ever loaded any photo editing software into this laptop) so, if you're interested, you can check out their website. We snagged Cottage B, which has two main level decks and one observation deck up on the roof. Wireless internet access feeds in from the other house. The signal is weak but it works.
We can see Cape Cod Bay from the living room, even on this foggy, rainy day. It's a very short walk to the beach, which Alex has been eager to go to, despite the inclement weather. He's finally showing a desire for exploration, something he lacked last time. More on that for a later post.
There's a bird feeder which attracts several types of birds. Of course, there's chipmunks and American Red Squirrels scavenging for seeds. But the birds aren't having any problems getting in there for food. I'm making a list of birds we've spotted and I'll post those later.
I know this post is a departure for me, especially writing about my kids, but a change of pace will probably do some good.
\_/
DED
posted by DED at 12:42 PM
2 Comments:
Vacation and kids is an oxymoron. There's no vacation with kids. The Honey and I have switched off and the stay at home parent duties and it really does skew to the current stay home even on vacations.
It sounds like the house was a great idea. A hotel room with 2 small children is not my idea of relaxing.
I'm looking forward to the bird list. I'm a casual observer of birds and am always trying to get photos of them, though it doesn't do me much good.
Enjoy your time away from home and remember, while you're living it, it's forever. But the little kid stuff really does pass quickly when you look back.
I promise.
Vacation and kids is an oxymoron. There's no vacation with kids.
I'm glad that I'm not the only person who understands this. :)
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