"The Cape"

Hello!

Summer is zipping by and I can't seem to slow it down.  We have had some beautiful days in New England, and very little rain.  Pros and cons to that, of course, but I can't complain about sunshine, that's for sure.

We also got to spend last week "at the Cape," as people from Massachusetts say.  "I'm going to the Cape," or "spending time at the Cape."  Not "Cape Cod."  If you said that, people might look at you funny.

Our friends bought a house "at the Cape" last spring, planning to spend most of their summers there.  But I knew they would NOT be there, maybe 2 or 3 weeks of the summer, so I asked if during one of those weeks, they'd consider renting it to us.  They did!

We tried to mix it up some, and do something different every day.  Evenings, of course, were mostly spent watching the Olympics--gymnastics is always a highlight, and the USA team did not disappoint--:)  Swimming was also pretty intense, and beach volleyball.

One day we went out on a boat with our other friends who live "at the Cape" during summer months.  Catching crabs and other critters in the tide pools rarely gets boring.

Another day we rented bikes and rode the "Cape Cod Rail Trail."  We took a slightly wrong turn and ended up riding about 23 miles, getting back!  But it was a beautiful day.  We stopped at a pond for a swim to cool off.

Another day was go-karts and bumper boats.  And mini-golf.  You could squirt with your bumper boats, and we saw people quite literally coming out of there drenched...like they had jumped into the pool, fully clothed.  So we called a Family Truce, not wanting to be THAT wet!  We bumped each other, but did not drench each other.  (OK well, Teresa and Frank did exchange some squirts.  But they were far from "drenched.")

Another day was Whale Watching!  I think we all liked this one.  We had a lucky day, where during the 2 hours we were out, we actually saw 8-10 humpback whales, feeding, and about 12 minke whales.

The humpbacks have some really interesting behavior patterns while feeding, where they swim in a spiral to corral the fish into the center of the spiral.

They create a "bubble-net," then scoop up the fish in their mouths.  BUNCHES of seagulls fly around them, in hopes of getting a fish that the whale misses!  Then the whales swim with their heads out of the water, getting the excess water out of their mouths. (see header photo, above.)  That was really cool.

Anyway we tried to mix up the activities to keep everybody interested.  There was a glass museum in there too, where we watched the lady make a pumpkin and a swan.  Here's a photo of a diorama, depicting the kiln in a factory where 4 glassblowers are using the same big kiln at the same time.

AND.  Did you know that in 1620 the Pilgrims landed on Cape Cod first, and stayed for 5 weeks before deciding to keep going on to  Plymouth?  It was news to me.

OK, and here's your "Clever Sign for the Day."  At the go-cart track, there was a big giraffe with a sign on his neck.  (I guess he'd been climbed on in the past, a little worse for the wear.)  So here is everybody (Kara, on Frank's shoulders, is holding the sign), and here is a close-up of his sign.  It made us chuckle.

Bedtime for me.  Have a great weekend!  Kari