Martha's Vineyard

Today is our first day back in the real world since our trip to Martha's Vineyard. We took the ferry down Thursday night and got back late Sunday. We had a wonderful time and the weather was great. The first full day we were there was beautiful so we decided to load up the kids and go to the beach over at Chappaquiddick. There are lots of great beaches on Martha's Vineyard but part of the fun of going over to Chappie is riding the ferry. It's a little 3-car ferry that takes about 90 seconds to get from one side to the other. It's the most pointless ferry ever but it adds a lot of charm. Here is a picture of the ferry that I took last summer.

Once over on Chappaquiddick we headed to this great beach area. On one side you have the ocean side with waves and everything. On the other side of this little stretch of land you have the bay. While technically it is the ocean too it's a lot calmer and very shallow. It's a great place for the kids to play because the water is usually warm and it's shallow for a long way out and you don't have to worry about currents and tides and stuff. It's also usually pretty deserted.

Friday afternoon we headed back to the house and hooked up with the rest of our party. Denise and Brian and their two kids came down as well as Jim and Laurie. They were all with us last year as well. In addition to all of them we had another couple, Grace and Mike, and their 12 year old daughter, Sam, staying with us. It made for a full house but it was lots of fun. That evening the men cooked mexican food for us and we sat out on the porch and had dinner and drinks.

Saturday was another beautiful day and we headed back to the beach at Chappie. Everyone went that time except Cliff and Jim. In the early evening we headed down to Oak Bluffs and rode the carousel and did some window shopping. When we got back that night we BBQ'd at the house, put the kids to bed, and then started with the games. Right before the kids went down for bed the town fireworks went off and we had a great view from the house. The grown-ups then sat up and played The Newlywed Game and Taboo. After awhile everyone but Tracy, Brian, Denise, Lincoln, and I headed up to bed and we continued to sit out on the porch and drink. It was nice to sit around and talk. LOTS of laughs that night.

Sunday we had a huge breakfast out on the porch with eggs, french toast, sausages, and hashbrowns. It was pretty hot and muggy in the morning but we were all pleasantly surprised it wasn't raining since that is what the weathermen had said to expect. Lincoln and I got everything loaded up in the car so we could enjoy the afternoon and then after Jake's nap we headed into Vineyard Haven to do some souvenir shopping. We had told the kids they could each get something and so they happily picked up a couple of stuffed animals from The Black Dog.

After that we headed out for an early dinner with Denise and her son Coby. Then we caught the ferry and headed home. We got home about 11:15 last night. The rest of the clan all head back today.

I will be posting some pictures soon of our trip. I got some great shots of the kids at the beach.

Here is the house we stay in. Isn't that an awesome porch?