Off to the Cape

On Friday, we are off to North Truro for our annual week at the Cape. I can't tell you how much we look forward to this. The house is beautiful, P-town is exciting, the company is wonderful, how could you ask for more? This year, my list of hoped activities includes sea kayaking, swimming in the glacial ponds, shopping in P-town (I'm hoping for some more good finds in the vintage clothing store and the antique shop where I found my favorite necklace last year), and of course, drag karaoke. One of my favorite things to do is to wake up early, run down to the beach, and wade in the shallow morning water, so I'm looking forward to that, too. Oh, and I'll be reading lots of books and doing the puzzles Memere gave to me.

In anticipation, here are some picture from last year. Check out this idyllic scene of familial harmony:
The view from the deck:
We went for a hike in the dunes one morning:
And for a winery tour one afternoon:
The whale watch was a highlight from last year. A baby whale was having a grand time breeching over and over. Here he is waving:
Here, Jay's ordered a dessert that came with instructions on how to eat it. To my great surprise, it did not say "1. Put in mouth. 2. Chew. 3. Swallow."
Can't wait for Friday!

Candice and Peter's Wedding

On Saturday, Peter and Candice got married. It was a wonderful night. Candice looked so beautiful walking across the grass to Peter, I got a little teary. We didn't get a lot of great pictures because a) I'm not the best photographer, and b) we were taping the ceremony and first dance for Peter's relatives back in Wales on another camera.

Cutting the cake:
And now begins another episode of Unintentional Headwear. Jay has a speaker coming out of his head in this one:
And Peter has a bulbous growth on his head here:
I stole this one from Matt, to show our intentional headwear. I got many compliments on my hat, which came to me courtesy of the parents. Jay was also really excited about his, which Peter and Candice gave to him in appreciation for DJing the band's breaks.
This one I stole from Tiffany. I like it because it looks like they are giggling a little. I remember that feeling during our ceremony--laugh, cry, laugh, cry. Theirs was a wonderful ceremony, and you could tell how much they were loved by the looks on everyone's faces.
Congratulations Peter and Candice! We had a wonderful time. Here's to a lifetime of happiness!

Farmers' Market

One of my favorite things to do on Saturday mornings is to walk to the Waltham Farmers' Market. I started doing it last summer and have hardly missed a week since. It always seems like a good idea to walk--save the environment! get exercise!--until I want to buy a watermelon or a sack of potatoes. Then the mile back seems impossible. Once last year, I walked to the market, saw the watermelons, walked back to my house and got the car.

It's been meager pickings at the market for most of the season--mostly lettuces and herbs. But this week, it was a veritable cornucopia of vegetables. I may have gone a little overboard, but hey, it was still less than $20. The bags were cutting painfully into my hands on the way home, but I made it.This week, I bought green beans, cucumbers, green peppers, a zucchini, a kousa squash (I have no idea what that is, but I'm sure it will be delicious stuffed with cheese), some wonderfully mild red onions (sadly, you can only buy those by the bunch. I never know what to do with so many onions), broccoli, blueberries, and the first corn of the season. There were also chocolate chip cookies that didn't make it into the picture--they somehow jumped off the table and landed in my stomach before I could find the camera. I've managed to resist the siren call of Big Sky Bakery so far this year--seriously, $6 for a loaf of bread?!--but a small cookie stand appeared this week, and the cookies were looking so forlorn, I just had to buy some.

The challenge is always in eating all of my purchases. I tend to be overly optimistic when considering our weekly menus. Last week I pulled several packages of lettuce out of the fridge that had achieved a jelly-like consistency. This week I'm determined that we're going to eat all of this stuff. So far I've made a pasta salad and a chopped salad. I'm going to stuff the zucchini and squash and serve it with the corn at some point this week. That will leave just the blueberries and the green beans, which I'm hoping we can finish off before we leave for the Cape on Friday.

July 4th

We went back to the Caissies' for July 4th. Mom, Jay and I started the day off right with King Kone for lunch. Jay had a corn dog, which he immediately regretted.
Peter, Candice, Matt, and some of Josh's friends came up for swimming and barbequeing (creepy picture of Josh in Jen's platform flip-flops omitted here). After dinner, we all went on the boat to watch the fireworks with Mom, Dad, and the Clinghans.


Everyone felt a little friendly after a few beers on the boat:
This would have been a great picture if those two weird guys hadn't gotten in the way:


The night was capped off with sparklers and fireworks from the gas station (not a recommended place to buy fireworks). The night almost came to a fiery end when Jay, feeling his lightning-shaped scar prickle, pointed his sparkler at Josh and yelled, "Stupefy!" sending a burning ember directly into Josh's chest. Everyone survived and made it home safely. Thanks, Mom and Dad--everyone had a great time!