Time Blurs

Tuesday


Boys off to school (we have to drive them to the bus stop.)  After catching our breath, we headed out as well.  Off to Dennisport and some culture.

We love the salt marches, especially in the fall and especially those with wonderful boardwalks.  Dennisport provided a grand salt marsh experience.  

 

We headed back to catch a great soccer game with many faithful Sturgis parents perched on the tiny bleachers.  Jacob is #13.  He was on the field nearly the entire game and they won, 7-2. 

We left the dogs home together, trusting that they would be able to work it out peacefully.  They did.

 

 Wednesday

Early, early morning to get Lucas off for his jazz band practice.  Everyone up, at 'em and out the door at 6:30, clean soccer clothes, lunches, homework, cell phones, snack for soccer game - whooosh.  We headed out as well, off to Wellfleet on the great Rt. 6.  The first order of business was to find the PB Boulangerie Bistro and have lunch.  Washington Post review of this place said the owners had "inspired the entire town".
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/13/AR2010081302723.html

Very true.  The entire town was lined up to get inside and the wonderful smells wafting out the door, kept the line faithful.  By the time we got in, all the lunch items were gone so we indulged in wickedly good croissants,  cheese, lemon tart, chocolate eclair and picked out some pastries to take to the boys.  The weather was stunning as we muched our fare outside.  I ate one of the pastries we'd gotten for the boys and shamefully had to go back inside to get another!  We are going back Friday night for my birthday dinner.

We spent the afternoon hiking in the Audubon Society Wildlife Refuge.  It's a lovely, peaceful place with a big diversity of habitats.  Since it was low tide, we took the trail down to the water to look for shore birds, then walked on the Silver Spring trail. We didn't see many birds but the fall wildflowers and mushrooms emerging were visual treats.

We picked the boys up from soccer practice, running here and there and not finding them.  Thank goodness for cell phones.  Reunited, there was just the soft sounds of French pastry and cheese munching from the back seat as we drove home.

Home was only a brief stop, to put on clean shirts and rush back out for a Scout meeting, snarfing Subway subs down on the way.  By 9:00 homework was being done, soccer clothes being washed, trash hauled out for the morning pickup and food organized for the next day.  The boys are incredibly organized.  We are still standing upright.

Things in Twos

Two Boys
The resident teenagers run a brutal schedule.  Up at 6:00, out the door at 7:00, regular school day, soccer game in Nantucket involving a 1-hour ferry ride, back from the game at 7:00, home for food and 2-hours of homework.  They somehow remain quite cheerful and collegial.

 











Two Dogs and a Bog

The cranberry bog across the street is a dandy place to walk the dogs.  They are quite congenial these days.  The cranberries look nearly ready for the fall harvest.

Two Attractions in Sandwich

Monday was Sandwich day.  We nearly declared ourselves lost when at the right moment a tiny visitor's center appeared that enclosed a crusty New Englander who declared herself 'old' at 75. (Nonsense!) Armed with maps and funny memories, we headed to the Thornton W. Burgess Museum to see some originals of his many, many books for children.

"Billy Mink was feeling very fine, very, very, fine indeed that morning. He had actually beaten Jerry Muskrat in a swimming race. He can't do it very often, but he had done it that morning, and it made him feel very important. Now when people begin to feel important the feeling grows and grows and grows. It was so with Billy Mink. He swelled himself up and began to walk back and forth on top of the Big Rock, and as he walked he began to boast. Yes, Sir, Billy Mink began to boast."

Inspired by the book and the beautiful weather, we went out on the Sandwich Boardwalk that crosses creeks and salt marshes.  Lots of scat but no muskrat.

Two for Tea

Time for a visit to the Dunbar Tea Shop for a proper, slap-up tea.  Ray had two lumps.

Two Tired Boys

The Nantucket Ferry was on time and the light was fading.  Time to bring them home. The Hyannis Harbor provided a sunset show as we waited for the ferry.

Lucas is #2 disembarking.  They lost their game.

 Two Tired Grandparents

As we retired for the night, we wondered how Russ and Amy keep up with it all.  Off to sleep with a dog on the floor at either side of the bed.

Teenage boys are mostly about food and feet - big feet and lots of big shoes for many purposes and lots and lots of food to grow bigger feet. 

Sunday was a peaceful day, time for resting, time to go on a long walk with the dogs, time to wash and gather soccer equipment and time for homework.  I took some time to paint the porcelain berry vine I found in the yard.

Sunday was also time to prepare for the ORDEAL coming up next weekend.  Both boys are participating in the Boy Scout Order of the Arrow ordeal. The weekend involves spending Friday night alone in the woods with no tent, food, or flashlight and strictly limited equipment.  They must find their way back to the main camp in the morning (compass  allowed) and work outside for the day without speaking.  They will be the third generation to join.  Ray remembered his ordeal with some clarity.  It's supposed to rain.

Cape Cod Arrival

Without too much driving ado, we arrived to be greeted by the lone inhabitant, a big, black dog named Hannah.  There was some trepidation about the meeting of Ginger and Hannah but lots of treats got them over the first hurdle.  They aren't best friends but aren't fighting either.

Today Lucas was left in charge of taking his birthday cake out of the oven when the timer went off while we got Jacob to his job at Stop and Shop and did some stopping and shopping ourselves. It's a new recipe, just invented - presenting the donut cake.

We harvested and I prepared the fruits of the Boy Scout merit badge garden.  The boys assured me that eating the harvest was not a badge requirement.

Onward and upward.

The Lists

The count down begins and lists accumulate.  

We are charting a 10-day journey into the unknown sea of adolescence.