Cape Cod camping

 Scott's sister graduated from physician assistant school, so Grandma and Grandpa came out to celebrate. They went to her graduation in Philly, then she and they came to Cape Cod to go camping with us. Oliver got a proper introduction to hanging out on the beach. He loved crawling all over the sand and water, tasting the different colors and grains of sand, chasing hermit crabs, and watching his siblings run wild.

 Most of the beaches on Cape Cod are shallow especially at low tide. The kids loved building dams to keep the water from flowing out of the shallow pools.

 We camped for a whole week on Cape Cod, spending the mornings hiking or sightseeing and the afternoons lounging at the beach.

 Oliver reminded us of a sea turtle, leaving his crawling tracks in the sand as he headed straight for the water. He did a lot of mileage on those knees.

Phoebe and Bruce enjoyed building and digging in the sand, collecting mussels and crabs and starfish, and making new friends everywhere we went.

 The weather for camping was nearly perfect. It was in the high 70s and sunny or partly cloudy for most of the week. It rained just one day, so we went out to eat and toured a potato chip factory.

 My favorite hike was the Fort Hill Trail in Eastham. It starts at a ship captain's home that has a whale's jawbones out front. It then winds through a swamp, by some blackberry bushes...

 ...through a meadow of wildflowers, across a vista with views of the Atlantic and surrounding marshes, next to some fun wooden statues in a forest...

 ...and to a rock.

 Not just any rock! This rock is an ancient Indian rock used for sharpening tools and weapons. It has a bunch of gashes in it.

 One day we headed out for a whale watch and saw minke, fin, and humpback whales - all within sight of Provincetown. The humpback whales were by far the coolest. There was a mom and baby feeding together (pictured above, mouths cresting). Unfortunately, Scott's mom and sister got seasick; it probably doesn't help that Nancy is six months pregnant and still nauseated even on a good day. She's a trooper for agreeing to camp with us for a week.

 We finished our trip by picking blueberries at a pick-your-own farm near our campground.

Bruce picked a few berries, ate a zillion, and then grabbed the camera and took a few pictures. He took this one of Phoebe and Scott heading out with their picking cans...

...and this nice selfie. Of course.

Camp Mom

 I have not been posting much this summer, but it isn't for lack of stuff to post about. It is the lack of time to blog at all. We have been hitting up the local splash parks, modeled above by a hyper Oliver. He took his first step on his "due date birthday" (July 16) at 14 months and just this week started letting go of the couches and walls to finally walk across whole rooms. And now he is everywhere.

 We went to a few outdoor movies at the parks. I think I love going to these as much as the kids. It's like going to a drive-in movie theater minus the cars.

 Bruce signed up for two weeks of summer camp this year. One week was a Lego-building-themed camp through his school; he saw lots of his friends there, played with lots of Legos, and visited the new Legoland nearby. The other week was a youth safety day camp run by the county sheriff. Bruce was a "cadet" for a week and did police training, fire drills, trust exercises, and the like. He got a deluxe tour of a fire station one day and Phoebe was terribly jealous. Pictured above is his graduation on the last day of camp.

 At graduation, we got to eat lunch with the cadets and check out a few emergency vehicles. Phoebe still prefers firetrucks, but this motorcycle is a close second.

 Phoebe learned how to meditate from a neighbor, so does it when she is super-bored - like when picking Bruce up from camp and waiting for him to go potty...

 The rest of the summer was Camp Mom. We did lots of fun stuff, only some of which is properly documented. We went to the Children's Museum...

 ...checked out the snakes...

 ...ate lunch outside and fished for crabs...

 ...and spent some time in the toddler play area. Oliver loved having a space to crawl around in and not get run over by bigger kids.

 Look at those giant teeth. We need to stop breastfeeding. For reals.

 Oliver is still a little behind developmentally, but he is making progress. He just started imitating sounds - "nonono" and "ahhhh-choo" are two favorites. He loves pointing at airplanes and is obsessed with all things that spin. At his 15-month well-baby check-up, he was 19.5 pounds. He is in the 8th percentile for weight, but the 78th percentile for height. I think that's a Raymond thing?

Finally, here is another we crossed off our bucket list: bouncy houses. Check!

 And another must-do on the list: the Arlington Ward campout! Phoebe followed Firefighter Brian around, we all hiked and hunted for bugs, and we got a lot more sleep this year than last.

 Speaking of firefighters, we have been seeing a lot of "our guys" this summer. This is what Phoebe calls our local crew at the firehouse. She makes them art work and they have been hanging it up in their kitchen. There is a "Phoebe corner" at the station.

 She gets the royal treatment.

 And I have to post this: this kid is so funny. Now that he is walking, nothing is safe. More childproofing is needed!

The bucket list

Last summer we made a list of things we wanted to accomplish over the summer. The kids liked it so much that we are doing it again this summer. I'll post the full list later, but one thing on the list was to pick wild blueberries.

We hiked through a forest to find some wild blueberries.

Phoebe likes to recreate the part of "Blueberries for Sal" when the little bear plops down in a patch of blueberries and scarfs them all down.

Bruce had visions of blueberry muffins, so he filled a container to bring home.

And we are eating our muffins this morning.