Cape Cod in April

 Marathon Monday was just the start to a great week. Scott can only reserve vacations as week-long blocks (rather than a day here or there) and since the kids were off school for the week too, we drove down to Cape Cod and made a mini vacation out of it. We stayed at Nickerson State Park in a yurt because I wasn't too keen about sleeping on the ground right after a marathon. The yurt had bunk beds, a table, and even electricity, so it was pretty plush by our standards.

Cape Cod was amazing in April. No one was there! I have tons of pictures of us digging holes in the sand because that's what we spent most of our vacation doing. I got the kids garden tools for Easter and they're pretty awesome as beach toys too.

 Almost every night we went to Crosby Landing Beach, the closest one to the campground, and dug holes and walked around while watching the sun set across the bay.

 During the day we did a few short hikes and found lots of horseshoe crab shells. We brought the kids' bikes and scooters and did lots of that around the campground and surrounding paved trails. There was a great little playground at the campground too and the kids played there every day.

 We checked out lighthouses and other beaches...

 ...like Coast Guard Beach on the Cape Cod National Seashore. Another sweet perk to visiting Cape Cod in April is that you don't have to pay a zillion dollars to park at the beaches. Free parking!

 We went to the southern tip of Chatham where the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge is located. There are lots of cool sand bars that go far out into the ocean and it's a place where many seals come. Phoebe was more interested in the weather balloon launch though; twice a day, a balloon is launched that carries instruments to take measurements and help predict the weather. We had to visit Monomoy again and time our visit so that we would be present for the launch. We were the only spectators of this very unceremonious event. Still, it was cool.

The kids got in the water a few times throughout our trip even though it was in the 50s and 60s. When it hit 70 on Friday though, they spent hours in the water. That would be Oliver in nothing but a diaper climbing on the rocks.

And that is Phoebe making her "sand angel." Cape Cod was a nice relaxing trip - mostly. We did have a few moments - like when I got lost while looking for a public bathroom in Eastham or when Oliver threw his daily fit. One night, Scott took Phoebe to the bathroom to brush teeth and such. It was late and Oliver hadn't napped and was really tired. I tried to put his pajamas on him, but he kicked and screamed and wanted Scott to put his pajamas on him. He was yelling, "No dad! Noooo dad!" over and over. A few minutes into this fit, our campsite neighbors came over to the yurt and said, "Is he all right in there?" (I'm sure because it sounded like Oliver was being beaten by the way he was yelling!) I said he was fine and that he just wanted his dad. They said, "Are you sure?" YES, I barked back; I was in a foul mood from the tantrum. Another classic vacation moment.