the squibix family blog

We parked at the Walden Woods project and walked in along the Sudbury River. We didn't take the longest path, but it was far from the shortest either. The hiking was fun, and it was actually the imminence of lunch time that kept our route from extending even farther. It was lovely and cool in the woods, and the bugs weren't bad at all (we were nervous when right at the start we crossed paths with someone wearing a full mesh veil). We got to the pond right at lunch time, and even though everyone was hungry the water looked so beautiful most of us had to take a dip before eating. And I can tell you that nobody waited half an hour (an hour?!) afterwards!

On the way home we took the most direct path to the car—only about a 20-minute walk. It would have been fine even longer though, since spirits were still high. Good outing.

Over the three-year gap since last time we went we stopped using the cargo bike, so I wondered briefly how we would get all the food and supplies for the day to Concord. As it happened it was no trouble at all with three strong kids who can carry their own bags. We shared the load out and, while mine was the heaviest with the tent, rug, and extra waters (and ice packs!) the boys did their share too. We rode in with friends, including a friend of Elijah's who did fantastic on the first "long ride" of his life.

We did all the fair things: listened to music and danced; bought cotton candy, popcorn, lemonade, and pie with ice cream; played on the playground; sprayed the firehose; and watched dogs catch frisbees. We also played Uno. And of course there were the field games!

We're a competitive bunch, so I'm happy to report we acquitted ourselves well. Zion won a sack race and a three-legged race (with me as partner), and Harvey and I came second in another three-legged heat. And Zion and his friend won three out of the five sponge toss rounds they entered (Harvey and I again came in second in a different round). And Elijah was happy with how well he did against the competition. He and his friend were amazing at the three-legged race, and would definitely have won a contest against people with similarly-sized legs who actually tied them together.

It wasn't a celebration of United States patriotism—I don't know how much we're feeling that these days. It was a celebration of summer, and local community, and friends, and it did that perfectly.

Actually, despite significant grousing from many kids and parents (homeschoolers are really united by a dislike of rules) everybody has had a great time swimming inside the protected area. Sure, it's so shallow that the adults and big kids don't have enough depth to tread water in. But it's still wet and cool and filled with fun people. And not only our group: with their liberation from school all sorts of other kids have been able to come to the park, and our kids have even played with some of them. Amazing!

After that I took the boys across Carlisle to Great Brook for some biking. See, we got a new bike rack (after the old one fell apart and dropped the bikes on the road as we were driving, which deserves a post of its own!) and I wanted to test it out. Plus I wasn't sure how long our walk was going to be, so I planned for further exercising. As it happened the boys were tired enough to prefer %%%not doing more, but I was committed. With the promise of ice cream at the end of the ride they went along with me. We only did a couple miles, but they were hard (and fun!) hilly, woodsy miles, so the post-ride frozen treats were well-deserved.

Then when we got home Leah was heading out to the pool and asked the boys if they wanted to go along. Never mind that they'd been completely wiped out on the drive home, the idea of swimming gave the younger two a new jolt of energy and as soon as they could change they were out the door again. Harvey and I needed a bit of rest, but after we got that we went out and did an hour and a half of solid work in the garden. To cap the day off, friends came over for dinner on the deck and the kids played outside into the dusk. All that took us to nine hours outside for the day; needless to say that brought us over the 2.75 hour per day average for the year. It's not a given we'll stay there, of course, but a couple more days like today will seal the deal.

He's particularly interested in dyeing his hair. He and Leah have actually tried to do it a few times, but it keeps washing out... even with "semi-permanent" hair dye. He does swim a lot, including in chlorinated pools, which might be a factor. Or maybe his hair is just so strong and naturally beautiful that it resists any attempts to alter it? I think some permanent dye is up next.

And then after we ate the kids went down to the beach anyway. They figured there was a lot of fun to be had even without swimming, and they weren't wrong. Especially when they decided that even wading quite deeply would be fine. They spent a happy hour or so hunting for pond creatures to stock the aquarium they built by digging a hole in the sand and lining it with plastic sheeting. Delightful!

After that our friends were done—with a one-year-old you sometimes have to limit your outings—so they headed home. But we hadn't used the bikes yet! So we made contact with some different friends and arranged an off-road cycling outing at Great Brook Farm. We went an extremely round-about route in order to get in some errands on the way, but that was fine because it gave the boys' clothes some time to dry (we helped by hanging them out the windows). So they had something to wear when we hit the trails.

It was hot, and the second adventure of the day is always harder than the first. So once again Great Brook proved a good choice for a ride, because it let me buy everyone ice cream at the end. Now that's how you end a full day of outdoor excitement!

Oh, did we enjoy it! It was hundreds of degrees hot when we left, and still very warm by the seaside, so being in the water felt like a good plan. Our trip down was built around a visit to the National Seashore, so the boys and I worked hard to pack up the car while Leah delivered the dogs to their vacation accommodation, all so we’d be able to get on the road in time to get to Eastham by lunchtime. We just made it and enjoyed a relaxed meal in the shade before getting the bikes–all four bikes!—off the amazing new bike rack and hitting the bike path to the beach. The older boys zipped off right away while me and Elijah went at our own pace; he noticed that, for the first time, he was able to do the whole hilly ride without walking even once! And for his part, Harvey commented that the ride gets shorter and shorter every year. Funny that!

The air at the beach was still warm and the sand was blazing hot, but the water was comfortable: mid-fifties Farenheit, way warmer than usual! The waves were disappointingly small when we arrived but built nicely, so there was plenty of wave action for all (but no blood or other serious injuries). Elijah was excited to figure out body-surfing for the first time in the shallower part of the waves, and sad that he didn’t learn until the last third of our beach time. Leah had a work meeting to take and walked rather than biked, so she didn’t have as much time in the water as we did, but what she had was plenty for her. Us boys could have stayed until it got dark, but we had a dinner date so with some reluctance we dragged ourselves away.

Of course, dinner with the grandparents was delightful and we were happy to settle in to their lovely (air-conditioned) house. After dinner and some quiet time we went for a walk to enjoy one of the most interesting attractions of the Outer Cape, so unusual for the East Coast: getting to watch the sunset over the ocean!

The next day dawned cloudy and hazy, and we hung around the house for a good while before we got bored enough to organize an expedition into Welfleet. First there was some shopping: we browsed the toy store idly for a good half hour before I decided I’d help finance the purchase of souvenirs, then seriously for another 15 minutes until the boys picked out what they wanted (a puppet, a stuffed dog, and some sticky putty). Then Leah and her mom went to check out some of the more sophisticated shops while the boys and I got the bikes off the car and headed out to explore the town and harbor.

We did a little off-road riding, played on a playground, and had a light lunch at the seafood place (you can’t visit the ocean and not get some fried seafood! Even if one of us is a vegetarian and another said he preferred chicken). There was some frustration and grumpiness, but we resolved it in time to enjoy a happy hour of beach time. Mostly digging.

Back at the house a visit from older relatives kept us indoors for the afternoon, but after dinner we took another walk on the local beach. The resident connoisseurs were disappointed in the lack of sunset display, but we didn’t mind: waves on the bay more than made up for it!

The next morning the picture couldn’t have been more different: sunny and flat calm. I got in a quick dip early early, and then we were all down at the beach by 8:30 for a couple hours of swimming and hanging out.

And that was it! After lunch we needed to head home in order to pick up the doggies and water the plants, which just barely didn’t die in the extreme heat. It was a great trip but did feel super short… so it’s a good thing we have another one to look forward to soon!