The Burkhart Family: Cape Cod 2011

Some would call it a vacation some would call it work....We attempted and survived our first plane ride with our family of four. WOW, I swear you need a vacation after you plan and pack everything and then unload and wash everything. The trip started off crazy because Ryan was up working until 3 am and our flight was at 8. The plane ride to Boston was not bad since I had a cranky hubby and a cranky lil guy getting over a ear infection. Madie was able to sit in a vacant seat next to Ryan's mom and watch a movie and I actually got to read a magazine. When we got to Boston we rented a really nice F150 and it was super cozy, nice and fit all of our stuff.
We arrived in Cape Cod and it was a dream come true, 75 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Ryan's grandparents purchased a home in "The Cape" in the early 80's and they have been traveling their every summer since. This was the first time that GiGi (great grandmother Fox) had met Hunter. Her house was great for two reasons:
A. Our room had a tv, king size bed and a room attached with two twin beds and a pack and play. Makes life so easy when you have one less thing to travel with. Also, the room was loaded with old school toys for the kids to play with.
B. The view from her porch/house over looks the Atlantic and it is breath taking, relaxing and cool weather.
While we were on the Cape we had fabulous home cooked fresh meals, we even had fresh lobster one night. YUM
* Note to self...Do not introduce expensive things like lobster bisque, lobster, scallops, crab meat to a 3 year old. She now wants to order this expensive food and chicken nuggets do not cut it.
We also played lots at the local park at the baseball fields were we took in a few Orleans Cardinals games. If you have seen the movie Summer Catch you can imagine just what it is like there. We also spent several hours in Chatham, our favorite town on the Cape. They have GREAT shopping in Chatham and this is where the fishing boats all come in, perfect place for Ryan and I both. They have a place called Chatham pier and you can sit and watch all of the boats come in from a day of fishing and un-load their catch. The kids love to watch the harbor seals sit and swim waiting for the fisherman to throw them some leftovers. The downtown area of Chatham is like a movie scene, great restaurants and cute quant stores.
Madison's favorite part of the trip was her nightly trip to the Sundae School, which is a local hangout that serves fresh ice cream.
We packed up the stroller a few days and headed to the beach as well, the cool thing about Orleans is there is a bayside beach and an Atlantic side beach. The Atlantic side is Nauset Beach and the bay is Skaket Beach. Madison loved Skaket because during low tide that had little ponds and the sand was nice and wet for building sand castles and it was nice because the stroller was easy to push.
The week flew by and then it was time to head home. We left very early and spent the day in Boston. Madison got to see the beloved Fenway and we got to spend some time in the Quincy Market.
The plane ride home....... WOW, I am surprised we are still alive. The airlines informed us of NO strollers past security. What? Really? Then me being nice and sweet argued. Well we all know when you travel with me you come home with tons of junk. Junk I had piled in and on the stroller, oh well by the time things were said and done we barely made the flight. The ride home, we were "those" people with the annoying kid that would NOT stop crying. The flight attendant was bringing me milk even before take off. Now I see why people drive with small children, because as parents we can easily ignore the annoying crying and whining in a car.

P.S. forgot to mention we took the kids to Plymouth rock. What a JOKE. Seriously I have rocks in my yard bigger than this, I was bummed.