the road was long, and at times grueling, with traffic jams and rain. thankfully, cosmo was a superb traveler, taking naps, entertaining himself, and being easily entertained. we happened upon the world's most picturesque rest stop at lake Chatauqua NY, where we picked a few black raspberries, and identified some hypericum perforatum (st. john's wort).
we camped near corning, NY, home of the beautiful museum of glass, which we (sadly) only drove by. our goal was to get to martha's vineyard by the second night.
we were all happy to get out of the car, and head to the bus that would take us to the ferry, that would take us to the island, where our friends' parents have a lovely cottage.
the ferry ride was all we'd hoped for, complete with fog horns, and seagulls following along, catching bread crumbs mid-air (to the utter delight of cosmo).
martha's vineyard is filled with annoying rich people, and way too many cars, but it has it's charms. we hit the beach once or twice each day we were there. matt had masks and snorkels, and we found some beautiful creatures. this hermit crab had an entire eco-system living on his back. i love the dramatic colors of the whelk shell, and check out that awesome shell "door."
state beach
cosmo took to the water like his mama always has. i don't know that i have ever seen him so giddy in all of his little life. he loved playing in the calm clear waters at state beach, pretending to be a frog in the sand, shelling at edgarstown lighthouse (also known by mika as jingle shell beach) at dusk, and best of all, the crashing waves at gay head.
gay head (aquinnah)
i took him out into the deeper parts and held him in my arms as we rode over waves, or let them crash into us. cosmo squealed with delight-- every. single. time. that moment stands out as my favorite part of the whole trip. when we asked cosmo what his favorite part was, with out any coaxing, he chose the same moment.
on the way to jingle shell beach
searching for perfect scallop shells, and jingle shells
i fell in love with the tabernacle structure in the oak bluffs town center. such a beautiful open-air architecture, with excellent natural light. the kids had a ball in there. they also got to reach for brass rings on the oldest carousel in america, in oak bluffs, followed by pizza and ice cream. doesn't get much better than that.
lunch in the rocking chairs, on a porch near the beach, then an outdoor bath, back at the cottage, rounded out our martha's vineyard adventure. we were sad to say goodbye to our gracious hosts.
after our stay on the island, we headed into boston, to visit carl's ol' stompin' ground, and see some friends. cosmo also wanted to see the public gardens, the salt and pepper bridge, and the swan boats, on account of having checked out make way for ducklings, prior to our trip.
he really dug the big dig, but would have been content to ride the subway all day long. we stopped at the p.a., in somerville, to say hello to carl's ol' buddy jerry. at micheal's place, where we stayed the night, cosmo tried his first shower ever, and really warmed up to the idea. i think the hand-held fixture, and the lower-level sprays had something to do with it. in any case, he was happy to try it when we got home, and now loves it.
i always find that when we travel, cosmo learns so much, and seems to mature in some noticeable way. on this trip, besides the new openness to showers, it seemed like his communication skills blossomed. he now has a greater ability to really talk about things he's experienced, and express his opinions and observations. he thrives on novelty, and enjoyed checking out all the different kinds of bathrooms, trash cans, down spouts and other interesting bits of infrastructure in all the places we found ourselves.
i need to write about the spectacular place we went for lunch in boston, but i'm saving that for it's very own post.
see my garden blog for the astonishing harvest we came home to.
9 comments:
cosmo is so beautiful!!! and big!
that is an incredible trip. glad it was full of tents and crabs and merry-go-rounds and road grates and ice cream cones--everything we need to make us happy, and then some! also, happy you're feeling better.
this is so astonishingly wonderful! wow!
It was fascinating to read about how you thought Cosmo grew a little during his vacation--I was thinking exactly the same about Willow. Oughta go on vacations more often, huh?
I love how he takes his balance bike everywhere, by the way. And I love how we dress our kids the exact same way for the beach. Actually, I wear the trunks and surf shirt, too, so it might be like a family uniform. Occasionally at the pool one of Will's girlfriends might look at her like her outfit is weird, but thankfully that stuff still just goes right over her head.
as far as cosmo's swimsuit goes, you should know this: the surf shirt was borrowed, but now i am totally sold on them. the trunks he's been wearing since around 7 mo. old, the tag on the back says "6-12 mo."
whatever. they still fit. and they have flames. ya gotta have flames!
and, it was marcia, i think, who was talking to me about the importance of travel in children's educational process. she suggested that even if you don't choose to home school, don't be afraid to pull your kid out of school to go on a big trip. their accelerated growth during travel will make up for any lost time at school.
a marvelous adventure!! and nice photos that really depict it well
i second the comment about cosmos balance bike.. lucas is never off of his either. it is possibly the best invention EVER.
but i was sad to read that you were within a literal stones throw of my house (we live on the somerville/cambridge line (less than 10 minutes walk from the PA lounge), and we couldnt see you.. to put our boys in the same room.. to meet you face to face for once. but i'll bet we were out of town anyway on our own vacation.. well shoot, what can you do? thats big beautiful unpredictable life for you.
Thanks for the beautiful photos and the great account of your trip. Though the logistics of travel with children can be difficult (at least for me), it is so worth it to see them experiencing and exploring new things.
We came home from our vacation with one new swimmer and one new walker!
Reading your posts always make me want to be a better mom.
I can't remind you how special that little one is.
You already know.
Some of my favorite memories take place in or near the ocean. I'm so glad Cosmo got a chance to start his own collection of them.
Incidentally, I am a huge surf shirt fan. I had to buy one after getting "board burn" from boogie boarding, and was distressed to discover that, at least in the shop where I went looking, they didn't make Ladies' sizes. Mine is a girls XXL. Ridiculous. But great for avoiding sunburn...as well as board burn.
Post a Comment