Taking a Break from Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

This morning, the boy and I head north for our 4th annual Cape Cod camping trip. JT looks forward to this trip all year long; its arrival on the calendar is a source of great happiness. This trip is one of the best things I do as a parent and I am so grateful to the R-K family, who first invited us along on the adventure and will be with us this year as well. Last summer, when we arrived at camp, my friend S said to me, "the boys will always have these memories." In the low points of the year, when I feel tired and overwhelmed; when I wonder if I'm a good enough mama, I think of those words. And then I look at my assortment of camping pictures and memories they spark and I know that I'm for sure getting it right for at least these two weeks.

The equipment has been organized and packed. Like Lewis and Clark, we've laid in a supply of hardtack and jerky (ahem, in our case, that would be potato chips and Velveeta shells n' cheese), and we're ready to hit the road for some time at the sea. And in the woods.

These photos are from last year but the ingredients for this year's trip are the same (though the boys involved....they are bigger. And louder.)
Tonight we'll play cards at twilight. We'll sleep in our tent in the woods and awake to the sounds of the outdoors. JT will plan adventures a lot like the adventures I recall from my own childhood camping. In the days ahead, we'll enjoy outdoor suppers, the leisure of an afternoon nap in the woods, daily bike rides on the bunny trail, plotting the morning coffee run, and hours of relaxation. One of us will enjoy infrequent bathing.......and we'll return home with a whole new set of memories to sustain us in the year ahead.
Postings will be light for the next two weeks, as we enjoy the low-tech pleasures of life at camp.