Pilgrimage to Cape Cod 2012!

We got back last week from our second annual pilgrimage back to Massachusetts.  Last year, we stayed for more than three weeks, but this year we were ambitious and tried to pack the same vacation into just 15 days.  Let's just say there were successes and failures on that front, but the   successes made up for the failures by far!

I thought I'd recap the trip with a Cliff's Notes version of photographs.  I figured there had to be some sort of free computer program I could use to whip up photo collages, like the Diptic app on my iPhone.  Lo and behold, there is such a thing, and I already have it! Picasa came to my rescue and with a few clicks of some buttons, and the magic of technology, I managed to collage the whole trip in the time it would have taken me to make ONE collage in Photoshop!! 

So here we go. 

Pilgrimage 2012!

DAY ONE:

18 hours straight through

Illinois - Indiana - Ohio

Pennsylvania - New York - Massachusetts!!

DAY TWO:

Nana and Papa's House!

After sending Daddy back to Chicago to work for the week, we spent days 3, 4 & 5 hanging around the pool, admiring flowers, eating junk food from Nana's jelly cabinet, learning to swim in the deep end (Ben), playing with Millie and Clyde (Molly's favorite buddies) and Uncle Corey (Ben's favorite buddy!),  defending the pool from gigantic, mutant horseflies, and soaking up lots of love and spoiling from Nana, Papa, Auntie Treecie and Auntie Katie.

We also got to visit some of our favorite places from our old lives in Massachusetts.  St. Mary's church, the Christmas Tree Shops, Dunkin Donuts, D'Angelos and Hanover House of Pizza didn't disappoint!

And don't forget Dairy Twist!!

or the fun one little boy had on Papa's Tractor...

We have the most WONDERFUL friends from Pembroke, who haven't forgotten us even though it's closing in on two years since we've been gone.  Molly's best friend from preschool and her family are the kind of people you thank you lucky stars you have in your life.  They had us over for a cookout one night (and I don't mean just hot dogs - they fed us like kings!!), and invited our Edgewater Drive neighbors the Kanes and the O'Briens, who we miss more than anything else in Pembroke (even Dairy Twist!).  After a few minutes to reaquaint themselves, it was just like old times, with the kids playing like they'd never been apart.

DAY SIX:

Nannie and Grey's Beach!

The magic of the Point of Pines beach in Revere is something special - even Cape Cod doesn't have it.  The way the tide goes out as far as the eye can see, and you can run and run forever, finding ocean treasures in the tide pools for hours...it really is spectacular!  We got to see all of Nannie's family at a reunion on the beach, camp out in the back yard, spend oodles of time playing with our cousins Quincy, Jaden, Mary and Grace, eat cheeseburgers until we thought we might turn into one, visit Nana Nancy and Pa, and soak up lots of love and spoiling from everyone, especially Nannie!  And of course, we left with beanie babies stuffed in our pockets courtesy of Nana Nancy.

DAY TEN:

Cape Cod!

We returned to Bourne this year, and stayed at a beautiful home overlooking Buzzard's Bay and the Cape Cod Canal.  President Grover Cleveland made this property his summer home for 13 years, and later it was turned into an inn.  That inn burned to the ground, but a few years ago, the family that owns the land built a guest house in it's image, though on a much smaller scale than the original. (Hard to believe when you see the size of this place, it was HUGE!) 

The place was breathtaking!  Across from Mass Maritime, we enjoyed 3 sided views of the water, new construction with all the modern amenities (and no stinky mildew that is the hallmark of most Cape Cod rentals!) and close access to the beach.   What a life!!

Daddy was back from Chicago, but was participating in a 3-day golf tournament, so Nana and Auntie Treecie came down to help us move in and unpack that first day.

That evening when Daddy arrived, we finally got to spend some time as a family exploring our surroundings.

The next day, my college friends joined us for the day.  It was a cloudy day, but we don't need sunshine to have fun when we're together!

The next day Nannie and her entourage arrived and we spent three days together having a ton of fun at the beach.

Thursday, we had a quick visit from Auntie Judy and a failed sleepover attempt with our Carpenter cousins.  Luckily, we got a do-over the next day when the entire Egan clan was able to get together for the first time since Auntie Katie and Uncle Corey's wedding three years ago!

We enjoyed delicious steak and lobster for dinner, and celebrated everyone's birthdays for the whole year with an ice cream sandwich cake.  (This was my attempt at making up for the fact that my brain can no longer handle keeping track of birthdays throughout the year.  I gave everyone their gifts all at once and now I feel like I'm ahead of the game!)

DAY 15:

Papa's Birthday

The week was over all too soon, and it was time to say goodbye to Cape Cod.

But before we hit the road pointed west, we stopped by to celebrate Papa's 69th birthday and snap a few last pictures of the Egan cousins together.

 And then we were off!! 

We were sad to have to say goodbye, and we miss our families like crazy.

But I'll tell you what I'm NOT sad about!

- No more fast food

- No more public restrooms (ick!)

- No more sitting in the car for 18 hours straight

- No more sleeping in strange beds (or NOT sleeping as the case may be)

- No more overtired, hysterical children

- No more packing and unpacking and repacking

(and then realizing you need the thing at the bottom of the pile)

- No more beach sand in crevices I can't reach!

It's worth all the effort of course,
and we can't wait to do it again next year.

It's true what they say...absence does make the heart grow fonder.

And right now, I am very VERY fond of the everyday routine we're slowly readjusting to.

:)