East coast trip

Number of days: 5

Miles traveled: 1200

Hours spent driving: 25

States Visited: 8

Number of toys thrown from the backseat of the car to the front by Mr. Baeo: I don’t know…too many. That kid has a good arm

Spent a couple of nights in Kennebunkport, Maine. Had the best crab cakes ever, a phenomenal lobster roll, and the best fish and chips to date. Got to run along the beach two mornings in a row and explored a few towns (and saw the George H. W. Bush compound aka summer home).

Braedon did a little shopping.

Coffee and juice break. Don’t let this smile fool you. He was a cranky pants.

Derek and Baeo played a little basketball while waiting for lunch.

A little fun in the jetted bathtub.

Second half of our trip was to Cape Code and Martha’s Vineyard.

Stopped in Plymouth on our way and checked out the Mayflower II (replica of the original Mayflower) and Plimoth Rock.

This was a rather short stop because it was very windy and cold and Braedon made it well known that he was not up for a boat tour.

We took the long and scenic route to get to our destination and drove the coast of Massachusetts including a detour up the cape. Along the way we stopped at an awesome beach.

Braedon loves the beach!

We spent the first half of Thursday exploring some of the towns on Martha’s Vineyard, but it was so COLD and WINDY that we cut it short. Not to mention, we were visiting in the off season so a lot of things weren’t open. It was a nice experience though and I’m glad we got to see it. We took a ferry over and walked/rode public transportation around the island.

This is what four days in a row without a nap will do to you.

Not too tired for some cow hugging though.

Don’t we look cold? Too bad I can’t zip up my jacket.

We stayed in Falmouth, which is a town on Cape Cod close to the ferry to Martha's Vineyard so we went back and explored that for the rest of the afternoon. Luckily the clouds disappeared and we were left with sun for the rest of the trip! As a side note, we ate some of the best Mexican food ever which was served by Eastern Europeans without a Mexican in sight and we ended up eating there two nights in a row it was so good.

Braedon tried to steal the flags from the WWll memorial.

The next morning I got up to go for my morning jog and I found a trail that ended up going right next to the ocean. It was the sunniest and nicest day we had so far so I called Derek to have him bring Braedon down to the beach so he could finally put his feet in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time.

Do you see the chip in Braedon’s hand. Yeah, that was from dinner the night before. He carried it around with him the rest of the evening and then asked for it when he woke up the next morning. He finally ate it a little later.

After collecting rocks and shells, we hit up a Starbucks (we had enough fine cuisine and heavy meals so we opted for Starbucks' lighter offerings) and then started our journey back home taking a route through Rhode Island. We are so glad we decided to go that way because it was beautiful. I think Rhode Island may be my favorite eastern state.

We were just way too excited to find another gorgeous beach.

More shell collecting occurred.

We stopped and saw a The Breakers, which was a summer house that the Vanderbilt's built in the late 1800s, along with many other beautiful and gigantic homes.

A very fun detour to Rhode Island!

After going through a couple more states and about 6 hours later, we made it home.

A very fun vacation indeed!

Weekend wrap up

Wow! This has been a very fun and busy weekend! It all started bright and early on Friday morning when Braedon turned the big 0-2. He awoke to balloons and a few presents that included some cars, Cars bath toys, and some off road vehicles (Jeeps included of course). This kid is all boy.

According to Braedon, everything deserves a hug.

He is showing us that he is 2 years old. Or maybe 4? We’re still working on the finger thing.

He was a champ at opening his presents this time! Such an improvement from Christmas.

Some of the goods.

I actually made his cake again this year. We’ll see if I can go 3 for 3, but there will be a Costco nearby for his next birthday and anyone who knows me knows that I will make any excuse to buy a Costco cake.

In between present opening and cake time, Braedon spent the day riding his bike, licking dirty water off the picnic table, playing fetch with Peyton, eating bubbles, walking to Starbucks, napping, and playing with his new toys. We ended the day with dinner at a Mexican restaurant downtown and then CAKE!

He was extremely excited to see Cars on his cake. We could hardly hold him back.

So that was Friday. Man, I’m already tired. Saturday and Sunday were spent working on getting rid of things and getting ready for our upcoming move in three weeks. We have gotten so much done! In between that we attended a crab boil on Saturday and a pig roast BBQ on Sunday, which both included tons of classmates and family. Both events were so much fun and we all had a blast!

A little hay throwing before the crab boil.

Braedon loved showing the crab who was boss. Mallets in both hands…I know I’d be scared.

Picking out his next victim. At one point I thought he was trying to save the crabs because he said they needed water and was trying to put them in the coolers with ice.

This morning Derek took Braedon to start the laundry and while the clothes were washing they walked around a little.

More hugging took place. At least he hasn’t hugged any trees yet. Although he does seem to be one with nature.

After nap time today Braedon tried out some potential up and coming summer fashions.

An extremely dirty face is the accessory that makes this statement work.

Sunday was the day of the pig roast. It took place at one of Derek’s classmates house which is on a bunch of land. There were probably 100 people there with lots of good food! So much fun! Braedon probably covered all of the land as he pretty much ran around non stop. Have I mentioned that I’m tired?

You notice how far this picture was taken from all other people? Braedon can move fast. I am going to look really ridiculous chasing him around in a couple more months as I already feel huge.

Derek’s turn to chase him down.

I tried to make the flowers seem very interesting so I could rest for a minute. I’m joking, it wasn’t actually that bad. There was a big pond in the middle of it all though which is why we were chasing him around so much. Braedon is not afraid of water and wants to be in it whenever he can get the chance.

That was our weekend. Since Derek is done with classes, we are headed to Maine and Cape Cod/Martha’s Vineyard tomorrow morning for the week. I will post our exciting adventures from that next weekend!

But right now I feel like this.

It is so my bed time!

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