ThrowBack Thursday – Vacation Time

Recently I have asked myself – what do I really want from ”Throwback Thursday’? Back on Valentine’s Day I had my #TBT post all ready – I had the idea, the story, and even the full text written. The only thing missing was the picture – and I discovered I didn’t have a picture that represented what I wanted, which was the trip Lisa and I took to the Captain Daniel Stone Inn in Brunswick Maine for our 6 month anniversary.

So as I was contemplating whether or not I would do one this week, I drove home from work on Tuesday just as a super-long train was passing the back of our facility. The rail weaves around Rte 64 that I take home as well as the maine highway Rte 86. So as I was driving I saw portions of the train on the other side of the brook alongside the road, then it passed under me as I went over a bridge and we split off in different directions.

As I headed home from there I knew what pictures I wanted – the four of us on the Cape Cod Railroad on vacation when the kids were young.

All I had to do now was find it.

Fortunately I hit the right shoe box and had the envelope in hand in no time; I scanned these pictures and was done.

When the kids were little we would take vacations in June (well, we did Disney in May) in order to get ‘warm enough’ temperatures, fewer crowds, and better prices. We loved going to Cape Cod – beaches, ocean, and plenty to do for all of us. It always acted as the perfect intersection between busy and relaxing – definitely never ‘Disney busy’.

In 2002 we had a ‘mixed bag’ year, it was a bit cooler and damper on a few days than in other years. We used that as an opportunity to hit places on ‘scenic Route 6’ such as the fireman museum, the old general store, Cuffy’s and the Cape Cod Railroad … fortunately we also had some warm and sunny days for Nauset beach, Chatham, and more.

The Cape Cod Railroad was perfect for one cool and damp morning. If you look at us, everyone but me has layers on to keep warm. The route is from Hyannis to the Cape Cod Canal and back, and it is very scenic and relaxing. There was some snoozing, and plenty of books were read.

There is so much about the boys that comes through in these pictures – Danny loved Spiderman (I think he was Spidey for 5 Halloweens!), Chris loved cool glasses, both loved reading, and so on. It is also interesting framing Chris next to Lisa and I separately – because each boy constantly hears ‘you look just like mom/dad/ depending on which they are with … and here you can see those elements, though I think Chris looks more like Lisa, and Danny more like me.

It is interesting to me seeing myself in just a t-shirt and shorts. Until my thyroid died I was always very warm, and so it is not surprising that I wasn’t layered. If we took the same picture now, I would definitely have a sweatshirt on, but still shorts … and the boys would likely be less covered. Funny how these things change.

I love looking back at things like this – especially as my kids are racing through high school and seemingly getting older and more mature by the day. I don’t wish for those years to come back, but I do enjoy revisiting them through these pictures.

What are some of your best ‘non-event’ vacation memories?

Throwback Thursday – When My Babies WERE Babies!

OK, so I will admit to absolutely loving doing these Throwback Thursday posts for two reasons – sharing a bit about myself … and trawling through loads of old pictures of myself and my family!

Perhaps it is superfluous of me to say, but I was early on the digital photography thing, and as a result one good thing is having loads of digital photos reaching back through the years. Of course, the downside is that I’ve also had perhaps a couple dozen different Mac & PC computers since our first digital camera, meaning different software, storage systems, and so on.

This makes it fun to look through the past couple of decades – but also makes me realize how much we’ve lost from when WE were kids … but perhaps there is also a cost of spending time capturing rather than experiencing? That is a discussion for another day!

When Danny was just 8 months old we took him to Cape Cod and stayed in Brewster – and amazingly it was on this vacation at the Captain’s Table in Chatham we found out we were pregnant with Chris. We’d had so many years of disappointments and false alarms and painful miscarriages along our path to parenthood that it was hard to believe and accept – but also tremendously exciting!

In 1999 we headed back to the Cape again – and again going in mid-June to get better pricing and avoid the summer rush. We were heading out on the Ferry, and got someone to grab a family picture.

The boys are so totally adorable in this picture – hats crooked from the wind, all bundled and snuggled up (that was NOT a particularly warm summery vacation!). Chris had his awesome light fluffy blonde hair that was just magical, and Lisa was holding his blanket that he loved.

Cape Cod remains just about my favorite place to go in the summer … we were there in 2012, and I would love to get back again soon.

Happy Thursday!