Cape Cod Vacation

We went to Cape Cod on a little vacation to celebrate the end of the season, just like we did last year in mid-October. We stayed at Nickerson State Park again, in a yurt. We planned to spend 4 nights, but only ended up staying 3 because it got rainy and cold.

We got there last Sunday, and after setting up in the yurt, we went for a little bike ride to a beach near Orleans. It was quite overcast, and windy, but we were well prepared with warm clothes.

On Monday, it was sunny and gorgeous. We rode to Marconi beach, 26 miles round trip from the campground, the longest ride Aiyana ever did. The beach was stunning, and made me instantly happy when I saw it. We saw seals playing in the waves; the girls played in the sand, and I just sat and looked out and eventually fell asleep in the sun, listening to the waves crashing on the shore. It was amazing.

Park ranger on the empty beach.

Ed, Sena and Aiyana

Me, very happy to be here

A very steep stairway came up the bank, and from the top of it the view was exhilarating.

We snacked on Autumn Olives, which grew plentifully along the bike path.

Aiyana on her bike

On Tuesday, Sena was feeling sick, so Ed stayed at the yurt with her and I took Aiyana to Sandwich, to the Thornton Burgess Briar Patch museum. Thornton Burgess is one of our favorite children’s books authors. I saw his “Fables of the Green Forest” series on TV when I was growing up in Romania, and always remembered his characters and the stories they were involved in. A few years ago, I quite by accident came across one of his books at a used book sale and immediately recognized it as the stories I used to love. I bought that book, which was Jimmy Skunk and read it to the girls, and since then they’ve been hooked and read all his books. Then I found out that he was from Cape Cod, and that’s how we came to visit his museum in Sandwich.

A cute little gift shop at the museum

Next to the museum, there was a jam kitchen, and there was jam making in progress, which was a nice surprise since I’ve been getting a little into jams myself this year. The smell was delightful, and it reminded me of my great-aunt’s kitchen in Romania, when she used to make sour cherry preserves.

Cranberry and beach plum jam in progress

On Wednesday, we went to Provincetown by car. It was rainy, and windy, and although Sena was feeling back to normal, she did not want to bike, and neither did the rest of us. We visited Pilgrim monument, a tall tower from the top of which you have a great view of the cape. We also visited the museum connected with it.

Quite windy up there. But fun for the girls.

Family picture

The stairway leading to the top of the tower

Later that afternoon we went to a beach south of the Cape to watch seals come out of the ocean at low tide. We were told that up to 200 of them will come out. When we got to the beach, there was a strong wind and driving rain, which made the scene very "dramatic", as Aiyana put it. Although it wasn’t the most comfortable, I found the views and the atmosphere very beautiful in their own way. But then again, to me the ocean is always beautiful, and I’d stare at it for hours no matter what the conditions. Just to be in its presence feels amazing.

Sand dunes on the way to the ocean

Sena, coming to the beach against the strong wind

Seals in the water! (Too hard to get a picture of because of the rain and heavy churning of the waves)

Despite the rain and cold, Aiyana was happily playing that she was flying in the wind

That's Ed down there.

Peace

A little hike

This morning we did some homeschooling, and in the afternoon we went on a lovely hike just ten minutes from our house. We have such a good time together, Sena, Aiyana and I. They are my little companions and I am so grateful to have them to share beautiful things with.

We hiked up to this lookout, and were surprised to see that most of the trees down in the valley are still green. Only along the river did the foliage turn red.

 We had a little snack of cheese and crackers

And had some fun taking pictures

Peace

Homeschooling has begun. Ed's been doing math, physics  and spelling and I've been doing Earth Science and Poetry. We're not on a full schedule yet, because we're still very busy with the CSA, but next week will be the last week of CSA and after that homeschooling will be our main focus.

I've done some research on curricula for Sena and Aiyana's grade levels, with particular attention to the Mansfield school curriculum. I like to make sure that we're studying at least at the same level as the local schools. In any case, I put together a plan about a month ago, containing all the major topics we want to study this year and a daily schedule to go along. But, before we even started, I changed it on sudden inspiration, and instead of studying a little bit of each subject each week, I decided to do an intensive session of about three weeks covering only two subjects at a time. Part of the beauty of homeschooling is that you can be flexible like this, and go with what seems most appropriate and most fun for everyone.

So our two topics of intensive study these past few weeks have been Earth Science and Poetry. I am very excited about how well things are going. In Earth Science, we learned about how the earth formed, the processes and natural cycles that have shaped our world and what drives them - stuff like earthquakes, volcanoes, and some introductory geology. All fascinating. The girls want more. They are asking for books on tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanoes.

The other topic of study, Poetry, was also embraced, to my relief and delight. When I was a child in Romania, we had to memorize classical poems, and although I didn't appreciate it at the time, now I am often comforted and inspired by those poems and their beauty. I thought that it would be nice to have Sena and Aiyana memorize beautiful poetry, so they too can carry it with them always. I was very happy when they took to it right away. We fell into a routine, where we read poems together, which I select, we study them, and then they chose the ones they want to memorize. Their memory is amazing at this age, and they love to recite to Ed or I whenever we want to listen. They've been reciting to their grandparents too for a treat.

Two weekends ago, a couple that is part of our CSA offered to bring their telescope to our farm so we could watch the sky. This just happened to  fit in perfectly with our Earth studies. They came on a beautiful, calm Saturday evening just after sundown, and we set the telescope up in our field. It was an 8 inch diameter telescope, with lenses that magnified 40, 100 and 200 times. We were able to see the moon, with beautiful detail of the craters, as well as Saturn with its rings and one of its moons, and Jupiter. We also saw Andromeda galaxy. The whole thing was awe-inspiring, and made a great impression on all of us. I went to bed that night feeling more connected to the vastness out there, and it was all very helpful as a reminder for putting our lives in perspective.

Aiyana turned 9 on Sunday. She had a party on Saturday, with her friends and grandparents and us. I made pizza from scratch, which Aiyana requested and it was a hit. I also served my home-made feta and other appetizers and a winter squash soup. My sister and Ed's parents brought food as well. My sister made icecream cake, which was a huge success. Ed's mom made deviled eggs, always a hit. It was a nice party for everyone, and on Sunday we celebrated just the four of us. I can't believe she's nine! The old cliche that they grow up so fast is so true. It's scary. The only cure is to be present, and that is my focus.

Peace