From the mouths of babes

I visited my parents several months ago, and as usual, I stayed in my old room. Whenever I'm home, I always like to dig around my old room and see what random remnants of my childhood are still kicking around in there. This time I came across an old journal from my third grade days. While most were just rather silly, there were a few hidden gems in there. A few excerpts here for your reading pleasure complete with misspellings and bad grammar.

August 30, 1983
I'm thinking that when I get home I'm going to take a big bucket full of warm water and put ice in it and dip my feet in it. Then I'm going to turn on the T.V. and watch it.
*(Even at a young age I clearly knew the therapeutic benefits of a relaxing pedicure.)

September 9
It really bothers me when my brother starts asking questions and starts to bother me. My father tells him to stop and then he starts asking my father questions.

September 14
Today is my mother's birthday. We're going to have her party on Saturday. I'm pretty sure me and my brother are the only kids.

September 21
My dentist is very funny. His name is Dr. Marx. He makes up jokes that even my mother laughs at.
*(I was that rare kid that actually looked forward to my dental visits because I liked Dr. Marx so much. To this day, I compare all dentists to him and sadly have never been able to find one who lives up to his bedside manner.)

September 29
I don't like my brother that much and sometimes I do like him. When Kenneth bothers me that's when I don't like him that much. Sometimes he's fun to play with but sometimes he's not. I still do like him though.
*(Now that we're older, Kenneth doesn't bother me anymore. So I would say I like him.)

October 4
Bloomingdales
On Saturday my aunt and my mother and my brother and I went to Bloomingdales. At Bloomingdales we went to the store that's right near the enternes. We walked around the store. When I saw some finger stickers and I showed them to my mother. Then we went to other stores. Then my brother saw the K-Bee Toy store and asked my mother if we could go in. She said only to look. But my brother saw some G.I. Joe action figures and asked my mother if she could buy one. But my mother said no and saw Warlord and told him he was more pretty. So she bought it for him. I told her why didn't she buy me something. She told me that she would buy me the finger stickers. But when we got to the store they were gone. So she went out of the store and I started crying and said, "WHY DIDN'T YOU BUY ME SOMETHING AND BOUGHT KENNETH SOMETHING?" So my mother said, "You don't buy something just for buying it." So I said it again. I stopped crying when we came past this like candy store and I saw something but my mom said no. So I saw the kind of skinny lickerish so I asked my mom if I could have that and she said yes. So she bought me that. It was a bag full so I had to share. We ate lunch at the Eatery. The places there don't have good food in the Eatery places. When we went we went straight to my grandmother's house. There in the car I finished a piece of lickerish. My other aunt was there too. When I reminded her about the library so we went to the library. She said it was probably closed and it was. So we went back. When it was late at night my parents went to a friends house. And we stayed watching the season premire of Love Boat the 2 hour special. My parents came and so then we went home.
*(Whew! Clearly a very dramatic day at the mall for me at the time. But apparently nothing some licorice and some Love Boat couldn't cure.)

October 17
Yesterday we got 40 fleas out of our cat Mikey. We got some with the spray and some with our bare hands. One live flea was crawling on my leg and since I had the spray my mom told me to spray it before it bit me because one bit Mikey and left like a little speck of blood on his skin. It was a little fun but not much fun. Believe me, taking the fleas out isn't fun.
*(I don't remember this very well, but my mom tells me the flea infestation got so bad that we were finding fleas in the beds. The fleas quickly set up camp down in the basement, and if you were  naive enough to venture down into their territory your legs would slowly start to be covered in fleas. Gross! But the fleas were finally defeated when my parents had the house fumigated. Unfortunately, this was also the end of Mikey as shortly thereafter we drove way out in the middle of nowhere to give him away to this woman who had a farm. No, seriously. Not "the farm." Right, mom??)

November 9
A Nightmare!
One night I had a nightmare when I was living in our town house. And when I turned around and faced the wall at night when I went to sleep I would start having a nightmare. One of them was like this: One night I was in bed. If you moved and the person saw you move she would kill you. Then you would be dead forever.
*(This entry was illustrated with a drawing of a dagger with blood dripping off the end. My bed was up against one wall in my room and I do clearly remember being terrified of going to sleep facing the wall. Because then I obviously couldn't see if someone was sneaking up to kill me. Eeeee! Eeee! Eeeee!)


February 1, 1984
How I Got My Kitten
One day my mami bought us a kitten because I had been begging her to get me a kitten. My dad came to pick my brother and I up at Kiddie Country. I asked my dad were mami was. He said she was at my aunt Vicky's house. We went to my aunt Vicky's house. When we got there they told us to close our eyes and go to the bathroom. When my brother and I got to the bathroom they told us to open our eyes. When we did I was really surprised. In there in the bathroom was an adorable kitten. The kitten was very timed. He wouldn't let us touch him because he was scared. My aunt had a Stayfree box near the wall. Our kitten went and jumped in the box. I love him!

April 23
Spring Vacation
On Spring Vacation on Monday I went to Kiddie Country. Every morning they said almost the same thing, "Lower your voices because classes have begun and we have classes at both sides of our class." I can't really remember what I did on Monday. One of our afternoon teachers that we got all week had a chart for all week this is what it looked like.
Tuesday: Game Day (You could bring in your own game.)
Wednesday: Whisper Day (You whispered all day.)
Thursday: Pink, Purple, and Blue Day (You wear either Purple, Blue, or Pink or you can wear all the colors.)
Friday: Easter Program (The little kids would do an Easter Program.)
One Wednesday the morning teacher said Whisper Day would start at 9:00. The whole week was boring except for Thursday and Friday because my mom said I wasn't going to be here on Friday so I told the teacher. Then on Wednesday my mom asked me if I wanted to go to work with her and I said yes. I ended up not being there on Thursday because I went to my mother's work and I didn't go Friday because I went to my grandmother's house for Good Friday.
*(Whisper Day?? How brilliant is that? I bet the teachers patted themselves on the back for that one.)

May 30
A Dialogue
Me: "Mom what time am I going to bed in the summer?"
Mom: "I really don't know Melissa. I haven't been thinking about that lately. What time do you think Melissa?"
Me: "I think I should go to bed at about 12:00 midnight. That will be fine."
Dad: "But that's to late. I think 10:00 will be fine. What do you think?"
Mom: "I think that 7:00 is fine."
Me: "But that's to early. I'm going to bed at 10:00. And that's that!"
Mom & Dad: "O.K."
*(This is more or less the conversation I'm already having with Emerson every night. Except instead of a calm, civilized chat there's a lot of naked Emerson running around while I chase after him with pajamas.

So there you have it. A little peak into my 8-year old brain. Have I changed much? A little. But, I still get a little creeped out by the dark if I'm by myself, I still have my diva moments and I still like to go to bed as last as possible. Now where's my licorice....

Do kids make us happier?

One of the gals in the playgroup I hang out with is a psychotherapist and regularly writes articles for a parenting website. She recently reached out to all of us for our opinion on her current topic: 

Do kids make us happier?

Clearly a loaded question. I let it marinate for a couple of days before getting back to her. And after finally replying I decided I wanted to share my thoughts on the subject. So here it is:


The simple answer would be: yes. Though I'm sure my kidless friends would say that they are just as happy if not happier because they are still able to live footloose and fancy-free. I probably wouldn't argue with them because until you have the experience of having a child, you really know no other frame of reference, right? So the more I thought about it, the more I thought that "happy" might be too black & white of an idea. Which I think is pretty fitting when it comes to talking about kids because raising them is often filled with so many shades of gray. Becoming a mother has changed me in ways I never would've imagined. And, opened my eyes and heart to feelings and things I never knew existed. I am "happier" because I feel my life is so much richer, fulfilling and satisfying. 

JD and I have always had a good relationship, but having this experience together sometimes feels like a secret whispered between each other. The kind that makes you knowingly wink at each other when you catch the other person's eyes across the room. It's strengthened our bond and I feel infinitely closer to him. So that makes me happier. 

Having a kid has made me appreciate my own mother more because obviously now I KNOW. After a few nights of sleeping on the floor next to Emerson's bed in the middle of the night, I suddenly felt like an a-hole for being such a creep to my mom during those tumultuous teen years because now I knew the love and sacrifice that I give to Emerson without question was the same she gave (and still gives) to me. So that makes me happier. **[Footnote: This isn't to say my dad is chopped liver of course. He is equally awesome!]

Though we have our rough patches (ie. tantrums, sleepless nights), Emerson's smile and laughter always outweighs them 200%. So that makes me happier.

I hate to be bored. Having a kid is the ultimate challenge/puzzle and is never boring. So that makes me happier.

Having a kid makes me feel pretty empowered and kick-ass that I CAN do this. So that makes me happier.

Having a kid has helped me put life in perspective. Things that I used to think were important, now seem so trivial. Constantly learning what counts in my life makes me happier.

This list could really go on and on, but I'm sure you pick up on my theme here. I guess it just really boils down to the fact that I feel my life is so much more of an onion now -- sometimes it makes you cry, but all those layers are what make it so delicious. Unless you don't like onions and then maybe it's more like a pomegranate -- it's a lot of hard work, but all those little jewels are totally worth it. 

Kisses make everything better.

I hate it when I see kids BARELY hurt themselves falling, bumping their heads or whatever and they waaaaaillll like they lost an arm just for the attention it gets them. I roll my eyes and fight the urge to go over and say, "Hey kid, man up! Geez!" So with Emerson, our approach was to not make a big deal about it unless he made a big deal about it. Now that doesn't mean that a legitimate injury doesn't warrant a little extra snuggle. But, kids are sly little suckers and if they find out that some big fat tears and whimpering gets them a, "OH MY POOR BABY," they catch on quick. Before you know it, junior starts wailing any time he merely touches the edge of the table. Nobody wants that kid. So far it seems to have worked because either Emerson has secretly participated in government experiments without my knowledge and is now the next indestructible Wolverine, or he's just become a tough little guy.

It all started when he began to crawl. I can't tell you how many times I watched him knock his noggin pretty hard on the coffee table. Internally I would wince, "Oooo, that one had to hurt." But I never said anything and 9 times out of 10 he would just keep truckin' like nothing happened. That 1 time out of 10 that he did get all scrunched face and let out a wail, I of course immediately went to soothe him with a kiss. Let me tell you, it's a funny thing that kiss. I'm actually beginning to think that my kisses may actually harbor some magical, healing powers. Seriously. I am magic. When Emerson hurts himself enough to produce tears, as soon as I kiss the boo-boo area, count it... 5-4-3-2-1 healed! Crying ceases, tears evaporate and he's off and running with a smile on his face. Every time. It's amazing.

However, it turns out Emerson is not above taking advantage of the kiss. Last night, after Emerson's bath we were all monkeying around on the bed. He loves to jump and throw himself into the fluffy comforter over and over again. One of those time he must've fallen a little to "hard" on his bottom and he started to whimper.

"What's wrong?" JD asks.
"Butt hurt," Emerson replies.
"You hurt your butt," confirms JD.
"Yeah. Kiss it." And he starts laughing at his own joke.

I thought we had a long way to go before he started to telling us to kiss his butt. What a little devil.

Happy New Year!

This one is a bit belated, I know...

2009 was a good year for us. Lots to be grateful for. So were we going to celebrate at a wild party with tons of champagne, hootin' and hollerin' until our voices were nothing more than tiny squeaks? No, we were going to stay home. We'd just gotten a new bed (KING size bitches!) and we couldn't wait to spend the weekend on our very own Bed Island. No, no, no. Nothing kinky folks. This blog is rated PG after all. Well, maybe PG-13, but my point is that we were still basking in our new bed honeymoon and wanting to spend as much time as possible in it just lounging around in it's fluffiness.

But then as we're talking to our friends, the Parkers, a new plan begins to brew. How about Big Sur? The next day, other friends call to find out what we're up to. "Big Sur. Camping. You in?" And just like that, we had a mini crew packed up and headed for Big Sur.

Before hitting the campsite, we stopped at the famous Hearst Castle. Here, the media mogul William Randolph Hearst had himself built an astonishing estate. What started off as just, "I want a bungalow because I'm tired of camping when I come up here," turned into a lavish abode with 115 rooms and 3 huge guest houses that took almost 30 years to complete. It was a-ma-zing. And the views -- absolutely beautiful.

New Year's Eve, we took a little hike. To reward ourselves afterwards, we stopped in at Nepenthe restaurant to watch the sunset over a bottle of wine. The view here was utterly breathtaking. Back at the campsite, we feasted on ribs and other yummy vittles. However, ringing in the new year at a campsite puts a different twist on things. It's pretty dark by like 6:00, so after dinner you're just sitting there by the campfire, in the dark trying to rally. And well, when midnight finally came I was so tired I didn't have it in me to partake in the champagne toast and just scurried off to bed. Poo poo, I know. But that's camping for you.

The next day, we packed up and stopped at Pfeiffer State Beach before hitting the road back to LA. This was the crowning glory of the trip in my opinion. Easily one of the most amazing beaches I've ever been too. Tide pools with all kinds of sea creatures, staggering views, the place was just heavenly. We couldn't have timed it more perfectly if we'd actually planned it, because after playing around for a while the sun started to set and wow... no words. What a way to start 2010! Happy New Year!

Waiting for the shuttle to take us up to Hearst Castle.

The view on the ride up to the castle.

Hearst Castle.

Exploring the campsite among the redwoods.

New Year's Eve at Nepenthe. Cheers!

View off the deck at Nepenthe. Amazing.

Pfeiffer State Beach on New Year's Day. 

Magical doorway.

One of many sea anemones.

Dad and Emerson enjoying the view.

Emerson doing what he does best -- exploring.

Another spectacular sunset. I can't wait to go back!

The Griswold Family Vacation: The Sun Shines Again

Having earned my stripes for withstanding conditions that even a Navy Seal would balk at, I was more than excited about finally getting to our lodge in Mammoth. After two days of roughing it, walking into our condo felt like I'd just arrived at the Ritz. While JD argued that our experience only made us appreciate the condo even more, I contend that I don't have to almost die in order to enjoy a well-appointed mountain cabin. That night the snow really began to come down. 30+ inches are predicted for the weekend! JD is beside himself with excitement over the fresh powder playground that he'll have to snowboard on once the storm breaks.

The next day, Saturday, we awake to a winter wonderland! I don't think I've ever seen so much snow. Anxious to get out and frolic in the snowfall, we head out to a nearby lodge and do some snowshoeing. A lot of fun, but harder than I expected. And I'm sure my zero level of physical fitness didn't help. After huffing and puffing around the beautiful mountainscape for a while, we figured we had earned a round of hot cocoas. I don't think I've ever seem Emerson smile so big. Every sip was punctuated with a very enthusiastic, "Mmmm!"

Sunday, was Mama's day. JD stayed behind with Emerson while I went to the spa for some treatment. Ahhhhhh! The best part (almost) was the aesthetician. What a character. An older woman, married three times, now single (again), entertained me the whole time with her stories of sex, drugs and rock-n-roll. Romances and flings with musicians, on the road with the band (she's a bass player herself)... I want to go back just to hear more stories! That night, the snow storm raged on. So hard in fact that the power went out. We get a knock on the door from the building manager to see if we had any candles and to ask JD to move the car since the plows would be coming through tomorrow. JD leaves to move the car and I hunt around in the dark for some candles. Finally I find a couple sitting on the fireplace mantle. I grab my trusty Aim n' Flame and light away. Except the candle is not lighting. I burn the heck out of the little wick that is sitting there mocking me, but the darn thing won't light. Finally when JD comes back, I hand the stupid candle over to him to try. He tries a couple of times then says, "Oh, I know why it won't light.... it's an electric candle." And he flips it over and flicks the switch. Doh! In my defense, the thing was pretty realistic-looking and in the dark.... oh, whatever.

On Monday, a couple of friends had driven up and the boys took off snowboarding while Emerson and I hung out. We find out that the weather for the rest of the week at our next planned destinations was going to be rainy the whole time, so we decide to continue our vacation right where we are. The boys go out again the next day. We find out that there's a daycare at the base of the mountain, so on Wednesday we drop Emerson off first thing in the morning and it's finally time for me to get on the mountain. My skills.... well, let's just say I'm still learning. I had fun though and that's all that matters, right?

Thursday was family day again and we'd heard that the snow tubing place was finally opening for the season that day. So fun! I did some pretty good sledding when I was a kid, but this was awwwwesome! The run itself wasn't very long, but you whizzed down that hill so fast you couldn't help but laugh hysterically. Emerson rode with JD and when they'd get to the bottom Emerson would do his sign for "again." Too cute.

Finally, it was the end of the week and time to head back home. Thank you Mammoth, we had a great time! Despite the few setbacks, it was a fabulous vacation. We got to spend some good, quality family time together and add a fun destination to Emerson's rapidly growing list of adventures!

[Never ending snow.]

[Emerson got to ride in the snow plow. Cool!]

[Snowshoeing]

[At the lodge for some well-deserved hot cocoas.]

[I think he likes it.]

[Testing out Daddy's board.]

[Our Emerson-free day.]

[One of the few good moments not spent on my butt.]

[Snow tubin'!]

The Griswold Family Vacation: Rough Beginnings

It started off as a joke. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before life started imitating art and our trip did take on a National Lampoon-like quality.

JD planned on taking most of December off from work (well deserved!) and we had a big road trip planned. Over the next week and a half we were going to trek up to Mammoth Mountain to take advantage of one of the first big snows of the season, then head over to either Napa or San Francisco, down to Big Sur, followed by Santa Barbara, then back to LA. We even had just gotten a new car to break in on the trip. See, new "family truckster," road trip.... get it? Get it? Anyone who's familiar with the movie knows about Chevy Chase and his family's blundering misadventures as they embark on a cross country trip to Wally World. There was no dead aunt strapped to the roof of the car, no closed amusement park, no dirty Uncle Eddie and no Christie Brinkley in a Corvette. But, we did seem to keep running into ridiculous predicaments along the way.

We decided that we should stop halfway to Mammoth in Lone Pine and camp for a couple of days. We've camped there several times during spring and fall, but never in winter. We knew it would be cold, but as experienced campers, we were prepared. Plenty of warm layers and most importantly, the puff down jackets. Until...

"Where are the puffs?" JD asks me about two hours into the trip. "What do you mean? YOU packed the car. You tell ME." Terror begins to creep in. Coldness is my kryptonite. Without my puff jacket I might as well not be wearing anything. The thought of spending the next week and a half in cold, cold winter weather without my puff jacket was enough to instantly turn my blood to ice. The more JD begins to remember not packing the puffs, the more silent I get. He finally decides to pull over and check the roof box for a definite answer. He comes back and the worst has indeed occurred. He tries to convince me that with enough layers and my ski jacket, I'll be just as warm as if I was wearing my puff. I'm not so convinced. With my puff I feel I can withstand any temperature. It's my security blanket. All I have to do is burrow down in there like a bird and I'm fine. I almost start to cry at having to spend the entire vacation COLD. JD attempts to console me and finally offers to turn around and go back home in order to grab the jackets. We were already so far into the trip, that turning around at this point would've meant not getting in to the campsite until the middle of the night. And also possibly dealing with a super fussy Emerson at having to be in his car seat for so long. So what is one to do? Do I be the a-hole that says, yeah turn around and add an extra 3 hours to an already too long car ride? Or do I suck it up and hope that I can power through the next couple of days until we get to the lodge in Mammoth and I can bask in it's fireplace? Grrr, not fair. I come to decide that as long as we have Emerson's puff then we should just push on. Luckily (or unluckily?), we found Emerson's puff in the back, but mine and JD's were definitely missing. So we continue on to Lone Pine. We get in pretty late and it's freaking cooold -- I think it was 20 degrees that night. Already I'm lamenting not having my beloved puff. Since it's so late, we decide to unpack the truck and just sleep in the back. This way if it happens to get too cold (ha!), we can turn the car on and blast the heat for a while and warm up. Well, halfway into unpacking the car, it dies. Yep, battery dead. Apparently the cold, the altitude and the fact that we had the interior lights and the radio all on contributed to draining the battery. It's taking all my self control not to completely wig out and I somehow maintain. Thankfully, after about an hour or so of JD powering down what we could in the car, the battery is miraculously recharged and we have power once more. Whew! I can now relax. A little. 

The next morning, we're determined to leave the bad luck behind us and continue our vacation with renewed rose-colored glasses. Well, it isn't long before The Curse of the Griswold Family Vacation strikes again. JD goes off exploring with Emerson while I stay behind and finish my coffee. They're not gone long before I see them coming back. That was quick, I think to myself. "Well, babe... it's a good thing you packed that first aid kit...," JD says as he approaches our camp site. My heart immediately races as I assume he's referring to Emerson. I bolt up out of my seat and search to see how bad it is. "Emerson is ok," JD says, "It's me." Oh jeez. Turns out that JD was running around, jumping on rocks and ended up scraping the heck out of his cheek on a broken tree branch that he missed seeing. I clean it up --  it's pretty bloody. I finish and I start to feel really queasy. Oh oh. It doesn't take long before the queasiness is followed by ringing ears and lightheadedness. JD quickly takes me to the car to lay down and feeds me juice and crackers because I can feel that I'm about to pass out!

That night, we decide to go ahead and pitch the tent. The thinking being that with the ground as insulation, and our body heat to warm up the air in the tent we'll be warmer than sleeping in a metal box that has cold air circulating around it. Logical, right? Well, in theory it might have been sound, but in reality it proved to be completely the opposite. We spent the longest, worst night I've ever experienced. The temperature was even colder that night than the night before, but also the tent was too big for us to warm up. It was so cold that the top of the blanket felt like ice. I can't even remember how many times JD and I both woke up during the night because it was so cold that we couldn't sleep. And every time we woke up, it was still pitch dark. Will morning ever come??? Emerson, however, was as snug as a bug burrowed down in between the two of us. Finally, when it seemed the sun would never rise again, it was morning. We skipped breakfast, quickly packed everything up, cranked the heat in the car and got the high hell out of there. We hit the road with visions of the warm lodge that awaited us in Mammoth on our minds...

[Bundled up against the elements. The mountains surrounding Mt. Whitney loom in the background.]

[Impervious to the 15 degree night we just spent, Emerson wakes up with a smile on his face.]

[Definitely not impervious to the frigid temperatures, Mama is reluctant to emerge from the blankets.]

Our Big New England Adventure - Part III

Ahh, Martha's Vineyard. Every year we head to the Cape, we always say we're going to go and for some reason or another it never happens. But this year, we finally did it! Gram and Gramp J stayed at the house with Emerson while JD and I escaped for a nice day just the two of us.

Here we are on the ferry ride over to the island. When we first got to the dock, it looked like it was going to be a cloudy day. But, then the sun came out and it turned into a gorgeous day.

Wanting to take full advantage of our day, we decided not to waste any time biking around. While I'm sure it would be nice to take a leisurely ride around the island exploring, we thought it would be more fun and more efficient if we went with a scooter to zip around. Besides, who wants to get to their destination all sweaty? Ew. I have to admit the scooter scared me a little. Just the fact that you're out there zooming around, not buckled in to anything, and the only thing keeping you from flying off is your death grip on the driver. The speed limit is 35mph, but even only going 30 it felt too fast. Bear hugging JD, I was constantly screaming, "Aaack! Too fast! Too fast!!" He kept trying to assure me that he was only going 25mph, but I think he forgot that I could easily see the speedometer over his shoulder and knew when he was fibbing! It was fun -- just like a roller coaster -- except with the added fear of becoming road kill. I tried to take pictures of ourselves on the scooter, but it proved to be difficult. Stretching my one arm out to take the picture was petrifying and also trying to keep the camera steady while you're zipping down the road was challenging. So here's my lame attempt at capturing some scooter magic.

Our first stop was in Edgartown. We sat ourselves on the patio of a little cafe on Main Street for an afternoon cocktail. We ended up chatting with our server for quite a bit because he was just so nice. He was a local and knew just about every other person that walked by.

After our delicious drink we walked down Main Street and peeked inside several stores. Here I am channeling my inner country club dame.

Earlier, we had stopped a woman walking down the street because she looked like a local. It turned out we were right and asked her for a good place to have lunch. She told us to head to The Atlantic. What a recommendation. Great view of the water from the patio. I ordered the lobster roll because when in Rome.... right? After we'd ordered, we saw a server walk by with the most amazing looking caprese salad. So when our server came back around, we told him we absolutely needed one too. I mean, look at these plates. Deliciously sweet lobster overflowing from the bun. Perfectly ripe tomato slices the size of my face topped with pesto and creamy mozzarella on the side. All paired with a crisp, refreshing glass of sauvignon blanc. Oh man, I must've died because I was in heaven.

Bellies full, we hopped back on the scooter to see what the rest of the island had in store for us. We checked out the Edgartown Lighthouse. And an historic building with beautiful greens -- but unfortunately, couldn't tell you the name! I'm an awful tour guide, I know.

We drove by the little Victorian houses in Oak Bluffs known as the "gingerbread cottages" because of their diminutive size and colorful exteriors. No two are alike!

We ended our day with a ride on the famous Flying Horses Carousel in Oak Bluffs. It's been around since 1884 and is the oldest platform carousel still in operation. (Thank you Wikipedia!)  There are arms on the inside and outside of the carousel that pop out little metal rings that you can swipe when you swing by. It's fun to collect the rings and if you happen to get a brass one, you get to stay on for a free ride.

We caught an amazing sunset on the ferry ride home. Post card perfect. At last our magical day had come to an end. I think the last picture sums it all up. Pure bliss.