TRAVELS TO MARTHA'S VINEYARD: DAY 4

Tuesday, it rained all day.

I don't remember if this was breakfast or lunch..

but a meal time certainly.

We took a ride exploring..

We took a ferry

over to Chappaquidick Island.

There is a park over there.

But again, nothing was open.

It probably would have been a nice spot to go and picnic in nice weather..but

it was pretty miserable in the rain.

So we just drove around a little bit.

The kids slept pretty much the whole time.

I had to remind myself what this picture was of.

It is the side of the car.

If you look really closely, you can see the plethora of scratches that grace it.

After a bit of exploring, we stopped at a Dairy Queen.

A Dairy Queen with no seats or benches or tables..nada.

We found that to be the case in many of the places we went.

Nowhere to sit down for your food.

So the kids sat in the back of the car.

Anyway, the kids enjoyed their ice cream. 

Rian especially.

:)

I think this is also the day where we went to a toy store

that was highly recommended.

Mike let the kids each pick something out for themselves.

TRAVELS TO MARTHA'S VINEYARD: DAY 3

While the computer is being friendly, I'll try to get as much in as possible!!

Monday morning, we went in hunt for a beach..

and ended up at Menemsha.

Beaches are somewhat different there from here.

As you'll see.

It was pretty empty, there were maybe 3 other people around.

We brought along Michael's kite, but

it really was not windy enough.

They put forth a good effort in trying though.

The kids liked playing in the sand.

Rian also enjoyed eating everything she could find in the sand!

:(

The stinker.

Mike, Michael, and Rena collected shells..

..and dug a big hole.

After a couple of hours at the beach,

we went back to the house for lunch and naps..

Michael spent a lot of time during this trip blowing bubbles.

Later on, we went to Oak Bluffs..

this is the beach there.

We walked around a bit.

Pretty much everything closed around 5pm

(and opened at 11am)

We stopped in town to sit on a bench..

and a lady came out of her (closed) store

gave us free donuts.

Very nice of her.

So we found a seat on a park bench over where we had parked,

and the kids enjoyed some donut.

A couple of shots of the park.

We went off-season, so there really was not much open

or do to (especially with kids)..

but it was nice to get away.

Its a great place to go if your idea of a vacation is

sleeping in, relaxing, reading, and taking walks.

TRAVELS TO MARTHA'S VINEYARD: DAY 2

Let me just begin by saying that our computer has been giving me massive problems

and it is temperamental in letting me get pictures or not.

I have tried several times (prior to today) and the program just shuts down..

So, I apologize for the lack of posting.

Hopefully we can have this remedied in the near future.

Okay, that said.

Our second day on Martha's Vineyard was Sunday.

I had researched churches to attend prior to our trip,

but unfortunately there was nothing "suitable."

Plus, a lot of the churches didn't start their services until the beginning of June.

Anyway, we brought up some cds with us to listen to

and took a walk..

The house we stayed at was on Charles Neck Way..

that was the ONLY "sign."

This was supposedly a path to the beach,

but a lot of "roads" looked like this too.

We did not end up finding the beach on this path.

We tried the following day, (with the car) taking this..

We still did not find the beach..but

my expedition has lots of lovely scratches now.

The path got much narrower and much more overgrown as it progressed.

Michael needed a little break from walking.

He wanted to stop every 2 or 3 seconds to look at things with his binoculars.

The weather was pretty nice for the duration of our stay.

It rained all day Tuesday and part of Wednesday,

but otherwise we had sunshine and high 60-low 70 degree weather.

It did get chilly at night.

One night, we went to see the sunset at Menemsha and ended up staying in the car--

it was freeeeeeeeeeeeeeezing!!

Lovely anyway.

Pictures of that to come.

(I hope)

Mike took a whole bunch of pictures with his phone (some very nice ones)

that I am unable to do anything with at the moment..

so we actually have a LOT more pictures than what is most likely to be posted.

LONG OVERDUE BOOK REVIEW: MAX LUCADO'S "YOU CAN BE EVERYTHING GOD WANTS YOU TO BE"

:

Tis the season for graduations.

Moving onward and upward to new things while aspiring to reach

and exceed goals and dreams.

Max Lucado's, "You Can Be Everything God Wants You To Be,"

is a great gift for a new graduate or those preparing to graduate.

Or those looking to find and fulfill God's plan in their lives.

So, in short--everyone, whether they realize it or not.

Lucado makes reference to Scripture often and points out

how each and every person is unique and has a custom-designed plan for his or her life.  Each individual has been given special

gifts and talents.  Once that plan and those gifts are realized by the individual for what they are--gifts from God for a divine purpose--one can begin reaching his or her full potential. 

 Following God's will for life is always best,

                                                             for individual and society.

Lucado's book is short at 127 pages.  It is easy to read, laden with stories, examples, statistics, practical advice, and Scripture.  The book is divided up into one-to-two page sections--so read one or read six at a sitting.  It does not read like a "full-fledged book," but it is a nice little book to share with friends, family, and co-workers.  The author makes references to many different Scripture versions, (one of my drawbacks: it seems like one is not sufficient, almost like there is a need to manipulate what the text is saying) and is very easy to understand. 

While I would not classify this book under the self-help category, it does get you thinking and taking a deeper look at yourself and secondarily, to God (not the order it should be). It falls more in the inspirational category. So, if you are looking for a deeply Spiritual or theological read, skip this one.  However, for light, wholesome, thought-provoking reading, give it a try. 

And remember all those graduates out there.

*Book Provided Compliments of Thomas Nelson Publishers through BookSneeze*
Thoughts and Opinions are my own.

TRAVELS TO MARTHA'S VINEYARD: DAY 1

Thanks to one of Mike's customers,

who let us use his home,

we were able to spend a week in Martha's Vineyard.

We packed the car on Friday night and

 left on Saturday, May 15th, at 6am...

We had 2 vomit stops, compliments of Carina

(this explains the outfit you'll see her in in the next pics)--

and 3 potty and/or food stops,

we made it to Woodshole, Mass. by 12pmish.

We had a ferry reservation for 2:30pm.

but they let us on the next boat,

Which was around 1:15ish.

Waiting on the ferry line.

On the ferry..

it was about a 40 minute ride to the island.

I'm so glad we had use of the gps, because we probably wouldn't have found the house for

hour(s) otherwise...

The house was/is quite nice..out in the "boonies" so to speak.

Very quiet.

Front view.

Let's go see what is inside!

We had plenty of room in the house..

4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms (soo nice!)

huge closets..

This is the upstairs master bedroom, that Mike and I inhabited.

Hanging in the "foyer"

Upstairs landing.

The room where the kids slept.  Also upstairs.

There was one more bedroom upstairs, but I guess I didn't get a picture of it.

Michael slept on the top bunk, Carina on the bottom, and Rian got the pack n play.

They did well..though, each of them for various reasons..

(Rian screaming night #1,

Carina fell down the stairs in the middle of a night,

Michael threw up in the middle of a night)

..got to kick Daddy out of bed and spend one night with me.

Basement..

complete with makeshift ping-pong table.

Kitchen..

had everything necessary

(except a muffin tin)

Love the sink!

Living room/dining areas

We brought a bunch of toys with us..

so that is the clearest we saw the floor all week.

Downstairs master bedroom, the 2 older kids took their rests

in here and we used the bathroom off of this bedroom for the kids baths.

Saturday after we arrived and did a load of laundry

(to clean Rena's vomit-laden carseat)

we ventured out to get the few things we needed at the grocery store..

and explore a little bit.

We ended up getting some pizza and bringing it back for dinner.

Why take a picture of the pizza?

It was nearly $2k for that pizza!!!

(yes, I exaggerate a LITTLE)

It was pretty outrageous though.

The deck out back..

Dead, dried horseshoe crab.

More view of the backyard.

After dinner, it was bathtime.

Checking out the tub..

Thus began our time in Martha's Vineyard.

More to come.