Dear Nickerson State Park and Cape Cod, We love you.

I always wanted to be one of those young moms who strapped her wee babes to her back and took off for the woods. Alas, my mom-martyrdom only goes so far. And waking up to give mabubbah to a hungry baby in the wee hours with pine needles clinging to my back and sand on my front is not my idea of fun camping. But now, the little monsters are the perfect age. Of course there were moments when they were ruining "nature" with their squabbles and shrieks, but mostly it was a fabulous time.

Matt and I both grew up spending time at the Cape. Matt had a few summers with Rufus on the their private island. I had many summers with my family staying at various cottages and a few enormous houses, courtesy of the cousins and my aunt and uncle. I remember these times fondly. Lots of beach time, plenty of lobster redolent with butter, corn on the cob, enormous candy bars, movies we weren't supposed to watch when the moms went shopping, hubba bubba, sand everywhere and laughing a ton with my sibs and cousins.

We made friends with some dogs. Henry wants a German Shepard now, of course...

We loved Cold Storage Beach for it's quietness and gentle waves. Coast Guard beach was a bit more exciting, with much larger waves.

This cairn's for you Emily..

We can stand up in our tent. It is amazingly large and has lots of windows which is helpful for a person who doesn't like to sleep in a bedroom with the door closed.

Ezra is growing so fast that he outgrew his shorts on our trip. Or maybe I have been negligent and ignoring the fact that his trunks were a size 2. I'll let you decide. I bought these shorts at a used clothing store in Eastham, with ridiculous prices. I haggled for them. I offered her 5 and she was asking for 9. Proud of me mom?

Rock Harbor was a place we always went to on the Cape. At low tide, you can walk for ages and collect buckets of hermit crabs. Endless fun for the kids.

We ate out once but mostly cooked our own food. Our last meal was an amazing one, with grilled mussels, corn on the cob, hot dogs and baked beans. We finished it off with s'mores.

We concluded that we are gonna do this every ear. Nickerson Park is amazing. The sites are beautiful and the park is dotted with Kettle ponds, freshwater ponds created eons ago by the glaciers and dependent entirely upon rainfall for their water. The ponds are sandy and the water is clear and the perfect temp. The rail trail goes right through the park and every site has close access to showers, sinks for dishes, bathrooms and spigots for drinking water. Nickerson is located in Brewster, which is right in the middle of the Cape, so you can easily get to any beach and Ptown without much time in the car.

Next year we would love to have friends and family join us. We could easily get a string of sites together and have a blast....