Cape Cod: Friday, Saturday, Sunday

*** I had a hard time deciding if I should write the amount people would want to read or the amount I wanted to remember. I decided to write a lot. Please feel free to skim and look at pictures! ***

*** Reading is not required, glancing at pictures is acceptable.***

*** Natalie: I don't have a ton of pictures. I thought I was really good at taking pictures, but when I got home I realized that I wasn't. Feel free to take whatever you want. ***

Friday:

Friday started at 3:30 am. We made it to the SLC airport to make our 6:00 am flight. The three of us slept fitfully on the flight. We landed in Minneapolis/St. Paul to Joseph's parents and two younger brothers, Mike and Dan, waiting at our gate. We were really happy that they (coming from Colorado) had the same layover and were on the same flight for the second half of journey. Even though the layover was 4 hours it seemed to go by fast for me.

Welcome to St. Paul

Welcome to Minneapolis

We went on to Providence, where we meet up with Joseph's older brother, Alan, his wife, Natalie and their two little kids, Luke and Samantha. And another one of Joseph's younger brothers, Mark.

This was the first time that we got to meet little Samantha. Everybody that has mentioned Sammy has said how smiley and happy she is all the time, well she lived up to her word.

Last time we saw Luke, Davey was only 2 months old so he didn't pay much attention to him; but this time Davey loved to watch Luke all the time. While still in the airport, Davey was watching Luke dance around, then Davey started clapping at him. Very Funny.

We drove straight to Swansea, MA to get to our hotel. It was a really nice hotel (the Holiday Inn! I stayed in a Holiday Inn in April and they are doing a great job at their hotels). We all went out to eat at Friendlys, an east coast ice cream place.

Saturday:

We got an early start on Saturday. First a nice hot continental breakfast at the hotel. In the parking lot Joseph's dad gave us directions on how to get onto Cape Cod. Then everybody just stood there. Joseph asked if we should go or wait? We waited a little and still nobody else moved, so I told Joe to just go. And off we went. After that experience we decided to call our car the "go car" and anytime we went anywhere on Cape Cod we tried to be the first car to leave and the first car to get somewhere.

We all met in Harwich, Cape Cod, Mass. at Joseph's grandparent's house. (We couldn't check into the house we were renting until after 3pm.) I got to meet Joseph's grandpa for the first time. (I had already met his grandma and Uncle Rocky just weeks after we got married because they came to Colorado.) After chill'n and eating lunch we changed and headed out to the long-talked-about Long Pond!

When Joseph talks about Cape Cod or about swimming or about his favorite things to do with his family the conversation will always include LONG POND. I was quite anxious to see this pond. When we arrived I was shocked to find a lake instead. Obviously east coasters are confused about ponds and lakes, but regardless, we had a blast at Long Pond. It had a nice little sandy beach and the temperature in the water was great, once you got in and used to it, of course.

Uncle Rocky came and joined us with his brand new baby (3 months), Brady, or as he called him . . . Boy! He was such a good baby. Really easy going. Uncle Rocky is a very attentive and caring father and we enjoyed having the extra baby around.

Then we went to go check into our rented house. It was greater than I could imagine! It was beautiful and big and entirely Cape Cod themed. It had a nice large deck outside, two living areas, an outside shower and 5 rooms upstairs, and two and a half baths. To top it off it was settled on the corner of Lexington and Concord, so cute!

We ordered George's pizza for dinner. Another long-talked-about experience. I only ate the Hawaiian, which wasn't too bad at all! Another night though I tried the pepperoni (which is my husband's family's favorite!) and I'll build my own coffin here and say that I didn't like!


Sunday:

First we went to church at the Brewster branch. We were really lucky that first they have their own building (they used to rent from somewhere else) and second that Brewster isn't more than a 10 minute drive from Harwich. There are only two church buildings on the Cod. It is quiet a sacrifice for some to drive all the way down to Brewster for church.

When we walked in the branch president asked if we were from Utah because we were such a big family. So typical.

After church we stopped first to see one of Joseph's cousins, Chris, he lived real close to church. Then we went to the big family barbecue that was planned for that day. This is where I got to meet Aunt Sue for the first time. Sue and I have talked a lot on Facebook and she frequents my blog, but I'd never met her, so that was fun. I also got to meet Aunt Jean and Uncle John.

The boys played some baseball in the front yard while the girls sat around and talked.

Grandma Chase with Brady

Silly Boys

Alan and Samantha

Tiger Davey coming to attack!

to be continued . . .