Cape Cod Vacation

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Our vacation to Cape Cod turned out to be quite an adventure. Emily got the swine flu Thursday (my last day of school) and Erin had it by Friday night. Because my parents had been exposed to it and due to my dad's fragile health, they could not come with us. We were disappointed beyond belief. This vacation was to be my parents' 40th anniversary gift (it's actually on August 9). They were put on Tamiflu and fortunately escaped illness. Dave and I both got hit with symptoms but not as bad as the girls.

We were finally able to leave on Monday (our rental started on Sunday). Aunt Sharon was very patient waiting to leave. Our house was right on the bay beach so we were able to enjoy the water without taking the girls anywhere since their fevers hadn't broken. Tuesday morning the girls asked if they could just get their feet wet. That turned out to be immersion in full clothing. Very fun! We spent a lot of time on the beach, swimming and exploring. We found lots of crabs. The water was cold but the girls didn't care. Dave and I learned not to care either. :)

The fevers were finally gone on Wednesday which gave us more freedom. We went to the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History on our only rainy day. They had many creatures indigenous to the Cape Cod area which were very cool. On Friday, the girls went on a Pirate Adventure in Provincetown Harbor. Evermore Emily and Evening Star Erin, along with the rest of the "crew," helped Notorious Nikki find Pirate Pete's treasure. The crew even hit Pirate Pete with water cannons. The first treasure they found was a trick~Pete's dirty laundry. The second treasure had lots of goodies (think Oriental Trading) and Pete's grog (root beer). The crew got to taste Pete's grog. Erin wouldn't even try it but Emily loved it. They had their picture taken with Captain LuLu at the end of the voyage. The girls had a great time. The "real" crew does a fabulous job with it. The kids got to help raise the pirate flag, read the map, and haul in the treasure.

We went whale watching on Saturday (4th of July morning). What a fantastic trip! We saw four humpback whales, all young ones. The second one we saw came right up by the boat. Our guide said the mother was nearby but we never saw her. When we went about 25 years ago with our good friends, the Kurtz's, a mom and her calf came right up to the boat. Very cool! The last whale we saw on this trip was quite a show-off, breaching (jumping into the air) about 20 times. Our guide said you only see a whale breach about one out of fifty trips. We saw one two years ago too~we're liking our odds! Our guide also said whales usually only breach once or twice because of the energy it expends. We were sooo lucky to see this whale. It was so exciting to watch him. It was an amazing experience! The girls loved seeing the whales and going on the boat ride. I've included some video below. If you are patient, the footage is breathtaking!

We ended our vacation watching 4th of July fireworks over Provincetown Harbor from our deck. Very cool!

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