Day 270, Year 10: Busy Day for the Birthday ‘Boy’
Date: Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Hot with Temp in the mid-80’s F, SW Wind 10-15
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
It was a busy day for the birthday ‘boy’—Happy Birthday, Mark. What started out to be a quiet morning at home with Sam, Jonah, and Ollie quickly changed when I mentioned to them that it was low tide at one of their favorite beaches. They immediately wanted to go, and so we did. This beach is part of the Cape Cod Natural History Museum and they run a program called Mudflat Mania on low-tide days. Today we didn’t join the Museum program as Jonah and Sam created their own ‘mania’. Instead of looking for critters, they ran in the shallow water and found deeper holes to jump into and swim about. I kept reminding them that they hadn’t found one moon snail trail, but they didn’t care. They were just having too much fun messing about in the water. Ollie and I joined them and then Ollie decided that he preferred trying to catch tiny, tiny little fish in the puddles on the mudflat. The hour+ drive back to Woods Hole gave the big boys a chance to eat lunch and rest and it gave Ollie a chance to take an early nap. We dropped Sam off for his 1:45 pm class at the Children’s School of Science and then we headed into town to pick up our admission bracelets for a 3 pm magic show at the public library. Ollie and Jonah loved the show, but Mark and I were very disappointed in way the magician plugged his business. He told the kids that there were magic cards on the table that they could have for free. He explained that that they were magic because if they took the card home and placed in the hand of one of their parents, he (the magician) would magically appear at their birthday party. The ‘magic’ card was simply his business card. In my mind, this was nothing but bad business. I’ve taken the boys to many Falmouth Library events and have never witnessed this kind of unscrupulous behavior. Too bad because I think the little ones enjoyed the show.
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| 150707 Day 270 Cape Cod, USA–From Mudflats to Magic Show |
After the show, Mark left for a physical therapy appointment and Jonah, Ollie, and I went into the Children’s Room at the library to check out some magic books. We then walked to a candy store that sells ice cream and indulged in an ice cream cone on a hot afternoon before going to the playground across from the Library. We played they while waiting to meet up with Heather, Jed, Sam, and Mark. Heather and Sam biked into Falmouth from Woods Hole after Sam’s class. This was the first time Sam has ever ridden all the way into town. Way to go, Sam!
We all converged on the Indian restaurant on Main Street and had a fabulous birthday dinner in Mark’s honor. Going out to dinner with three little boys has not always been the most wonderful of experiences, but tonight they were delightful and we all really enjoyed the food. So thank you, Heather and Jed. And when we got home, we had another delightful surprise. Our Australian sailing friends, Geoff and Chris of Shambala, had just arrived in Quissett Harbor. They did an overnight from Staten Island. We visited briefly and will visit again in the morning and then tomorrow night over dinner on Windbird.
Thank you to everyone who sent email, snail mail, and Facebook birthday greetings to Mark. In addition to hearing from so many friends, he received wonderful gifts from both of his children, spent his day having fun with grandchildren, and spent his evening having a wonderful dinner with family and then visiting with friends. It is hard to hope all of that, but when he got back to Windbird he had a piece of the absolutely fabulous pirate cheese cake that Heather made for him. Life is good.
Note: Last night I made a reference to our dinghy motor indicating that it is a diesel motor. Not so, and not sure what I was thinking when I wrote that. More than likely, I was not thinking!
