Saturday, May 5, 2007

Discovering our roots in Plymouth

Not really!

So you'd think being in one of the earliest settled areas of our country, we would be exploring our historical roots. But to be honest that just hasn't made it on our agenda yet (side note: do you know that Plymouth rock is only a smidge larger than a laptop and has been moved several times breaking into smaller pieces along the way?! I mean, who wants to take their preschooler and toddler to see that when the beach is so close?!).

Anyway, Matt had a camping conference/meeting last week in Plymouth. Since Plymouth is right in the ocean and Matt's meeting was only in the morning, the whole clan piled into the van for the 4 hour drive.

While Matt was learning and networking, the kids and I explored the Girl Scout camp where the meeting was being held. We hiked around for an hour (that is a long time for a 3-year-old) and Abigail even had her first poop in the woods. I told you this girl was going to be tough by the end of the summer!

During our drive to Plymouth, the weather was rainy and pretty nasty. But soon after we started hiking, the rain turned to a soft mist and the sun began to filter through the clouds. There were lots of evergreens in the woods and the other trees and rocks in the area had this beautiful, inviting seafoam and mint green lichen and moss growing on them. It was thicker and fuller than the lichen here in western Mass. I am guessing that the moist ocean air makes the difference. I felt like we were walking through the green section of the crayon box. It was lovely!

After lunch, we all made our way to the beach for a lively afternoon of exploring, splashing, digging, seashell collecting, rock scrambling, bird spotting, and playing. We all really had a great time. It was the first time we have really had a chance to relax and play without time restrictions since we arrived. What a blessing!

We finished off the day by stuffing ourselves at a great beach side restaurant and had a quiet (i.e. sleeping kids) mountain view filled ride home. The beach, relaxation, and play were a much needed reprieve in the midst of many hectic days.