MV in Her Own Words

Doggies!

A whole store filled with doggies!


Food!
Dancing!


I had fun!

Martha's Vineyard Firsts

First time on a beach!
The Inkwell
Oak Bluffs, MA

She wasn't too sure what to think at first. Like she tends to do in new situations, she just sat for a bit and took it all in. She wasn't too fond of the sand at first either and wanted me to get it off her feet but she warmed up to it quickly. The next time we went to the beach she happily played with her shovel and bucket, enjoyed collecting rocks and filling a cup with sea water. Next year she will be an old pro!








~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First time on a carousel!
The Flying Horses
Oak Bluffs, MA


Another day we went to The Flying Horses. They are a carousel built in 1876! They have little rings that you can try to grab as you go around. If you grab a brass one it means a free ride. She (well, I was doing the grabbing of course) got the brass ring on her first time on the carousel! I thought that was pretty special. She looooooooved The Flying Horses so much but it was making momma dizzy so I told her we could do it again another day. I feel badly now because we never did get back there to do it again. Maybe the free ticket will be honored next summer? My aunt tried to capture us on the carousel together. And heres' a picture of when she was told it was time to go. Poor thing :( Next year, baby, next year. Mommy promises.

MV

I have been going to Martha's Vineyard since I was a child because my Uncle owned a house in Oak Bluffs. After it got sold I continued to go on a semi-regular basis through my teens and adulthood. It's such a magical place, really. It's quaint and full of history and beautiful. I have seriously considered buying property there over the last few years but with adoption expenses that was not possible (not to mention it's a hike to get there) but I love it so much and as a teacher I have the whole summer free --so why not spend it at a beach house?! I'm just sayin'.

I was disappointed that I wasn't able to make it up there last year so I was beyond excited to get the opportunity to go there this summer. We (me, Almi, and the family) had so-o-o-o much fun. We relaxed and laughed, we went to the beach, we went to a flea market, we had people over for cocktails, we ate lobster rolls and homemade ice cream (well she didn't since she can't eat seafood or dairy), we even all watched a movie together as a family--which seems normal but we never do this so it must be included!

I had some time to read on the sunny back deck and paint some watercolors. Almi got to blow bubbles, go on the Flying Horses and go to The Black Dog. Fun times, I tell you. Fun times.

Let the pictures tell the story:

Martha's Vineyard, Day 1

We started out early. 4:20 am early. My AAA Trip Tik said it would take 7 hrs 45 min. hours to get to Woods Hole where we would catch the ferry and we had a 4:00 pm reservation. I built in an hour for oversleeping, an hour for stops and then some extra time for traffic. It's good I did cause it took us 11 hours to get to the ferry. At the crack of dawn I put my sleeping babe in her car seat and headed to Kinko's to print out the directions (I had no ink at home and I wanted the entire Trip Tik cause it had areas to look out for construction and traffic). We finally got on the road around 5 am. She was awake from placing her in her car seat until a few minutes after we left Kinko's. But shortly thereafter I found her like this:


She slept another three hours until we stopped for breakfast in New Jersey. Overall she is a very good car traveler. She doesn't complain much, enjoys looking out the window and can entertain herself quite well. Here she is with the beach ball. :)

We needed another stop to stretch our legs so we did a little detour in CT to visit Connecticut College. I haven't been there since I graduated! It is such a lovely campus.


We checked out my freshman dorm:

Almi ran around:


and relaxed on a bench:

which apparently tired her out :)


Finally, we got close to our destination. The ride went waaaay better than expected. I didn't even have to break out the DVD player!

I was so happy to finally get on the ferry and relax!

Almi loved the ferry and kept running around the deck. My water-lover also tried to squirm out of my arms to plunge into the water. Needless to say, that would not have been relaxing.

We greeted family and checked out the house.

Then we headed to dinner at Nancy's. We love that place. It's right on the water and has great seafood. That night they also had a live calypso band playing. Almi looks annoyed here but only because she didn't want to stop and take pictures. She wanted to keep on going.

She was in a great mood that night considering she had been strapped in a car seat for all those hours. Here she is enjoying some food:

and checking out a doggie:


and dancing:

and running up and down the sidewalk:




The best part for me by far was seeing her excitement in discovering new things. Here she is seeing a seagull for the first time:


What a great first night! Man, I love this place!