Bay Breeze: The Final Chapter

Well, it's a new month now and I'd better finish off this vacation saga. Again, kicking myself for not doing it while it happened. Better late than never though, right?

So the last two days we were at the house, we rented two kayaks. Our house was soundside with its own pier and the kayaks were delivered to our door for no extra charge so it worked out really well. Actually it was Judith's idea and Ryan's credit card so I can't take much credit. But we all had a blast over those two days. The first day the water was so choppy and it was really hard to paddle. James took Quinn out for a ride...Next it was Keely's turn...the kids wore their life jackets but the water turned out to be about 3' all the way across the sound. The man who delivered them said, "If you fall out of the kayak, just stand up!" :)
That night, Tom took Judith in one and James and I were in the other so we could go to the island in the middle and explore a bit. The kids stayed on the dock with Aunt Lois and Uncle Ryan and they had fun dancing and messing around...
Lois took this picture and I love how it came out. Ryan was reading something to Quinn and he was just chillin' in the adirondack chair watching the sunset...
James and I on the way back from the island...I really did paddle but Lois caught me on a break :)
Now the second day, the water was much calmer. In the morning, James and Tom began shuttling everyone out to the island. Even Grandpa was out there for a bit!
The kiddos posing for a picture...and proof that Grandpa was out there with us :)
We hiked around the island and explored, finding a lot of seashells and crabs. The kids had a blast and we adults had fun too. I love this picture of all of us on the shore down a bit from where we docked the kayaks.
And then this picture too, we all ventured up into the sandy area above the shore. This island was really small but perfect for walking around and exploring!
So great idea, Judith and thanks to Ryan for making it happen. We all enjoyed the time with the kayaks and the time spent exploring the island. It was a nice change of pace from the beach/pool options we had settled into throughout the week.

And that's it, our time at the beach in four installments. Again, I will say that I miss the Atlantic and I easily could have spent another week there. The family time was incredible and no one even got on each other's nerves. The house was just so perfectly suited for our group (thanks again to Grandma and Grandpa!) and we really couldn't have planned it any better. I worried that this vacation would not live up to my high expectations but I needn't have worried because it was perfect in every way. The time did not go too quickly, the weather was great, we did everything we wanted to and more, but we were ready to come home after 14 days away. Can't ask for anything more!