When the summer was just beginning:

That's when my family went on vacation.  Meaning, about two months ago, and it seems like many more months ago than that right now because first grade starts in three days.  This afternoon, Marley and I finished up her back-to-school shopping.  Standing beside deep blue and gray and green waves in Cape Cod at the end of June was more fun.  And here are some non-sequential, random memories of Truro, because now the summer is ending and I cannot put off this recollection any longer for the sake of something more composed.  

 1.  All of Rudy's Lambies came to Truro, but Hat consistently received preferential treatment.  And please note that Rudy still succeeds at Beach Life because she knows to lie down and get in moments of quiet time in between the digging and the screaming and the running and the shell-and-stone-searching and the snacking and the jumping over waves.

2.  Speaking of jumping, here's Marley getting plenty of height over some piddly, more sloshing than crashing, surf.

3.  When the weather just wasn't summery enough for swimming, Todd invented Ball Trail, which kept Marley and a few of her cousins amused for mere minutes at a time.  In the end, the kids were amused, and Todd felt productive, but I was really the biggest Ball Trail fan, evidenced by my pointless repeated attempts to repair the trails after Jackson and others, because they're kids who were having fun,  repeatedly ran up and through the course. 

4.  Rudy brought all of her Lalaloopsies to Truro, and one late morning in the house that was, I am not making this up, basically an architect's love letter to the hexagon, I found Toot in her room playing with Emma and Riley.  I'm not sure what the premise of the Lalaloopy adventure was here; I just know that I thought it was so cute of these two big girls to get down on the floor and play with their little friend. 

5.  And this year, all the kids went boogie boarding.  At least on the bayside beaches.  Riley was the only cousin who ventured into the bigger waves, and not coincidentally, the only cousin who can actually swim.  And you already know what happens to an overconfident adult (who can swim) on the ocean-side beaches: prescription sunglasses swept away as a reminder that any sort of "I've got this" confidence is over the top.  Better to be a combination of Emma-cautious and Rudy-delirious, as displayed above.

6.  When thunderstorms stubbornly remained in the forecast for over a day, Todd and I took the girls to an overcast beach and I pulled out the cover-ups I had bought at Old Navy (of course), eagerly anticipating a casual sister photo shoot.  When Rudy wore the same jaunty coverup after a day at our town's humble and, let's face it, simultaneously sludgy and gritty reservoir beach, Liz told her she looked like a Kennedy.

7.  In this picture, I've caught Rudy mid-conversation with Hat Lamb.  She really, really, really loves all three of those floppy guys.  On her first day of preschool, Rudy needs to bring in a photograph of her doing something that she enjoys.  This shot here is a strong contender.

8.  When the lapping waves hit the shore at low tide and the water is only a foot or two deep even when after walking out for a while, I am a lot more comfortable about Marley hanging out in the ocean.  She and Owen and Emma, all pretty much the same size, by the way, felt like actual surfers riding these little crests.  

9.  And one morning, I followed Danielle's wise example and brought Marley and Rudy to a calm and quiet beach for a breakfast picnic.  Hot coffee on a cool beach in the morning with these little ladies made for one of my happiest memories in Truro this year.  I took a picture of my feet in the sand with the to-go cup, because I felt like that morning, beside the gray-blue Atlantic, I was having my own version of a Corona advertisement.  But this image of Marley and Rudy (and Lambie) mesmerized by the water captures it even better.