Cape May

One week ago we left DC to begin our journey north, via Cape May. Our first foray to the Jersey Shore. Actually, it was my second, as apparently I went there with my parents when I was too young to remember. After a lengthy but beautiful drive culminating in a ferry ride across the Delaware Bay, we reunited with Peter and met up with Uncle Andrew, Aunt Karen, and cousin Sadie. It was great to see everyone and be together as a family, but the highlight was without a doubt spending time with "Adie," as Josie calls her. Bright, talkative, flexible, engaging, congenial Sadie. There may be conflict among the cousins ahead, but for the moment they expressed nothing but interest and amusement in one another. I am the youngest of my cousins by far, so perhaps that is why I never experienced conflict with them. I was in awe of them. But I suspect there is something in the cousin degree of separation that allows for instant satisfaction and affection. The key is to make sure they spend enough time with one another so that the bond is genuine and enduring.

We spent the weekend making the most of what Cape May has to offer (beaches, victorian houses, excellent sea food, fire works, and lots of people), celebrating Andrew's not-yet-fortieth birthday, and hanging out at the campground pool. This afternoon as we pulled in to our driveway after an amazing morning at a pristine lake beach about an hour north, Jasper said, "I want to go back to the three cabins by the pool. I could put my face in that pool." By four year old standards, the weekend was a 10.