I Like Thursday: Kayaking, My Clan and a Claw

Ooh - a mid-month I Like post!  I finally got around to hitting the highlights of my trip to Cape Cod the last week in July.

It was a great time and the weather mostly behaved.  I brought my kayak and got out a couple of mornings.  Sunday morning was so calm and still - would you believe this photo was taken out in Cape Cod Bay?  It was quiet, too:  I could hear the water lapping on the shore.  The water was clear enough, too, to see my shadow on the sand below.

The prior morning had been good kayaking weather, too.  I was so excited to make it to the edge of the Wellfleet bird sanctuary that I lost track of the tide.  I returned to Campground beach well after the first flats had surfaced.  I had to fold up my kayak and hoof it back to the shoreline (where those houses are).

Worth it!

Mom and I made the trip to attend Family Weekend.  The reunion is held in the family's old stomping grounds.  Turns out the daughter of my mother's childhood friend was also in the area the day we arrived.  We met down at the beach to catch up and enjoy the sunset.  Excellent timing!  We had a lovely time catching up with her.

The family events officially kicked off on Saturday evening with a cookout at the beach.  We gathered everyone at Nauset Light to get a family photo.  We're quite a crowd!  Then we head to the beach to 

Years ago Saturday's event was a lobster dinner, adults only.  You needed a lot of lobster to feed a dozen or so people.
  

I remember when they'd cook the lobster at home, but that was a lot of work for a celebration.  Easier to order cooked ones from the Lobster Pot.  One year they sent us one big lobster instead of a bunch of small ones.  My mother dug up an old photo of me and my little sister and the beast - we recall it as being a 30 lb lobster. 

The lobster dinners ended as the family grew, but the aunts and some of the older cousins recall one or two other really big lobsters.  At some point a bleached claw came home with us to Minnesota to show our friends.  My mother still had it after her recent move (although it lost a piece).  She brought it down to show the cousins and it ended up coming home with me.  Look at the size of it!

It was great to see everyone, catch up with the cousins and aunts and watch the antics of the little kids.  Whee!

Linking up with Not Afraid of Color's I Like Thursday.