Labor Day Fun

I can't believe I haven't written about the lovely (and very last minute) vacation I took with my sister and her two little kiddies. I had been jonesing to get out of the city for weeks and wanted to get on the beach for Labor Day. My ill-fated attempt to do a house swap came up short.

If you can believe it, I called a rental cottage that I found online in Watch Hill, Rhode Island on Friday morning before the weekend and they had a vacancy! I even managed to talk the woman down in price. I happen to be fact checking an article about vacation rentals and all of the questions you're supposed to ask and how to prepare in advance. I did none of that. I just asked when we should show up. And it worked out perfectly (thank God). Kat was an incredible trooper agreeing to hop in the car at a moment's notice. We piled the trunk with the requisite high chairs and blankets and diapers, cranked the Deb Talon and we were off!

The cottage was simple and suited us perfectly. The one glitch was the terribly soft bed, but after wine and unisom Kat and I slept like babies. There was an adorable antique carousel down the road from the cottage that Gracie got to ride each day and we all had our share of the local homemade ice cream. The ocean was super refreshing and Charlie kept us on our toes chasing seagulls and making a bee-line for the surf. A seagull pooped on me and I thought it was sunscreen at first and then ran into he ocean to wash it off--no biggie! And we walked to the Watch Hill lighthouse with stellar views and friendly locals. What a way to end the summer -- small town bliss!