"Should we have stayed at home and thought of here?"

The line comes from one of my favorite poems, Elizabeth Bishop’s “Questions of Travel.” It certainly rang true this weekend.

So Tim and I took the kids to the Cape to spend a weekend at a friend’s cottage on the beach. We also celebrated 7th wedding anniversary (tomorrow is the actual day).

The cottage is as cute as it can be, probably no more that 250 sq. ft. with a kitchen/living room, bathroom, and one bedroom. We’d spent time here before we had kids, and, I think, we brought Alex when he was less than a year old. I seem to remember our time here as “restful.”

Well, as you can imagine, the cottage, while quaint, was too small for two rambunctious kids! And it didn’t help that it was rainy and cold. Tim and I really had to work hard on Saturday to keep the kids entertained so that we wouldn’t kill them or each other. This trip was definitely not restful. We went to the beach, the park, walked around two neighborhoods … Whew! In the end, it all paid off because we wore them out! Those little so-and-so’s were asleep by 6:30, which gave Tim and me time to eat and enjoy a quiet dinner and some much-needed couple time.

Alex and Ella had a great time. They loved the adventure of staying in a small house and exploring a new area. But what did I learn from this adventure? Sometimes it’s OK to leave the kids at home!