Rhode Island

Oh my goodness, have we been having fun in Rhode Island.  In a fit of panic over where we would be for the 4th of July, I made a slew of reservations (oddly, not covering the 4th of July, but up through the weekend right BEFORE the 4th....that won't possibly come back to bite me), including the one at Fishermen's Memorial State Park in Rhode Island.  Right outside of Narragansett, we're pretty close to the ocean.  Beach time!!!!  

Bill and four of the five hit the beach while I caught up on checking their work in their workbooks and G did a little math.  NB got buried in the sand as a merman.   Parking at the state beaches is what costs, and since they were only going for a few hours, they decided to walk.                  

They got out far enough to really jump some waves.  This is further out than they ever got at Padre Island or Cape Hatteras.  They all put on sunscreen, but K still ended up with a sunburn.  I don't know if she's simply more sensitive than the boys, but it seems like she always gets a burn.  Blech.  This particular day I read a second article about dry drowning, too, so I was a bit panicky about them when they got home.  Too many weird things that can go on in this world.  I also read about a little girl who's Lyme disease went undiagnosed initially because it presented abnormally.  Lot of weird stuff.            

We also spent a day in Newport checking out the mansions.  We did the Cliff Walk, which was really cool.  My back was in truly bad shape, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have, but it was amazingly beautiful.  Some of the mansions are privately owned, some are held by the Preservation Society, so some are open for tours.  We simply gawked from a distance.                

The mansions are seriously close to the water (well, ok, the ones you can see from the Cliff Walk are, there are other mansions NOT oceanfront), and the views are amazing.  But the fact that you can get those views from the Cliff Walk make NOT having a mansion ok, too.                  

We also drove out to Fort Adams and from there did the Ocean Drive.  Very picturesque.  While it was not a day at the beach (which we were reminded of frequently), it was a nice way to spend the day.  Four nights in a place sounds like a decent amount of time, but with chores and such, we only got two days of exploring.  We're spending more time in Massachusetts, so I'm hoping that the kids get a couple days at the beach and we get a couple days to explore.