Cape Cod Vacation {getting there + where we stayed}

Like I said in my last post, we had been looking forward to our Cape Cod vacation for two whole years. This vacation was a family reunion for the Stephens side of my family (maternal grandpa). Every other year they do a family reunion, and they take place at a different location each reunion. Last one was at Ponderosa Ranch by Zion's, and at the end of that reunion it was announced that the next reunion would be on Cape Cod. 

These family reunions are fabulous- the company is wonderful, and the mix of whole family activities (there were 80 of us this year!) and individual family time is perfect. Nothing too structured- just relaxed and wonderful. 

We flew out of the Salt Lake City airport on Saturday morning with a direct flight to Boston. Traveling with kids is always a little tricky, and this was our first time flying as a whole family-- it was Owen's first flight ever. I was feeling really good going into things, since Dylan is a champ flyer and Owen is such a mellow, happy baby. 

{my boys}

The flight to Boston was long, but I could not have asked for a better experience. Dylan was happy and pleasant 100% of the flight (bless you, iPad), and Owen was a dream. Seriously, Owen fussed for under 5 seconds, total. My child is freakishly good tempered, and I love it. This flight was my first time nursing on an airplane... a little tricky, but entirely doable. I'm just happy that I had Ben to be my lookout to be sure that my nursing cover stayed in place and no one was getting an eyeful. 

We got in to the Boston airport about 30 minutes after my parents, who went to pick up our rental cars for the week. My dad had originally booked a minivan for my family and my parents together, but we realized that there would be no way that a normal sized van would fit 4 adults, 2 children, 4 large suitcases, 1 carry on suitcase, 2 sets of golf clubs, and 1 massive stroller. My dad was so smart and rented another car for our group. Whew!

We stayed in a hotel on Saturday night and then set out on Sunday morning to our final destination. That included first making runs to Costco and Wal-Mart. Our villa on Cape Cod had a kitchen, so we wanted to have food for the week, rather than having to go out for every meal. 

Sidenote:  People go gaga for newborns when you leave Utah. Seriously, I was stopped like a dozen times in Costco because people wanted to see Owen and ask me about him. In Utah, every other person is carting around a newborn and no one cares about yours. Sad truth. 

Once our van was full of food, drinks, and vacation gear, we made the 2 hour trek to the Cape. There was a ton of traffic getting out there, since everyone seemed to be heading to Cape Cod for the 4th of July. 

We finally arrived at our destination- Ocean Edge Resort. Holy cow, this place is absolutely stunning. See?

{The Mansion at Ocean Edge}

When we pulled up, there was a wedding going on on the front lawn, and everything about this place said fancy. In fact, this is what I texted my sister when we pulled up:

Luckily, I quickly realized that while this place is absolutely gorgeous, it was not stuffy at all. All of the family here for the reunion stayed in villas down the hill from the Mansion and were located just a two minute walk from the beach. Heaven! My family and my parents stayed in one villa, and my sister and her family stayed in another one. There were gorgeous hydrangeas all over the Cape, and they were all over our resort as well. 

 {gorge!}

Our villa had three bedrooms. Our sleeping situation was a little different this vacation, since Owen was so little and I didn't want anyone to have their sleep disturbed. My parents were in one bedroom, Ben and Dylan took the second room, and Owen and I shared the third room. While I definitely missed having Ben next to me, he was able to enjoy uninterrupted sleep during the week. 

{My room. Darling, right?}

The other 79 family members who were at the reunion were all in the surrounding villas, and we were able to see each other in passing all the time, as well as during the planned group get togethers- it was wonderful!

The week was absolutely perfect. Really, there's nothing that I would have changed (other than Dylan getting lost for about 10 minutes one evening- talk about getting scared to death!) This vacation was a perfect mix of activity and relaxation- stay tuned for my next post, which will be all about our vacation activities. They were divine, I tell you.