The next few months seemed to be flying by ans by the time any of us knew it was summer vacation. If you knew me a year who I wouldn't of thought twice of taking any sort of "vacation", but now since I have a family to spend it with I decided to enjoy it as much as possible. Grace and I got whiter work that wasn't needed to be done after the girls went to bed.
Another thing we decided wad was to get both Annie and Molly into school in the fall. After hearing Annie's stories about living in the orphanage it appeared that they got little or no schooling. Grace and I decided to Errol, them into school the following fall and have them tutored over the summer. Annie was as always excited about starting school and learning new things. Molly on the other hand was a bit nervous and she was always the shy one but she'd ge5 the hang of going to school quickly. They were both doing so well with their tutoring but we noticed that Molly was having a bit of a hard time with learning the letters and reading but we thought nothing to it since she wasn't only entering the first grade.
one night at the end of June grace and I were finishing up some work before heading off to bed grace started staring of fun into space.
"Grace? What's wrong?"
"is this the right choice for then Oliver?"
at first I wasn't sure wha she was getting st then I figured she was thinking of the girls and school. I got up to give my wife a hug.
"Grace you have absolutely nothing to worry about this school is the best one for annie and Molly and their teachers understand their situation. This is why we chose this school for them and it's only June we have s full two months ahead of us and the girls are doing fine with their tutoring."
at that grace kissed my ear, something she loves to do and I don't mind one bit.
"You're right Oliver they will be fine I love you more than you know."
"and same with you snd the girls. How about a family vacation at the end of August?"
grace loved the ide of a vacation and it'd be annie and Molly's first. We thought it would be a great idea to go to cape cod MA for a week at the end of August. We couldn't wait to tell Annie and Molly the wonderful news. We knew they'd both be thrilled at the idea. The rest of th summer was pretty uneventful but we did enjoy a nice 4th of July picnic and fireworks, in which Annie and Molly loved.
The first week in August we decided to tell the girls the exciting news at dinner that night. When Grace and Molly cane downstairs that night Molly's face was red and it looked as if she was wanting to upset her I decided to talk to grace after dinner and meanwhile I was sure she'd be cheered up right away at the idea of a beach trip. Just as we were about to eat I got up and made my announcement.
"Hey girls do you remember how you were saying you have always wanted to go to the beach?"
Annie and Molly both looked at me wide eyed waiting fo me to go on.
"Well mommy and I hav decided that we would go on a family trip to the beach for a week at the end of August! What do you say to that!"
Annie immediately jumped out to her chair and hugged and kissed grace and I.
"Leapin lizards! I've always wanted o go to the beach! I've read about it and seen many pictures of them but now we can go to a real one!"
Molly ran up and hugged me and jumped into my lap.
"Yeah daddy thank you! I went to the beach with my other mommy and daddy when I was a baby but I don't remember it much. Wow a real beach! I can't wait!"
I chuckled at both my daughters excitement. Molly and Annie then went to their places and ate while they talked about all the fun things they'll do at the beach and all the cool things they could find. Seeing that Molly got over whatever she was upset about I decided to wait till later to talk to Grace about it. When the girls cleared up snd went outside for a bit to play before dark I decided that this was the right time to ask grace hat moly was upset about.
"Oh grace I noticed that Molly looked like she was crying when she came downstairs to dinner? What was that all about!"
"Oh Oliver my poor baby was upset because she couldn't learn her letters fast enough and had a hard time with reading and she thought she was dumb and didn't want to b made fun of. Oh my poor baby it broke my heart."
After hearing this my heart just about broke too. I hated to hear that my little baby girl thought she was dumb or not smart. I have grace a reassuring squeeze.
"Oh the poor thing. She is such a bright little girl we will help her with her reading if she needs it. I'll talk to her later ok?"
Grace planted a soft kiss on my lips and got up to get the girls ready for their bath.
"I love you Oliver Warbucks. More than you know."
Later that night after I ticked Annie into bed I went to talk to Molly. I found her in her room just getting under the covers. She smiled when she saw me.
"Hi daddy!"
"Hi princess mommy told me you were a little bit upset tonight because you couldn't get some of your letters right."
At that Molly's eyes filled with tears snd they started rolling down her cheeks. I immediately went over to her and placed her in my arms.
"I'm sorry I'm dumb daddy I'll try to read better I promise."
I hated seeing Molly this upset just as much as grace did earlier.
"Molly Jane there is nothing to b sorry about it's ok to struggle with reading you will get th hang of it you're a very bright smart little girl you'll get the hang of it soon enough! We will be here to help you along with your teacher alright? And if anybody teases you just tell your teacher or tell them to sop. Mommy Annie and I love you very much."
"Ok daddy I love you."
At that Molly started to fall asleep I gently tucked her into bed and left the door slightly open. Grace and I got some more work done, then headed to bed ourselves.
The next few weeks were very busy with getting the girls ready for school and planning the was of course over the moon excited to make new friends and learn new things. Molly on the other hand was a bit nervous about starting school. We knew she was always a little shy but we hop d she'd get over that once school started. The Saturday before we left for vacation grace decided to make a day out of school shopping and try to get Molly ess nervous about school.
When the girls came home that night Annie was so excited to show me her school supplies and new cloths.
"Daddy! Look at all the neat school supplies I got! And so many new clothes!"
Molly then ran up to m looking far from nervous and jumped into my arms.
"Daddy I got some new pretty dresses and new school stuff too! Now I'm excited to learn and make new friends!"
"That's my princess I'm glad you're not nervous anymore. Hey we have a vacation to get ready for so let's start packing!"
I put Molly down and both Annie and Molly went upstairs to put away their new things and get packing started. I heard grace give a sigh of relief. I went up to her and gave her a hug.
"I'm glad Molly is over being nervous."
"Me too let's just hope this lasts until th first day. But now let's just focus on our vacation ahead of us shall we?"
I nodded and we both went up to our room to start packing. We were both up pretty late getting everything together snd into the car since it'll be an early start for the trip tomorrow. We got a lot of packing don last eke but we did the last of it tonight. We all headed to bed early since we'd have to b up at 530 the next day to be on the road at 6am.
We all slept great, even Molly who usually wakes from a nightmare at least once a night. By the time we knew it we were both up at 5am to get everything into the car and get a quick breakfast for the girls. Grace went to wake the girls p while I got the car out front and br akfast ready. Annie not even r alizing how early it was came bounding down the stairs with as much energy if it was noon instead of 530am.
"Daddy I can't wait to get to the beach!"
I had to place my hand gently on her shoulder to calm her down s hit.
"I know darling I am too but we still have quite the drive. Why don't you get breakfast."
Annie ran into the dining room to get stated on eating. Grace came down shortly after with a sleeping Molly in her arms.
"She looked so tired I couldn't bear the thought of waking her."
I kissed my wife and sleeping daughter.
"That's fine she can sleep on the way snd have breakfast on the car."
By 6 we were all packed into the car (even sandy) and headed for our trip to the cape. It was an 8 hour drive to Falmouth MA it was both Grace and i's first time being in that area so we were both looking forward to our vacation as much as the girls were. By 10am Molly was up and both girls were chattering in t h back about how exited they both were and all the fun things they'd do once they got there. Since it was nearly dinner by the time we arrived we decided to hold the beach for tomorrow and make a full day of it. The girls loved the house and there was a pool out back so they could have the option of going to the beach or pool. We let the girls run around s bit to burn off energy while we got the house set up. We then went out to eat at s seafood restraint. Both girls thought eating fish sounded yucky but Grace and I encouraged them to try.
"Hey it might not taste as gross as it sounds. I think you should both try som thing new."
Annie and Molly got shrimp platters which they enjoyed greatly. After dinner we took a little walk around the beach. By the time we got to the house Annie was so tired she could barley walk and Molly had to be carried up to the house. We put the girls to bed then went to bed ourselves. I kissed grace goodnight and before turning in for the night I said,
"I'm glad we could give Annie and Molly a real and first vacation."
"Me too I love you Oliver thank you for taking us here."
With that we both fell into a peaceful sleep.
It was barley dawn when I felt a very excited jump on the bed and a very very excited 6 year old saying
"Mama Daddy wake up! It'd a beach day!"
Grace then gently told her that it was still very early and we would get to the beach after breakfast and spend the whole day there . Molly soon fell back to sleep snuggle in between us then we all woke up again at930. Annie then burst into the room with all the excitement she could have .
"Wake up you sleepyheads! It's a beach day!" Grace gently woke up molly and we all got out of bed. I went over and gave Annie a hug.
"Yes it is a beach day darling but we need to eat breakfast first don't we?"
Annie and Molly then raced down the stairs to get breakfast. After we ate, got everyone into swimsuits n and got beach bags ready we headed out for s full day of the beach. The girls had so much fun dimming in the ocean and looking for shells, sea glass and hermit crabs. By noon grace had to pry them out of the water for lunch. I was so glad my family could enjoy a vacation together and Annie and Molly could have their first experience at a beach with s real family. I couldn't wait for more memories like these to come and hopefully with more little ones in the future.
The rest of the day was spent building sand castles, playing catch with sandy, more swimming in the ocean and grace and I even joined in on the fun. That night we went to another seafood place and Annie declared that seafood was her new favorite type of food now. We spent all of the rest of the week enjoying the beach, pool and some sightseeing and shopping. Both girls and grace and I had a wonderful family vacation and were all disappointed when it was time to head back to the mansion the following Saturday. But the next big thing was school for the girls and I looked forward to what this new year will bring for all of us. This would be a family vacation to remember for years to come.