Ima 2 Eight

UPDATE:   WE HAVE A WINNER!

Congratulations to Rachel Wilgoren on winning our Summer House Natural Soaps Gift Pack! I will contact you directly to get you your prize, and to facilitate you selecting the scents of your choice. Thank you to all those that entered… I hope you are savoring your summers and your magical places while we still can.

This is what she won.

Please say a little prayer for my parents and everyone else in dangerous areas like Cape Cod during the upcoming Hurricane. Thank you. 

While I have blogged for the past two years about our challenges when going on our summer beach vacations, I have truly failed at conveying the special unique relationship we have with Barnstable, Cape Cod in general, and Millway beach in particular.

Millway Beach, Barnstable, Cape Cod

Since my parents live on this beach and it is a residents-only beach, it is quiet, almost never crowded. My children have a true sense of ownership there, but at the same time, I believe it is objectively a magical place. I think my mother chose the house so that she could not only enjoy this magical find with her grandchildren, but essentially “gift” it to them, forging a bond that I believe will last forever, between the children and this spot in the world .

I cannot say precisely what makes Millway Beach, and Barnstable Bay so special. The beach is shallow for miles. It is quiet. There are small children, but the lack of waves and parking spaces means almost no teenagers or tourists. The view is of sea grass and boats, Sandy Neck and its beautiful lighthouse. I have never, in almost a decade, had to listen to someone else’s music blaring out of a sound system there. There is a never-ending discovery of nature, and a view that is simultaneously unassuming and transformative.

A neighbor's garden on Locust Lane in Barnstable

The people there value history and things that are old. And nature. Lots and lots of nature. Terns and hawks, swans and seals. We see it all, and it is treated with honor and respect by the residents who pay homage with stunning gardens, one after another.

3 out of the 7, not even bothering with bathing suits this time.

No doubt my children’s sense of ownership adds to the magic. There is a large rock visible only at low tide that was dubbed “Moore Island” many years ago, and the name has stuck. How can you not remain in love with a place where you have your own island? 

So what does this have to do with a Soap Giveaway?

It turns out that we aren’t the only ones in the world who know about our magical place. While in Barnstable this year I discovered – and fell in love with – Summer House Natural Soaps. I had to buy a whole bunch, since they are just the best gifts. They are little rectangular pieces of my “magic place” to take home. They look and feel as natural as my beach vacation, and come in the all of the beautiful scents that remind me of Barntable Bay and Millway beach.

Green Tea Soap

So it made sense when I found out that Ann Miller, co-founder of Summer House Natural Soaps isn’t from just anywhere on the Cape. She is a Barnstable resident,  lives near “our” beach, and strolls there often.  Her wonderful blog at the company’s website brings me back to the beauty and pace of the Cape time and again. I can tell she is actually packaging a bit of the magic I feel in this distinct part of the Cape, and putting in the soap.

I was therefore thrilled when she agreed to have a Giveaway here at ima2seven. Summer House Natural Soaps will send our winner a gift pack elegantly wrapped with three bars of their all natural, hand made soaps with the 3 scents of your choice.

This is what you can win.

In order to enter, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post, describing your “magical place” or that of your kids. (If you haven’t discovered it yet, you can leave that comment too; it counts.) Follow us on twitter or facebook and post this giveaway on either (and tell me in your comment that you have) for more entries.

The winner will be announced on Thursday, August 25th.  Take the time to visit her site. Leave a comment on her blog, or even better, buy some wonderful all-natural soap, and tell Ann that Ima2seven sent you.