As a new mom, Russell finds herself paying a lot more attention to where you can find activities for kids. Luckily, she says, there's no shortage of those on Martha's Vineyard. A cool thing in Oak Bluffs for kids - ­although my husband is 31 and loves it - is called Flying Horses Carousel. It is one of the oldest carousels in the country. It was built in 1876 at Coney Island, and they brought it in. As the horses go around, there's this little place where you can reach up and pull a ring down. The one on this ride is a brass ring. If you get a brass ring, you get a free ride. Shane has tried to get it his entire life, since he was a toddler. He has never gotten the brass ring.
But Russell says Deary has seen the gingerbread cottages, a 312-cottage collection of 140-year-old homes that sit on the site of a former Methodist campground. The gingerbread houses are in Oak Bluffs. On a certain day in the summer, they have Illumination Night. All those little houses hang lanterns on their porches - there are hundreds of these lanterns as you walk through this little village. There are tons of people, tons of kids, and everyone is taking photos.

Russell was born in Fountain Valley, California, grew up in Mesa, Arizona, and then earned a dance scholarship to a studio in Denver. So she didn't visit Martha's Vineyard until she was a grown-up and already dating Deary, at which point, for the first time ever, she saw a man throw an ax for sport. The agricultural fair is a cool thing. It lasts four days. There are rides, and there are tons of art exhibits, all from the island. It's so old-fashioned. There are horse shows and competitions. There are woodsmen contests, which I had never heard of before - it's ax throwing, sawing through logs, skillet-pan tossing. Plus there are agricultural booths.