Tales from the Beach

We are home (I am sad to say) and we had a very lovely week at the beach. I have been blessed with three beach bums as children so this is incredibly helpful for hours on the beach. Coming home is painful to say the least but unfortunately part of the story.

We started off vacation with a very cranky baby. We were a little unsure what was causing the crankiness. Due to poor planning on my part he had two vaccines on Friday. He is also close to cutting a tooth. Whatever was causing the uprising he started our vacation with a runny nose, pulling at his ear and NOT sleeping. It wasn't until Thursday that we realized he probably caught a cold or virus at his pediatrician appointment. He ended up with a full body rash. I felt awful that the poor guy couldn't fully enjoy his vacation.

The girls, on the other hand, packed about a month of fun into their week of vacation. Rides, arcades, snacks, shopping, beach, swimming... you name it, they did it. They enjoyed every second of it. Grace always struggles a little with the change to schedule so she had her trying moments but we navigated them alright.

Abby, however, was the princess of the beach.

For me... I had the first vacation in a long time where I found myself sitting still for longer than 10 minutes at a time. Don't get me wrong. I had many moments where I wanted to scream from all the insanity but all in all I had a chance to relax, have fun, enjoy my kids and spend time with my family.

If only it didn't have to end.

 

Mid Summer Status

We are about at the halfway point in our summer and so far we have managed to fit in so much more fun than we did last year. This time last year we were struggling to find our way with a third child and how to juggle things like the pool and the library with a newborn. A year later we have found our footing and can do so much more. Not that it's always pretty but we do our best.

Our accomplishments thus far:

Two trips to the beach 

 

Playing in the rain (since we've had a ton in NJ this summer)

 Miniature golf with the Grandparents

 

 

 Fishin'

 

 

 

The Big Time Rush Concert

Story Time at the Library 

Jedi Academy 

Abrakadoodle 

Fireworks 

Plenty of time at the pool 

Three days at the discovery museum

A trip to the new giant playground in town 

Progress on our backyard playground

The Phillies Game 

A fun family wedding

 

What I truly think we have been lacking is down time. As much as I have fun stuff planned for the rest of the summer I think it's equally important for kids to get enough undirected play time too. It's a juggling act but one worth attempting. Here's to a great end of the summer. 

Another day at the beach

Last weekend we took another night trip to the boardwalk. It's summer in NJ so what else would we do?!?

The girls are so excited that this year they can FINALLY go on some of the big kids rides! 

Although they will be going on most of them without me! 

Down the shore

That's what we call it here. We don't "go to the beach" in NJ... we "go down the shore". After a fairly lousy birthday (mine) we decided that we needed to hit the reset button so the next day we went down the shore. 

The kids were super excited since it's the first time we've gone this year. 

We went to Ocean City which is where we pretty much always end up. We were gonna get pizza on the boardwalk but a restaurant with ocean views ended up calling our names!

The kids were good, the weather was gorgeous, it wasn't super crowded... a much better way to spend the day. 

The girls did a few rides after dinner. 

We ended the night on the carousel so Jack could ride. This was his official first ride (if you don't count sitting on the bench on the carousel). 

It was a good night.