My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

Happy 4th of July!  I hope your holiday was awe-inspiring!

Speaking of cousins, I got to spend time with one of mine this past weekend!  My cousin Sarah came down from Massachusetts with her husband and son (and son-to-be!) on Saturday to go boating with us.  I was so thankful they made the drive, and so happy we got to be with them!  It was wonderful to see their son playing with our kids, just like Sarah and I played together when we were young.  Here’s to the next generation of family!   

One thing that I found out very quickly when I joined Jim’s family was that their vacations are anything but relaxing!  They pack so much into a week at the Jersey shore that I practically need a vacation from my vacation when we return home.  But now that I’ve gone every summer since 2002 (except the one when I was on hospital bed rest with the twins), I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I love every bit of the trip, from the frantic packing of sand toys and towels, to the late night runs for Ocean City coffee and soft pretzels, to the early morning walks to Bashful Banana for banana whips, to the bike riding for Brown’s donuts and afternoon shower to rinse the sand from our burned bodies before we hit the boardwalk for Hula Grill dinners.  And I love watching our children fall in love with the spot as well.  It really is as good as it gets from a kid’s perspective, especially when you throw in mini-golf, a water park, endless arcades, and more family and friends than you can fit in a wide-angle lens! 

Here’s a few of the highlights of our busy activities these year:

A surrey ride to breakfast, powered by none other than Jim and Jon:

The girls got their caricatures drawn as a wonderful surprise gift for me:

The kids flying kites for the first time ever:

Alli and Becky waiting patiently for our Hawaiian Chicken at Hula Grill:

The girls all gussied up before an evening walk to the amusement park:

A wild and crazy game of miniature golf with the four big kids, with each one perfecting their individualized swing and then shouting, “I got a hole in one!!!” every time they threw/dropped/rolled/kicked the ball into the hole:

We joined some of our family and friends at a local basketball court for some ball play:

Here were a few of the enthusiastic cheerleaders:

Bike riding for donuts:

A view of my early morning stroller walk with Danny, since he decided to start every day of the vacation around 5:30am:

Splashing in the puddles with cousins:

Posing at the water park on a beautiful sunny day:

How many days until we can go back? 🙂

Danny loved his first taste of sand (literally):

But his first dip in the ocean wasn’t quite to his liking:

He found the whole beach scene very soothing, since he took several naps in our family members’ arms:

Jimmy couldn’t get enough of the sand – in his hair, his diaper, his ears (he also couldn’t get enough of these sunglasses!):

And he thought his daddy’s beach chair with the built-in footrest was pretty great:

And he was very excited about the waves:

And the girls?  Well they were all about the water!

And Jim couldn’t have been happier with that!