My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

We just got back from our beloved annual vacation to Ocean City, New Jersey.  As always, we laughed, walked, ate, swam, and played to our heart’s content.  It was perfect!  We were joined by many of Jim’s relatives, including his sister’s family from Arizona, so the kids were in their glory!  Tere are some pictures from in and around our rental condo:

The kids kept coming up with new ways to mess up any semblance of organization I attempted with their vacation suitcases, sleeping bags and toys! 

The boys had a blast together:

Alli and Megan, looking very patriotic:

We went to Brown’s for their famous donuts – here’s Danny’s face as he bemoaned the length of time his donuts were taking:

Ahh, he was a happy camper once he had donuts in hand!

We were fortunate that we were able to bring Baby T along with us.  She did really well and made traveling with a young child super easy.  The big kids got a kick out of putting their sunglasses on her – and I figured it obscured her face enough that I could give you a sneak peak of our little one without breaking any privacy rules!

The hot tub clan:

The girls all gussied up:

We had one rainy day and no umbrellas, so my mother-in-law came to the rescue by buying the kids their very own umbrella hats!  Fun and functional!

What better to do on a rainy day than play shuffleboard on a covered court?!

Susie and Danny tried their hand at basketball for all of thirty seconds:

The girls in the matching shirts Aunt Julie gave them:

Hanging out with family is the best!

The kids’ creativity never ceases to amaze me.  Becky came up with this “problem solver” idea the other day, where people could write in their problems, and she would find them secret solutions.  Here’s her great contraption:

And here’s the problem I posed for her:

I got quite a kick out of her “solution”!

The girls had a patriotic concert at school where they performed some of my favorite songs, like My Country, Tis of Thee, and the National Anthem.  And then they sang some other songs I hadn’t heard before, like this one.  I thought it was a great way to learn the 50 states!

The boys have been spending a lot of time outside smashing things.  I guess I can be happy they’re being destructive outside rather than inside, right?

I was sitting on the couch the other day feeding Baby T, when Danny walked in looking like this:

Here’s his story!