Fun in the Sun

We had a TERRIFIC week in Ocean City, New Jersey. The weather was gorgeous and we went to the beach every day. September really is the best month at the Jersey shore. The week featured lots of time on the beach, bike rides, fun on the boardwalk and quality time with Mommy, Daddy, Mo and Pop Pop.

Molly and Aidan loved the beach and we went for several hours each day after nap time. The house was a short two blocks away so we were able to load up the wagon with our gear and walk over. Molly loved the ocean and went in as often as Daddy would take her. The water was warm at the beginning of the week and cooled off a bit towards the end but that didn't dampen Molly's enthusiasm. She would request to go back in as she stood shivering and blue-lipped in the sand. Aidan wasn't crazy about the ocean because the "wave-es" splashed him in the face. He went in reluctantly when it was time to rinse off and go back to the beach house. Besides, the boy was way too busy digging in the sand and pushing his dump truck up and down the beach. We would set up sand "cones" and he would plow them over. Molly also liked digging and rolling in the sand. It was non-stop action on the beach. Our friends the Taylors were also staying the week in Ocean City and joined us on the beach a few days. Their son Andrew (2) is from Astana, Kazakhstan and their son James (10 months) is from Guatemala. The kids had fun together and so did the parents. There were a few stand offs between the Kazakh boys but it all worked out in the end. James was a happy baby and was content to crawl around and eat the occasional fist full of sand.

One evening we went for ice cream and took the kids in their strollers. They like when we turn them around and pull them backwards on the back wheels of the stroller. Pat was pulling Aidan in this manner and hit a bump in the side walk. The stroller slipped from his hands and Aidan was dropped on the pavement. The boy has a hard head and the drop wasn't very far but he was startled and began to wail as only a 2 year old can. We were in the process of calming him down when we noticed the two grandmotherly figures on the porch. Molly apparently spotted them at the same time, waved her hand merrily and shouted "Hello hiney!". Not exactly our most shining moment as parents.

During our stay we visited a friend of my in-laws. Her name is Dolly and she is 100 years old. She is an Olympic Gold Medalist (1924 games-swimming) and also swam the English channel. Molly and Aidan immediately sat on her lap upon arrival and hugged and kissed her. She was very sweet.

Molly was shall we say less than cooperative at bed time. She cried and called out for Mommy/Daddy and it took a good 1/2 hour or so to finally get her settled. Mo and Pop Pop offered to watch the kids one evening while we went out. The night arrived and we were a bit nervous about how Molly would behave at bed time but my in-laws are seasoned veterans and told us not to worry. We went to dinner and a movie and had a great time. We figured no news was good news and didn't check in. And we were right. The little stinkers went right down without a peep. How does that work?

We were originally scheduled to come home on Friday but Aunt "Leen and Uncle Ron decide to take the day off from work and come down so we stayed until Saturday. We had a very nice visit with them. On Saturday, we packed up the car after dinner, put Molly and Aidan in their PJs and headed home around 8:30pm. Its about a 2 1/2 hour drive and it wasn't until we were about 10 minutes from home that Molly closed her eyes as Aidan's began to flutter. I think we have the only two kids known to mankind that DO NOT sleep in the car. It was a great week. Thanks for having us Mo and Pop Pop.