Back to the Beach!

So, as I looked back over our previous posts going back to 2011 about the family vacations to our favorite Wyndham timeshare in Atlantic City, I got excited that this was our 5-year anniversary!  Then I remembered that there was at least one undocumented year pre-kids AND that the rest of the family had gone in 2012 while we opted out with newborn-Eliza...but it was STILL a fun trip down memory lane looking at the progression of the family!  (2014, 2013, 2011)  And I didn't feel pressure to pull off any kind of anniversary celebration, haha...

Once again, we had just a phenomenal time!

We arrived late due to Philly traffic and had to wait for parking, luggage, etc...but the girls were DELIGHTED to wait in their PJ's while discovering the Disney Channel in their room... 

The next morning, they were ready to EXPLORE what they could see outside their window!

This is what we looked like this year, getting to the beach a couple of blocks away...

And here is proof that Caleb was at the ocean!

(Chad and girls in background!)

We had braver wave jumpers this year...

...but they still happily requested the double-daughter grab by Dad!

Proof that *I* was at the beach...

And Julia created some game with a bucket and shovel (helmet and sword, maybe?) that entertained many passers-by...

But the sport of hole jumping was still alive and well this year! :)

We took a field trip to the Cape May County Zoo one afternoon, which ended up being an AWESOME place!!!  Unfortunately...I never took any pics of actual zoo stuff.  Here are some moments that WERE captured:

Photo opp outside the kangaroo exhibit

Carousel the girls were ECSTATIC to ride at the end of our day

With Grandma outside entrance, admiring the flowers

And our jungle enthusiast with his favorite wild animal sidekick

 

It was fun for the cousins to have some time just to play with each other...

Elaborate straw-building game

And we enjoyed our annual pool visit as a family!

Chad's mom kindly agreed to watch Caleb at our place after the girls were in bed one evening, so Chad and I got to have a Date Night stroll on the boardwalk...complete with funnel cake purchase! (who says he never buys me anything without a coupon...)

Another field trip afternoon was to finally visit the Absecon Lighthouse just a few blocks away.  (This decision WAS related to a coupon deal, being National Lighthouse Day when kids climb free.)  We took advantage of everyone being there on a lovely-weather day to snap a bunch of family shots!

Julia's nature shot...

Eliza's nature shot...

The whole clan, via timer shot (not bad!!!)

The Silly Shot!

Cousins...

We were so glad that the special event of the day, a musician specializing in 'Maritime Music,' was still going strong when we headed inside!

Notice Chad's mom happily soaking it all up next to him.  This is her kind of outing!!!

(he was actually QUITE good with simply beautiful music!)

And then...the climb up the tallest lighthouse in the state of New Jersey and the third-tallest masonry lighthouse in the United States.. :)  Not quite as bad as Masada...but I wasn't carrying a baby then. :)  I still thought it was worth getting to the top!

Though Chad LOOKS pleasant in this picture, it was taken during the 0.02 second span that he was NOT saying, "I don't like heights...let's get down from here." :)

Some more pics with the lighthouse...

And we spent our last evening with the cousins getting some relaxed beach time together.  So fun!

Eliza and Lydia

Eumi and Julia

What a fun, relaxing, beautiful trip...a wonderful opportunity to catch up with extended family, enjoy God's creation, and continue building fun family memories.

See you next year, Atlantic City!!!

The shared bed, which went remarkably well...

possibly due to the Line-of-Pillow-Demarcation down the middle, haha!