Back to the Beach!

We again headed to Atlantic City this summer with Chad's parents and his sister's family...and had an incredibly wonderful time, filled with more memories.

The girls were amazing travelers, coloring for hours in the back of our van... 

(let's hear it for recently-trending complex adult Coloring Books!)

And even Caleb did pretty well, too!  We arrived just in time to settle in and go to bed.

We started off our 1st morning there with our tradition of a bike ride on the Boardwalk.  The rental place always denies at first that they have what we're looking for, in terms of kid trailers/seats...but then finds them in the deep recesses of their storage unit under the boardwalk when we press a little.  This will likely be our last year pulling it off in this fashion anyway!  Our kiddos are getting big! (and heavy!)

Though Julia and Eliza enjoyed their ride...

...the novelty of holding onto little handlebars quickly wore off for Caleb...

...and he basically just cried for the whole hour. :)

(even when I took off his ill-fitting, hand-me-down pink helmet!)

It didn't help that a steady drizzle started a few minutes into our ride and lasted for the entire hour.  But it was still awesome (for the adults!).

We celebrated cousin Lydia's birthday together, complete with cake...

...and a trip to the Aquarium (perfect for a rainy afternoon!).

The next day, we headed to the beach!  Here's our entourage this year!

Caleb was NOT so sure for the first chunk of time...

...but once he witnessed the miracle of Grandma actually stepping foot in the water (seriously, unprecedented on these family beach vacations!)...

...as well as got some acclimating snuggle time with Mom (with the rest of the family frolicking nearby)...

...and seeing the delight and glee from the double-daughter wave jumping...

...he was finally willing to give at least the SAND a chance!

And by the end of the morning, he was brave enough to venture out into the actual ocean water with Dad.

Though it was not very impressive to him, apparently.  :)

The boys scooted back for afternoon naps, and the girls remained for some more exploration time.  Julia and Eliza worked tirelessly to bury my legs...

Pretty impressive!  Until the tide came in suddenly WHILE I was snapping this picture and washed over all of us... :)

Then, we made sure to search out a hole for our annual Hole Jumping fun! (I did NOT put them up to these identically-posed shots...must just be sistering at its finest!)

We had never spent a whole day at the beach before -- they LOVED it! (as did I!)

With the babysitting help of Chad's mom, we were able to head out on our date night to walk the boardwalk after the kiddos were (collapsed) in bed.  He always blessed me with a funnel cake and wonderful conversation...

...and we had the joy of discovering that the "doll store" that Julia had spotted on our bike ride and told us afterward that she wanted to go spend her chore money at...

...was ACTUALLY an adult lingerie store, hahaha!!!  Can you blame her mistake?  It's called Pink Bunny, has "dolls" in VERY fancy clothes in the window, and shelves lined with attractive pink boxes...  ;)  We had to break it to her that we would not, in fact, be returning there....... :)

A moonlight walk on the beach was a perfect ending to our night!

We hit the pool the next morning for some family fun...

...snapping a shot of Heidi's family...

...as well as all of the cousins together!

Oh, Caleb (sigh)...

And here's the standard view of the grandparents at our pool time each year. :)

Chad was thrilled to share one of his dearest loves with his son for the first time this year..

THE HOT TUB!!!

The afternoon was perfect beach weather, once again!  Caleb still liked to stay close to mom...and enjoyed our new beach tent (and snacks) more than the actual beach experience. :)

(But I DID make him pose for a foot picture!)

Eliza was DELIGHTED that Pop was willing to wave-jump with her.  Even on the times he was not successful in his timing. ;)  ("I'm okay!!!" was a line we heard called out often by our sweet girl!)

Julia and Lydia were hard at work on various projects together...

And Eliza had a chance to enjoy the snuggled coziness of our tent, as well!

The girls and I stayed a bit longer than everyone else to get our final fill of the waves, the sun, and the shells...

I just love those two!


Our unit (and the stairwell right outside) provided some great views this year...

And I made a point to get a few shots of the Trump Taj Mahal...outside which we had witnessed the protests by workers on strike...and which announced its closing during our several days there.  This town (and its slow demise) continues to fascinate us!

We had an utterly gorgeous final evening for capturing our family photos on the beach...

And had some fun with it, as well!

Julia wanted a portrait with Froggy and Frogette...

And Eliza wanted an artistic pose with only Giraffy looking at the camera. :)

We took a final walk down the boardwalk, checking out the Steel Pier for our first time.  Pop generously paid for the gals to go on the ride of their choice.

Eliza picked the double-decker carousel...

(seriously awesome!)

...while Julia chose the fighter planes (which she kept calling "The Helicopters").

On the walk back, they found (what THEY considered) a don't-miss photo opp!

The rest of Chad's family scooted home the next morning, but after packing up and checking out...

(Here are the girls in their 2nd-annual tradition of excitedly finding "Paw Patrol" on the TV while we did so...)

...we headed out on two more excursions!  First stop was Lucy the Elephant...

...where we were given a ballot we may seriously consider this fall. :)

Then we headed to the Cape May County Zoo that we had discovered last year.  The girls continue to LOVE the non-real-animal displays at every zoo we visit (sigh)...

BUT...we also saw some amazing (actual) animals -- which they loved, as well!

Even Caleb was fascinated and wanted to get as close as he could!

The girls perfecting their best RAWR!!!

It was a great day, capping off a great week.  We had a blast on our vacation, thoroughly enjoying the time we got to spend together.

In summary, here's what Chad posted on Facebook about our trip:

Heading to Atlantic City for our annual extended family beach vacation: iconic local reputation mixed with Anabaptist familial heritage ironic location selection fail. Realizing eighteen seconds into an hour-long boardwalk bike ride that Caleb does not enjoy sitting in a rental baby bike seat with ancient straps slicing into his neck flesh while an unexpected beating rainstorm smacks him across the face: semi-torturous stubbornly insistent family tradition establishment fail. Waving an exquisitely scrumptious chicken finger carelessly in the air on the beach, only to have a seagull swoop down and snatch it directly from my famished grip: regretfully sloppy unawareness and unintended local wildlife greasy pseudo-nourishment fail. Reaggravating bi-armic tendinitis by simultaneously dragging both girls against aggressive oceanic tidal forces and repeatedly flinging them skyward above the spray of approximately 832 waves: Gumbyesque wingspan expansion fail. Explaining to Julia that we would not be returning to shop in the boardwalk store which she identified as her favorite during our Day 1 rain-soaked baby-sobbing bicyclic drive-by, after a late-night jaunt down the boardwalk with Kate uncovered that the Pink Bunny was actually a "grown-up store" with a different sort of dolls than we allow in our house and with a different sort of window shopping displays than we allow our girls to peruse: unexpectedly complicated childhood naivete decimation avoidance win. Saying "We Are" to about a dozen people wearing Penn State regalia on the boardwalk and receiving nary a response: deflating inappropriately illegitimate Nittany Lion outfit wearage fail. ‪#‎dontwearthegearifyoudontknoworwontsaythecheer. Forgetting that the combination of a recent haircut and a dogged insistence on avoiding outdoor activity in the months between February and December, inclusive, would make my noggin particularly susceptible to flesh burnage: ongoing scalpal epidermal agony fail. Spending a few days with the people I love most, watching pure, unadulterated delight wash over my kids (and sting their eyes), courtesy of delightful extended family time, generous parents, luxurious accommodations, inexplicably delicious exotic boardwalk cuisine (souvlaki dripping in tzatziki, anyone?), in a struggling historic city I've somehow come to love: epic profoundly rich blessing win.