Going down the shore

The kids let us sleep in until 6:30 this morning. And since the weather was supposed to be hot again, we decided to take up an invite to go down to the shore for the day at the last minute. We told Jacob all about the beach before we left. The sand. The ocean. The seagulls. Or as I like to call them, rats with wings. And of course we told him all of the people who were going to be there with us. Uncle Paul, Aunt Dawn, Jenna, Adrieanne, Aunt Amy, Uncle Les, Kaylee, Mason, Uncle Sam, his friends Nycole, Aunt Judy, Uncle Dan. And of course his favorites: Grandmom, Grandpop and Aunt Katie.

The drive normally only takes a little over an hour or so. But with 2 kids under the age of 2, the trip took us closer to 2 hours. Three rest stops. Yes, three. The first was to hit the ATM. The second one was to feed me, Jay and Jacob. And the third was to feed Jaelyn. But we finally made it to the LBI Fishing Club.

After enjoying some lunch and a quick cat nap, we headed to the beach. The water was cold. Bone-chilling cold. But the girls and Aunt Katie managed to take a dip. The boys were a bit smarter and just played in the sand. Jacob was a bit apprehensive of the sand at first and insisted on being held. I think part of it was the second day in a row with no nap. But Jaelyn loved the sand. After attempting to stand up on her own for the first time in the tent, we decided to let her explore the sand for a bit. I never realized just how interesting sand can be to a 7 month old. In fact, it was so interesting that it required a taste. Which then resulted in a not so happy baby girl!

Jacob finally warmed up to the beach after an hour of being there with the help of some Ritz crackers. Soon enough, he was stomping in the water with his Aunt Katie and rolling down the sand dunes and collecting seashells with his cousin Kaylee. He even had a sand fight with his cousin Mason. And yes, it was Jacob that started the fight. But both boys were laughing the entire time!

Before we knew it, our bellies were rumbling so it was time to pack our things up. Jacob was not ready to leave by any means. In fact, he ran away from us and Aunt Katie had to chase him down. Toddlers can run really fast! After a quick bite to eat, we headed home. And no sooner did we pull out of the parking lot, our sand-covered children were fast asleep in the car. There were a few tears throughout the day. But mostly smiles and giggles. All in all, a wonderful day. Thank Uncle Paul for letting us visit the fishing club!