I love the beach.

And luckily I have a mother in law who loves the beach as much as I do- a very generous mother in law who takes us on vacation once a year as her Christmas gift to us. Best. Gift. Ever.  In years past, we’ve hit Sea Isle City, NJ, Brigantine, NJ, Kill Devil Hills, NC and Myrtle Beach. This year we went to Ocean City, NJ and it was awesome.  I was little worried driving in because that place is jam packed with homes- so many homes in the area we stayed at that there wasn’t room for anything else, including lawns (no joke).  Last year in Myrtle Beach it was so crowded that it made getting space on the beach a competition- and if you left your spot for longer then 30 minutes, people would move your chairs and blankets so they could move in. I wasn’t a huge fan and was worried we were doomed to repeat that.

Hahahahaha. Yeah- I had nothing to worry about. We managed just fine!

On vacation with us was my brother in law and his two boys- 8 and 6. Unfortunately my kids only get to see their cousins a few times a year since we live so far away from each other, so I always worry a bit about how everyone is going to get along. I should know better by now- every time they see each other it’s like they just hung out last week. Yes- they do have on matching rash guards. It made them much easier to keep track of!

The kids are at that perfect age where they are ton of fun at the beach- the waves! sand! digging! clams & fish! wiffle ball!- and they can basically entertain themselves 85% of the time. We obviously had to keep an eye on them and at least one (usually two) of us were in the water with them at all times (those waves were fierce!), but we all got to rest and relax.  The kids spent hours during the week digging up these critters. We called them crabs- I have no idea what they really were but they freaked me out. Thankfully the Bean didn’t share my aversion.

Our days consisted of getting up, having breakfast, being at the beach by 10:30, playing until 1, going back for lunch and some quiet time and heading out back to the beach until dinner time.  We did hit the boardwalk a few times- something the kids loved!  While it drained our wallets dry, it was a blast to ride the rides and munch on cotton candy and ice cream. Outside of the night we couldn’t find a trolley to take us home and ended up walking 20 blocks with 4 kids at 10 pm (I felt like little orphan Annie!), the boardwalk was a perfect slice of pure American cheese and tackiness!

So, there you have it- my excuse from being absent for so long.  Forgive me, please?