Avalon

My family and I have been planning this trip for nearly a year, so we were all very excited about our week on the Jersey Shore! Accompanying the boys and I on our adventure were Mimi and Peepaw; my brother, Uncle Bill (aka Mr. Gumby*); his wife, Aunt Zara (aka Aunt Cookie**); their son, Aidan, who is 2 months older than Sam and Ben; and my sister, Aunt Becky.


Mimi and 2 of the grandsons



Aunt Becky and the boys


Mr. Gumby, Aunt Cookie, and Aidan

My parents drove to CT on Friday afternoon so I would have help with the boys on the trip down, and we left at 8am on Saturday morning for the Shore! I was unsure as to how the drive would go, given the boys' newfound potty-skills, but the drive, for the most part, went well. Until we hit New Jersey. And there was the traffic. Traffic. Traffic. We inched along the Garden State Parkway, barely moving, my mom sitting shot-gun in my car to entertain the boys, and Peepaw driving their van, calling in regularly to complain about the traffic. Mimi got carsick from turning around to tend to the boys so often, and at one point, Ben was having toddler rage and shrieking, Mimi was trying not to vomit, Sam started to cry because he needed to pee (even though he was wearing a diaper, he will not pee in a diaper anymore!) -- and I lost it, too!



We finally made it to Avalon, and while Mimi and Aunt Becky set up the house, the rest of us took a trip to the ocean. The boys loved it!



The first night of sleeping did not go well. The boys and I got the master bedroom of the 5-bedroom house, and we put two mattresses on the floor for the boys, and I planned on sleeping in the bed. Project fail! Having me in the same room with them just did not work, Sam refused to sleep without me if he could see me. Two nights of his crying, and me giving in because I didn't want to disturb everyone else -- and I was exhausted and annoyed with his behavior! Mimi took over for me the remaining 5 nights, and actually slept on a mattress on the floor with the boys, and I took the couch in the living room.

Each day was very similar to the day before. The boys would get up early and drink their milk and then doze for a bit, and the adults would sit on our beautiful deck and drink coffee while we planned for the day. We would be to the beach by 9:30 (with Aunt Becky pulling Sam and Ben in the wagon the 3 blocks!), stay for several hours, go home for lunch, and then the boys would all nap (ALL the boys, including Peepaw and Mr. Gumby!). After naptime, the boys would all play until an early dinner, and then after dinner, we would go on an adventure -- to the ice cream parlor down the street ...






Mr. Gumby purchased Ben some Jersey Shore appropriate bling!

or to the arcade ...


Preparing for their 2029 trip to Vegas!







or to the Playland at Ocean City, where we ate giant slices of pizza (notice Sam is eating on the Boardwalk, not in the restaurant - he and I ended up walking the Boardwalk and not having dinner with everyone else due to a king-sized temper tantrum - his, not mine!) ...





and lots of rides!


Notice that Peepaw and Ben have the same cheesy smiles!


Sam LOVED the roller coaster!


The girls got in on the action ...


YIKES!

On the beach, neither of the boys wanted to spend too much time in the water. Ben would run away from the waves chasing him, and Sam was much more interested in building sand castles. Good thing Mr. Gumby loves building castles, too!









All in all, we had a wonderful, wonderful week, and we were all sad to be going home. Mark your calendars, first week of August 2011!


Vacation is exhausting!

* I love nicknames, and the boys have apparently inherited that from me! Zara sent me a picture of Bill on his birthday in February, and I showed it to the boys. The first comment out of Sam's mouth when he saw the picture was, "Hello, Mr. Gumby! Hugs, kisses!" Where did he come up with that? I have no idea. But the name stuck. They probably call him Mr. Gumby half the time, and Uncle Bill (or Billy!) the rest of the time.

** At my parents' house at Christmas, Zara made cookies that the boys apparently loved. After the holiday, when we would talk about the family, Ben started calling Zara "Aunt Cookie" -- and that is all they call her. I tried to correct them, but she loves the nickname! During our week at the shore, Ben told her, "Your name is Aunt Cookie because you eat cookies every day." We all got a laugh out of that!