Trip to the Jersey Shore

We had a fantastic time at the shore this week. It was so nice to take a real vacation. Because Andrew's family lives in New Jersey and my family lives in Houston, our travels always involve going to see family. That's not a bad thing, but it was nice to travel somewhere different, stay in a hotel, and just enjoy being away. We left Sunday morning from northern New Jersey and traveled about 3 hours to the very southern tip of New Jersey to Wildwood Crest.

Peter did a great job in the car. We arrived in time to eat lunch and put Peter down for a nap in the hotel room. We spent the evening on the boardwalk. It rained a little bit, but we found a restaurant right on the boardwalk. The food was excellent, and Peter loved the chocolate pudding that came at the end of my meal.

The next two mornings were beach time!!! Our hotel was right on the beach, so we just had to walk across a bike path and the sand, and we were at the ocean. Peter had a FABULOUS time playing in the water and the sand. He wasn't scared of the waves a bit - in fact, he wanted to go out further than we really preferred him to go. He really enjoyed jumping the waves. We took buckets, shovels, and other beach toys for him, so he also had a great time playing in the sand.

After a few hours on the beach, it was time for lunch and a nap. We were in two separate hotel rooms, and Andrew's parent's room had a little kitchen in it. It was great for eating breakfast and lunch in the room. Then we could put Peter down for a nap in our room and hang out in the other room while he slept. We just listened for him over the baby monitor. I was a bit worried about Peter sleeping in the hotel room, but he did really well. He also loved jumping all over our bed!

We spent the last night walking around the boardwalk. Peter really enjoyed all the sights and sounds. After he went to bed that night, Andrew and I walked back down to the boardwalk. We had Polish Water Ice and frozen custard (peanut butter and chocolate swirl - YUM!!), and we bought some fudge to take home. The weather was a bit cool, and it was perfect for walking around.

Once we checked out of the hotel Wednesday morning, we spent about an hour at the Cape May Zoo. It was a really nice little zoo, and Peter had a great time walking around and looking at the animals.

The ride home was a bit rough because of the rainy weather and stand-still traffic on the parkway, but Peter slept for the 2nd half of it. We had a great vacation, and I'm so glad we were able to go!!!

Just to hold you over...

We're having a great time at the beach! I will do a full post later, but for now, here are a few pics to show you the great time that we are having. :)

Lemonade Stand

Peter visited his first lemonade stand today. The weather was the warmest since I've been here (probably high 80s), so it was a perfect day for lemonade. Nick, the son of Andrew's cousin, set up his little business in front of Andrew's grandmother's house. He had lots of customers - final profit of $37! Peter enjoyed the lemonade so much that he had 3 cups of it! He also enjoyed the cookies that came with it. :)

When Peter's older, he can set up a lemonade stand in the same spot when we visit one summer and carry on the tradition.

Chocolate Milk

I have been trying to get Peter to drink milk for almost a year. We tried white milk, strawberry milk, and chocolate milk. He wouldn't have anything to do with it.

Figures that we'd have to come to New Jersey to find a place where Peter would drink chocolate milk! This is a great little place called Andy's Corner where Andrew's dad and grandma have breakfast each Saturday. We joined them today, and Peter drank almost an entire cup of chocolate milk. Guess I'll have to figure out their secret ingredient. :)

Daddy's Here!!!

Daddy flew in from Texas this afternoon. Peter was VERY glad to see him. They played outside for a while and just enjoyed being together.

We missed him, and we are glad that he's finally here with us!

***We leave for the beach tomorrow, and we'll be back on Wednesday. Not sure if I'll be able to post pics while we're gone, but I know we'll have some great ones to post when we return! :)

Star Sightings

Today was a big day! We had two major star sightings. The first one was early this morning, and the other one happened right before lunch.

Peter woke up early this morning. I'm not sure if he was ready to wake up or not because he was a bit grumpy. I got him some juice, and we settled in the living room to play for a while. Because the weather has been so cool, all the windows are open instead of running the A/C. This means that we can hear everything that is going on outside. Now, when Peter is sleeping, the windows in his room are closed so that the room will stay as quiet as possible. However, the rest of the windows in the house have been open 24/7.

So, early this morning, we hear the sound of the garbage truck. It was actually the recycling truck, but Peter doesn't know the difference. I have no idea which street it was on, but it wasn't on our street. Peter heard the noise right away - he LOVES garbage trucks these days! He kept looking out the window for the truck, but he couldn't find it. I finally told him that it was hiding and I'm sure we would see it soon.

Well, that apparently wasn't the answer Peter was looking at. It was barely 7am, but Peter went running down the hall to Aunt Amy's room. He knocked on her door before I could get to him. When she emerged, he asked her about the garbage truck. Apparently he thought that she might know where it was if Mommy didn't!

She didn't know much more that Mommy did, but she did come join us in the living room. We convinced Peter to play near the window so we'd be sure to see the truck when it finally made it down the street. It finally came, and Peter was a happy boy.

Star Sighting #1 -- The garbage truck!!!

Later in the morning, after breakfast and some playtime outside, we went to a cute little farm that had some animals and a little store where you could buy produce and baked goods. Peter had a blast looking at and feeding some of the animals.

He also had fun being some of the animals!

There were several other families there at the same time. I had no idea who this lady was, but Grandma recognized her right away. Jillian Armenante was there with her daughter and mother. Apparently she's been in a lot of TV shows, but I didn't recognize her at all. Still, she's famous, and she ducked her head when I went to get a picture of Peter that she thought she was in as well. So, Star Sighting #2 -- Jillian Armenante! I'm pretty sure that Peter would rank #1 over #2. :)

We finished up our visit to the farm by looking at some beautiful flowers!

Just Another Day In Paradise...

Mowing the grass with Grandpa...Hanging out on the porch with Grandma...Playing in the pool and enjoying the weather... Visiting Grandpa at work...
Enjoying cookies at Grandpa's work...

It's going to be hard to come home!!!