Our Ocean City Vacation - Part One!

It's been four days since we returned home from Ocean City. We're still recovering! Some of us emotionally... some of us physically... and some of us gastroinestinally. And yes, I know that's not a word. But after eating our way through town all week, it SHOULD be a word!

I'm so used to writing posts immediately, so this post will be a bit all over the place as I remind myself what happened and what we did and where we went. Wait... where did we go again?

The week, overall, was great. We rented a great house a block from the beach and boardwalk which was key. It's great to park your car in a driveway and forget it!! Granny stayed with us again this year, which made Brian and Hope SO happy. (and us, too!) Aunt Meg and her family were just a few houses away from us and Aunt Bean and her family were across from Meg! The first night we were there we hosted everyone for dinner. I could not WAIT for Emily and Josh to walk in so I could meet my new "great nephew" William!! He is - and I know this is hard to believe - even CUTER in real life. He's just a doll!!

It was pouring rain that night so we all stayed in and got settled. The next morning we were up and ready to go - but Hope had some chores to do first. She had a good time sweeping the floor all week!

We lost Ed the first day. He had to run back home to handle a few things at our house. Granny, the kids and I headed to the beach and parked ourselves under Gavin's pier for the afternoon. Everyone else in the family was a block over on the next beach, but I definitely wanted our first day to be "with Gavin." You'll never believe what happened.

As soon as Hope's feet touched the sand, she went running towards the water - following Brian. 

As we stood there, with our feet in the water, I spotted a butterfly. It flew down from the top of the pier and danced around us for a bit. Then I watched as it traveled up the beach directly to Granny.

I'm sure it was a total coincidence.

Or maybe not.

I'll say this, though... it definitely set the tone for me. I felt such a peace from that little butterfly's visit. And I always feel peaceful sitting under that pier.

Hope took to the beach and the water instantly. She was her regular fearless self and got right in there doing anything Brian was doing.

She was also fearless in the running away department, so I was glad that my Mom was there with us!! I was chasing Miss Hope all over the place!

She easily wore herself out. Who doesn't love a nap on the beach just steps away from the ocean?

Back at the house, Miss Important was all business.

Someone forgot to tell her we were supposed to be "unplugged" for the week. I'm pretty sure Granny set up a password on her iPad that night. Ha!

Hope had her first experience with a shower that day which did NOT go over well. I decided to give it a try so all the sand could come off at once and she wouldn't be sitting in a sandy tub. She cried the whole time. But guess what? We tried it again the next day and she loved it! And she's had many showers since!

That night, we all met up on the boardwalk.

 I love spending time with my sisters and Mom - and all the kids. It was a gorgeous night and, yes, the sky really did look like that!

Brian was jumping out of his skin with excitement to hang out with his cousins. 

But he was so patient with me while I took pictures of his handsome face under that beautiful sky with his brother's pier in the background...

That first night on the boardwalk was great. We did learn that not much has changed with Hope since last year. Last year we thought it was just her age (6 months) which made her cranky and wanting to go home to bed on the early side. As it turns out, Hope just really likes to go to bed at a normal hour. No late night partying for her, thank you! 

A couple nights we did push it with her and boy - we heard about it. This little girl knows what she wants. We also learned that she can easily be bribed or coaxed into anything when Daddy feeds her ice cream or monkey bread. 

Smart girl.

Stay tuned for more entries from our beach vacation!