OCNJ 2014: 4th of July

Hurricane Arthur spun out in the Atlantic Ocean, raining on our parade.  Literally.  The rain, gusty winds, and high surf kept all of us inside and out of the ocean for most of the 4th.  We were disappointed we couldn't go to the bike parade like last year.  We had to come up with our own 4th of July activities.

Even though we were stuck in the beach house for the morning, we dressed in our finest patriotic attire

We also had a patriotic looking breakfast table

Hannah and Auntie Laura orchestrated a rainy 4th of July station rotation.

Hannah makes a map of all the stations

Evie needed a tablet and pen just like her big cousin

The master plans

Hannah directed the adults and kids to their stations.  

Legos

Coloring and Stickers

Doctor Office

"Go Fish"

After the stations, we pumped up the volume on the iPad, put on the John Philip Sousa station on Pandora, and marched around the loop.  Despite no firetrucks, I think our parade was pretty darn silly and entertaining!

Oh Poppop... the things you give the kids..

Hannah holding the centerpiece
Even "Monkey" had some holiday spirit

We ran out of flags, so we moved to flag
paper plates

Every good parade ends with a ride on an Uncle

Still happy after hours trapped in the house

Meanwhile outside...

Braylen longingly looks at the beach.
"The people in this house have gone crazy
Get me out!"

The rain stopped and all the non beachfront vacationers came
out to look at the larger than normal waves.

We followed suit with bike rides up the alley and a windy walk on the beach.

By evening, the beach was filled with families playing football, soccer, and kids running around.  The surf was still rough, so only surfers adventured near the ocean.  The sky was blue and the sun was shining.  It was a perfect evening for 4th of July events.  Even a little cool!

A beautiful sky after the hurricane passed

Crashing waves

We created a stir by bringing our leftover bread to feed the seagulls

Once one seagull notices a torn off piece of bread in your hand,
about 30 more fly in from miles away in .2 seconds.
Hannah didn't quite understand that she needed to throw them
the bread instead of letting them pluck it out of extended hand.
Bird flu much?

I used to think this was fun.  The seagulls were really
aggressive.  I was ducking and running for safer sand.
Braylen thought it was hysterical

I think the kids all would have loved another full day on the beach playing with the sand and in the ocean.  I'm thankful they got one more chance to run around and throw sand before we packed up to head home.

Hopefully a beach lover for life

Good-bye beach
See you again Summer 2015!

Even though OC called off their fireworks in the morning due to the weather, there were plenty of fireworks booming and crackling all night long set off by vacationers.  We really wanted to sit on that awesome porch and view the light shows from the shore towns up and down the coast.  Oh well.  It was still a great 4th even if it wasn't quite as we all had hoped.  

ONCJ 2014: Cape May County Zoo

The Hollencamp family took an off resort excursion today to the Cape May County Zoo.  Pops and Paula were already in Cape May at their place so it was a perfect place to meet up with them for the morning.  I heard positive reviews of this zoo from my family as well as Pops & Paula, so I was excited to check it out.

The Cape May County Zoo exceeded my expectations.   The zoo is located on a massive property, allowing the animals to have HUGE areas to roam.

I practically needed binoculars to see the animals they had
so much space. 

Evie takes a turn in the backpack to view the ostriches

We got to see some different animals than we normally see at the Maryland Zoo.  Evie really enjoyed the Siberian Tiger that came out of his air conditioned cage to say hello to us.  I think Pops and Evie's orange shirts attracted it to us.  He went right back in after a few minutes of checking us out.  No photo :(

Bison

Giant Tortoise

Two black bears

I missed the polar bears... I mean you can see black bears
walking through PA neighborhoods these days.  Big deal
seeing them at the zoo.  

It was a hot morning, but the zoo has these long paths through wooded areas to keep visitors cool while they strolled between exhibits

Braylen stretching his legs after sitting so contently in
the backpack

As with any of our visits to a zoo, the kids are in and out of strollers, backpacks, and arms.  They were happy to have multiple shoulders to sit on, hands to hold, and open arms to hold them.

After the zoo, we had lunch together at a local diner.  It was such a special treat to see Pops and Paula while we were on vacation!  Jason already said we need to make the zoo a yearly trip while in OC.  It was very impressive considering it was free :)

And does July 3rd ring a bell?  

It was our 9 year wedding anniversary today!  To celebrate, Jason and I went over the 9th street bridge to a restaurant for drinks and dinner on the bay.  It was a beautiful night, just like our wedding 

Leaving the kids at the beach house-
heading out for happy hour and dinner.

OCNJ 2014: The Beach

The ocean and sand were huge hits this year for my kids.  Both kids were asking to go to the beach every day.  We were blessed with five glorious days on the beach.

Making the trek to the beach.
The backpack for Braylen was a great idea.
Carrying kids over hot sand in the afternoon can
be very exhausting after playing all day in the sun

Cole & Evie walk in the tire tracks of the beach cart.
Why did it take so many years to invent a cart that can
carry 4 beach chairs, 15 sand toys, beach bags, 2 umbrellas,
big blanket, and a cooler?  That thing is a back saver!

Once we made it to the beach, Uncle J and Uncle Sam dug a big hole which kept all the kids content destroying it, jumping in it, dumping water in it, and shoveling sand in it.

Early dad on the beach starts the hole

French braid buddies survey the digging

My favorite memory of the beach this year was all 10 of us protecting our fort from the incoming tide.  Usually some of us are sitting in the chairs watching Uncle J dig and entertain the kids, but this time all family members were up and trying to save the fort.

High tide is coming!  All hands in the front!

Uncle Sam uses his feet to quickly scoop up sand

Poppop and Auntie L are on ocean duty- grabbing any
small fries that are trying to escape

Uncle J picked a great location for the hole; the tide created pools in front of the fort

AHH!  The water made it over the protective wall!

Jumping into 1 inch of water

Front line of defense

We wondered why Braylen stood in this position for a good
5 minutes.  Poor guy was sunk knee deep in quick sand
and didn't know how to get out

When the kids weren't in the big holes...

All adults were relaxing while the kids played in this spot
for a long time.  That's pretty darn amazing!

They were dumping water or jumping the waves

Notice Evie is in the ocean!

No fear of sand or water for this beach toddler

Yes, my hot sister had major surgery 10 weeks ago and is
looking amazing in her swimsuit.  You would never know!

Speaking of hot.  LOL.
The bikini is back after a few years hiatus.
Thank you 21 day fix for giving me back my prebaby body!

Uncle J gets the award for hauling the most sand around.  He was constantly playing with the kids.

Making Hannah into a mermaid

And Cole into an octopus

All that playing sure wears everyone out!

Bray needed two morning snoozes on the beach
to keep up with his older cousins

Snuggling up with Poppop after a cool dip in the ocean

Dadio, Mommy, and Bray are passed out.
Evie is snacking away :)

To keep with a long standing tradition, we needed some shots of the kids in the lifeguard stand.  With kids waking before 7 AM, getting to the beach before the lifeguards report for duty is easy.

Watch out beach.  Cool kids in town

Good call with the sunglasses, Uncle Sam.
Enough to distract them and you can't
tell who isn't looking directly at the camera!
(Hannah looks like she is 13!)

Taking over the beach at 32nd street
Cole (3), Hannah (6), Braylen (18 mo), Evie (3)

The kids were so much easier this year on the beach; I don't think we had to run after one kid.  I was a little worried about Braylen, but 18 months was a good age.  He doesn't have much fear, yet he is over the put-everything-in-his-mouth stage.  He sampled the sand one time and that was enough for him.  Braylen definitely has Stefany skin- that boy browned up quickly.  Even Evie got a little color on that fair skin of hers.  And Jason even kept his burn to a minimum this year.  Definitely a great year sitting (and we actually did!) on the beach!