When I was a kid, summer meant going to Longport, New Jersey!  I had not been there since the Mahoney family sold their beach house on 17th Ave in 2002, so this year we VRBO’d a house on 11th Ave to spend a week at the shore with Mom-Mom and Aunt Molly.  It always amazes me how simply being in a place can trigger so many memories.  We had a wonderful time – the beach was quiet, the weather was beautiful.  And, well, both kids got sick!  But overall, a great trip.

Sarah was really enjoying building (well, having me build) and driving sand vehicles.  Day 1: Sand Car.

We arrived on Friday, 6/9, and Blaine was sick by mid-day Saturday.  Here he is with a fever, sleeping on the couch.

He’d already been promised an ice pop earlier in the day, so here he is, sick, eating a strawberry popsicle.

The kids’ room had blinds, but still got a lot of sun.  So, we used the extra bunk bed sheets to create little tents to keep their beds darker.

The next morning, Uncle Tim, Aunt Liz, and cousin Josie came to spend the morning with us!  They’d just arrived back from a week in Ireland so we were so impressed that they managed to make it.  I think it was Josie’s first time on the beach!

When we arrived at the beach we found that Molly had picked a spot right next to something that looked like it might be the setting for a wedding.  We hoped it would be an evening wedding.  I got to work on the assignment for day 2: Sand Boat.

Alas, the wedding was scheduled for 11:30 or so.  The people started arriving, and we tried to stay out of the way.  You may also notice that Blaine was feeling better at this point.

New books from Mom-Mom and Aunt Molly!

On Monday, both kids were healthy and we had a nice time at the beach building sand trains.

That night, we went to the Ocean City Boardwalk!  It was Sarah’s first time on rides (apart from a carousel) and she was very serious about it.  Once the fire engines below started moving she carefully turned the wheel left, and looked like she was focused on keeping the engine on track.

We walked down to get some Mack & Manco (I guess it’s Manco and Manco now?) pizza for dinner, followed by Kohr Brothers.  Yum!

Then Blaine and Aunt Molly went on one more ride before we headed to bed!

The next day (Tuesday) started out fine, but Sarah woke up sick after her nap. 🙁

The next morning Sarah was still sick, so we hung around the house.  Luckily, there was a fire truck to keep Blaine entertained.

By the time Sarah was napping Blaine was getting a little stir crazy, so Mom-Mom and Aunt Molly stayed at the house with Sarah, and Blaine and I went to see Lucy, the Margate elephant.

That night we celebrated Aunt Molly’s 31st birthday with cheeseburgers, cake, and presents.  Sarah was feeling better at this point (guess it was a 24hr thing).

On our last day at the beach, this friendly lifeguard offered Blaine a ride on his ATV.  Blaine was thrilled.  We were so early in the season and the town was so quiet, everyone was so friendly.  Blaine also got several plastic police badges from passing bike cops.

Our last night we’d planned to go out for dinner but decided to do takeout, instead.  We got some yummy sandwiches and fries from the Margate Dairy Bar and Burger.  Thanks to Mom-Mom and Aunt Molly for joining us for the week!