We spent a week in Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island for the last week in June, with all the Mahoneys.  The drive down was fine (apart from Blaine throwing up) with no traffic.  Here’s Sarah pretending she’s a shark on the beach!

Mom-Mom and Aunt Molly were already there when we arrived, and just a short time later Uncle Tim, Aunt Liz, and Josie showed up.  Uncle Fran and Alexis were going to come for a few nights later in the week.  That night, Andrew cooked a yummy dinner that we’d brought from NY.

The next morning Andrew ran out for some pastries and coffee while we waited for our Fresh Direct grocery delivery.  It ended up being mis-delivered and finally showed up an hour late!  But most of it was still fine and Fresh Direct customer service was easy to work with and issued a hefty refund.

Josie has been feeling some reluctance around water, so Tim and Liz set up this cool inflatable pool for her to play with.  Our kids enjoyed it, as well!

The first morning was a little cloudy so we decided to take a trip to the Barnegat Lighthouse.  The kids made it up the 200-some steps to the top!

Blaine dropped his hat somewhere inside the lighthouse, so we were thrilled to find that the Barnegat Volunteer Firefighters were having a fundraiser sale including hats.  We were also happy to later find out Uncle Tim was able to retrieve his original hat from atop the lighthouse.

It turned into a beautiful afternoon so we headed to the beach.  Blaine and Sarah took great joy in knocking down all of Uncle Tim’s sandcastles.

Andrew replaced some of our fresh direct items at a local fish and produce store and cooked a delicious dinner.  After dinner, Uncle Tim and Aunt Molly flagged down the ice cream truck driving by.

The next day was Monday and we headed to the beach.

Blaine and Sarah helped Uncle Tim build a giant volcano.

We’d originally planned to drive down to Beach Haven for the rides that evening, but it was so beautiful we decided to linger at the beach instead, and Andrew cooked some yummy burgers for dinner.  Thanks for all the cooking, honey!

On Tuesday morning for a change of pace we took the kids to the Sunset Park playground, about a mile from where we were staying.

Then just our family went for Flamingo mini golf, which was a great old-fashioned course with colorful painted wood obstacles and motorized features.  I loved it!  Then we went next door for lunch at Woodie’s, and then we said goodbye to Daddy, who was driving back to NY for work the next day.

When we got back to the house we found that Mom had slipped and injured her wrist, so Tim was taking her to urgent care for an x-ray (she was fine, just a sprain — phew!).  We hung out at the house and Aunt Molly entertained the kids by jumping into the kiddie pool, fully clothed.

That night Uncle Fran and Alexis arrived, and helped cook a nice meal of chicken parmesan with Mom’s guidance.

The next day we were back at the beach!  It was a cooler day so we were in sweaters and hoodies.

We had lunch on the beach and then went home early to shower and get ready to head to Beach Haven for the rides.

Sarah fell asleep on the ride down there, so Blaine got to enjoy some rides solo while she slept in the car.

Here are both kids on a ride with Uncle Tim and Josie — it was Josie’s first ride ever!  She did not love it.  🙂

This ride was a great deal, only 3 tickets, and your child is locked in a tiny pumpkin for a significant amount of time.

While Blaine was getting a nice view from his tiny pumpkin jail, Sarah wanted to ride on this boat.  I’m only realizing now how creepy that Donald Duck lookalike is behind her.

This bumblebee was Blaine’s favorite; it went up and down and around pretty quickly.

After the rides we walked over to the Ship Bottom Brewery for dinner; they don’t serve food but you can bring in food from the pizzeria next door.  We were lucky to snag this giant table for our party of 10.  Uncle Fran treated us to dinner — thanks, Fran!

The next morning, the kids continued to abuse their two uncles.

Three cousins having breakfast.  Josie has decided that all cousins are called “Emmett” after her actual cousin, Emmett, who lives nearby in PA.  So anytime she wanted to know where Blaine was, she’d ask, “Emmett?”  It was pretty cute.

On Thursday it was supposed to thunderstorm all day, so we decided to head back to the Sunset Park playground.  The kids loved this giant pirate ship, and the doubledecker twisty slide.

It turned into a decent afternoon, so after doing some reading with Mom-Mom, Uncle Tim inflated the boat we’d brought along and we headed over to the calm water at the bay beach.

And then we spent some more time at the kiddie pool with Uncle Tim.

That night, Uncle Tim and Aunt Liz cooked some delicious tacos for dinner, and Uncle Fran and Alexis made a birthday cake so that we could celebrate all the summer birthdays: Aunt Molly (June 19), me (July 10), Mom-Mom (July 20), Uncle Fran (July 27).  The big celebration was for Fran, who is turning 40 this year!  I got him this little battery-operated dog that yaps annoyingly and does backflips, just like the one I recalled Dad getting at his 40th birthday party.  Happy Birthday, Fran!

Our last day in LBI!  I liked how Josie seemed to be imitating Blaine’s slouchy posture at breakfast.

Friday was a beautiful sunny day so we set up all three umbrellas and the tent.

Josie was not a big fan of the sand despite our best efforts, so she spent most of her beach time in the tent, or safe in one of her parents’ arms.

Uncle Fran and Alexis had a party to go to back in VA, so they left mid-day.  Here they are saying goodbye, with Fran helping Alexis on the hot hot sand.

For our last night Mom-Mom treated us to yummy takeout from the Harvey Cedars Shellfish Company — we got the calamari and crab dip appetizers, mussels over linguini, and the fried seafood platter.  Yum!  She also got some to-go pints from the Harvey Cedars Ice Cream Parlour.  Chocolate Sweet and Salty (with pretzels and caramel) and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup — the “perfect cup” as Uncle Tim declared.  So tasty!

The next morning we packed up, cleaned up, and headed out in our separate directions.  It was a wonderful week — I’m so happy we could all be together!