ocean city 2016

Last Saturday we got back from our annual beach trip to Ocean City, NJ with Ryan's family!

It's crazy that it's already the end of July! This trip totally sneaked up on us and then before we knew it, it was over. Good reminder to cherish every day...they just fly by!

We left early on Saturday morning to beat the traffic going onto the island and arrived mid-morning. This worked out so well for us! Penn doesn't do great sitting in traffic, so it was worth getting us all up and on the road pretty early.  The last 2 years we got off to a later start and ended up sitting in traffic with a crying baby...not this year!

We walked the "big deck" {boardwalk}as Keaton called it and had lunch with Ryan's parents until we could get into the house :) 

Headed to the boardwalk.

Penn had the best beach hair in our little family by a mile! Look at those curls!!

We spent the rest of the day slowly unpacking and letting the boys get settled in. They loved seeing all their cousins :)

Penn looks like he slept really great in this picture, but don't be fooled. Penn slept the worst in his pack n play than he has slept in a long time, but was surprisingly in the best mood of his life all week! He just loves action and I think didn't want to miss a thing. He was also starting to walk a lot more and it's just hard to sleep when you have walking on the brain :)

Sunday was another big day! 

We went to church and then to Ryan's Mom's surprise retirement party! She was a music teacher for over 35+ years! She didn't want anything big, so we had a little surprise lunch for her with family and friends at a restaurant on the bay. Since she officially retired weeks beforehand, she didn't expect it at all! The surprise was a success :)

The boys did absolutely awesome during the lunch. It was long, but they hung in there til the end!

Our table manners were lacking a little...but hey, they're learning ;0) 

We had just enough time after lunch to go to the beach before dinner, bath, and bed. Keaton was SO excited!!

He really liked it this year! The ocean was still to scary, but he got brave near the end of the week and put his toes in the waves:)

Penn hated the sand, so that was fun. hahaha I thought he'd love it, but nope!

He did love the baby pool though :) We got a little smarter on Monday and brought it down with us. It got a lot of use!

 Keaton loved the sand, baby pool, tide pools, and eating snacks. He lasted a long time down at the beach, but only if he snacked 75% of the time. 

FUN at the BEACH...

Penn really started walking on his own during our trip, so that was exciting! And gave our arms a little break ;0)

I just love his little arm around my leg. If he could stay this age forever I'd be okay with it {I think}. 

And this pretty much sums up how we felt at the end of the week! haha

Although the beach was the main attraction - we also had fun off the beach.The big kids {also know as the adults}went out for a night of mini golf and ice cream while Grand-mom and Pop Pop watched the kids {thank you!!!}!

We paired up with our spouses and Ryan & I tied for last thanks to this final putt. The loser had to buy the winner Johnson's Popcorn, so it was SUPER important we didn't come in dead last. haha

 

And then the best ice cream ever at The Hobby Horse.

An afternoon at the boardwalk rides...

Bubbles... 

The fun basically kept going non-stop.

Just look at all these cousins the boys got to have fun with!

Our beach vacations are never going to look like they did a few years ago, which is okay, but hopefully next year it's a bit easier! I think Keaton will be able to hang with the big kids a little more and Penn will probably just run up and down the beach!