OC New Jersey!! Day 1 at the beach

The anticipation for this trip was near unbearable.  In fact, when we finally arrived (5 hours from PA, UGH) Pip was quite disappointed to find we pulled up to a house.  "I thought we were going to stay on the beach!" 

I think even he realized having a cool, cozy place to sleep after long days on the beach was a good thing.

Here we are on the first day, not yet tan but full of sand.  Megan LOVES the beach.  She is full out in the sand at every turn.  Running for the ocean if you aren't careful! 

Canobie Lake with Aislinn!

Time already for our annual Canobie Lake trip with Aislinn and Tasha.  This time Meg wasn't just a babe in the stroller.  She wanted to walk and ride some rides too!

Before we could get far, of course there were the kiddie cars.  We grabbed the first two laps of the day.

Meg on her first ride, the stage coaches with Vivie.  Pip was not excited about this ride.  Note the sulking in the back.  

Up close sulking.

He wanted to play a game, which did not go well (ring toss sucks) but luckily Meg was able to cheer him up with a ride on the tanks.

Best part about Canobie for Pip?  Flume spray. 

Meg tried to run in too ... I had to grab her seconds after taking this shot!

Vivie in trouble again. 

Beach again

Having hit the beach the day before, we figured why not go again?  This time we went to Wingaersheek with the Patterson's.  

One of Viv's strong points is the ability to relax!!!

 

Two mermaids.

There was a land shark here, but it got tired of sitting still (Pip).

Meg tries to catch some seagulls.  Unsuccessful.

Cohasset

Katie and Jon have it right.  Why not make your have a two-in-one vacation house???!!  Awesome.  We went to visit this weekend and had a blast at their beach.  Can we move in?

Connor is a big guy now and he loves the beach.

Chase too!

Meg has no problems getting dirty.

Viv's ice cream cone.

Meg in the ocean!  It was her second beach trip, I think, and she held nothing back.

Me and Megster, being fresh.

Pip would literally sleep her if we let him.

Bitten

Something found Meg mighty tasty during our hike yesterday.  Meg woke up with half her head swollen and red.  I vacillated for a bit about whether to take her to the Pedi.  Then Kelly said "what if something crawled in  her ear and bit here there???"  That was it, had to take her in.  

Doc marked it with a pen so we could be sure the swelling was going down and not getting worse.  A hefty dose of Benadryl and antibiotics just in case.  Luckily, did not get any worse!

Hiking for Father's Day

Pip decided Phil would enjoy hiking for Father's Day.  Great idea!  We found this back pack carrier for Meg, from Jodie, and gave it a try before we left.  Meg loved it!

Here we are just as we started the trek. 

Shortly after Meg decided I should do the carrying.  

A very cool log find.

We went to Harold Parker Forest.  Not hilly at all and some beautiful ponds throughout.

This huge boulder kept us busy for a very long time.

We searched for a geocache but despite several strong attempts to find it, we came up empty.  I think all in all we went 3 miles and it was a good thing Phil printed a map and brought it because the trails were not marked!!

Meg wanted to hike too!  Finally we let her out for the last leg.

Bubbles

I think we went through about a gallon of bubbles this afternoon.  And not a single traditional wand was used.