My Real Life

For the past two weeks, we’ve been at the beach with my parents.

It’s been a nice end to our summer.  Yes, school doesn’t start for another few weeks, but it’s our last vacation of the summer, so for us, it signifies the end.

Where the early summer beach vacation with my in-laws finds us in the midst of a hundred people at all times, this is a much quieter vacation.

Both have their merits.

I’ve already shared our July vacation…let’s talk about this one.

There were swings and ice cream and walks with Grandma.

There was, of course, plenty of time on the beach.

Tiny didn’t quite get the whole “laying on a beach towel” thing, but loved snuggling with Baby, and totally dug hanging out in the forts that Baby would make every day.

I tried to get a picture for the Christmas card, but was a little early in the evening for that.  Although, I love the fact that they are all shielding their eyes in the same way.

We hit the boardwalk where Tiny got to play Skee Ball and then embarrass me by throwing a tantrum, the likes of which the Seaside Heights boardwalk had NEVER seen.  Monkey Girl and I rode the “SuperStorm” and felt tough because the marine that went on ahead of us puked when he got off, but we kept our lunches inside our bodies.  We also got to eat Three Brothers Pizza.  The biggest and best pizza in NJ.

One rainy day, we hit Insectropolis and the monkeys and I got to pet a tarantula, a hissing cockroach, a South African millipede, and a scorpion.  It was awesome.  The ants display gave me the heebie jeebies, the spiders showed up in my dreams, but Baby loved the fact that the mens room was titled “SpiderMen.”

The beach was exhausting for Tiny who actually fell asleep in the shopping cart in the A&P at 5:30 pm one evening.  It. Was. Hysterical.  Falling asleep on Daddy’s shoulder was much more comfortable.

Baby Monkey had his usual fun with the feeding of the ducks and the swans and keeping us thoroughly entertained with his craft creations.

And, of course, there was mini-golf.  Barnacle Bills, our favorite golf course, had to rebuild, after Sandy, and they are bigger and better than before.  The kids especially loved the fact that there is mist throughout the course to cool you down, and there is a hole where your ball actually goes through a river which leads it to some grating which rolls it to the hole.  Definitely good times.

There was a lot of togetherness, which had it’s ups and downs.  More ups than downs, but 8 people in a tight space can be tough, sometimes.

There was also a lot missing from the beach, this year.  This used to be a street full of houses.  Like, houses that were only a few feet apart.  Now, only 5 remain, and those 5 have all been rebuilt.  Walking up and down the streets, it was unbelievable to see the devastation, and so many of the houses that were still standing were completely gutted, inside.  Businesses have lines on the walls that say “Hurricane Sandy Water Line” and many of those lines were taller than Real Man, who is a tall drink of water to begin with.  Hard to believe it’s almost a year later and so much has been done, and yet so little has been done with regards to rebuilding.

We had a great two weeks (broken nose aside) and it was a wonderful way to round out a great summer.

Now we are home and back to our routines and missing the ocean and the sand and the daily walks.  So, we start dreaming about next year.