Monday was the first day of our Spring Break.
Real Man took the day off and we bundled everyone up and headed down to the beach.
One of the best things about where we live is our proximity to everything.
We can make a day trip to the beach.
We can make a day trip to NYC.
We can make a day trip to Philly.
We can make a day trip to just about anywhere.
So, on Monday, we traveled in nice, light traffic to Point Pleasant.
Our first stop was the Aquarium, and then we walked the boardwalk, checked out the arcades (without spending a dime, although Baby Monkey found a nickel, so some may say we ended up ahead of the game), and walked on the beach.
It reaffirmed Monkey Girl’s wish (for the time being) to be a marine biologist and work with dolphins, in particular (because she was outraged that the aquarium had no dolphins)…we even had to rent A Dolphin’s Tale from Redbox upon our return ($1 well-spent…really touching movie).
It made Monkey in the Middle very happy because he pointed out all of the security cameras in the aquarium and on the boardwalk. One of his favorite pastimes.
Baby Monkey loved it because the Point Pleasant boardwalk has a train that rides in a circle around all the rides, and even though the train wasn’t on and we didn’t ride the rides that were functional, we walked by the train twice and that, alone, made him happy. And, he loved that fact that he almost blew away on the beach.
And Tiny contemplated his own mortality as sharks three times his size stopped in the window to check him out. He is one tasty morsel.
For Real Man and I, it was precious time spent with our family at one of our favorite locations. We laughed all day long.
Well, except for when we got home and Real Man and the older boys were out in the backyard having a catch, when, in the neighbors yard, a hawk swooped down, grabbed a squirrel in mid-sprint, choked it to death with it’s talons and proceeded to rip it to shreds and eat it.
We didn’t laugh so much then.
But it was cool.
Wild Kingdom ain’t got nothin’ on the suburbs.
It was one of the nicest days I’ve had in a very, very long time.