Down the Shore

On Saturday my family converged upon the Jersey shore for our annual beach trip. We've had a great week so far, enjoying one of the two times all year my whole family gets together.

The weather has been great and the water warm and clear. For those of you familiar with the Jersey shore you know how rarely the word "clear" gets applied to that section of the Atlantic ocean! I can honestly say that this is the nicest and warmest water that I have ever experienced during our weekly vacations (dating back to my childhood). In fact there are times, like right after I saw a little crab scurrying across the ocean floor, that I wish for the typical murky waters that leave it to your imagination to determine waters underneath. That way you can convince yourself maybe it was only a shell that you stepped on!

Ella has loved being out in the water swimming around. Because it hasn't been too rough, I've been able to take her way out into the ocean and we bob around over the waves. Catherine, on the other hand, wants absolutely nothing to do with the ocean this year. She is more than content to play in the sand for hours on end so it really is fine and after the first couple days we aren't trying to force her into the "yucky stinky ocean!"

The cousins are all having a blast together and it's always such a joy to see the bond between them even though they don't spend much time together. A few days ago I walked into my room and found Ella and Isaac pretending to sleep on my bed, they told me they were in college (sleeping at odd times of the day...probably pretty accurate!). Then I noticed the lump at the end of the bed and peeked under to see Catherine under the blanket. She whispered,"Sssshhh, I'm playing hide and seek with Theo." It was cute how they were paired up with the cousin closest to them in age! Caleb and Norah fit in just fine and Caleb especially at 19 months old seems to really enjoying running around with the older kids. He is quite receptive to all of the attention Ella likes to give him, always giving a big smile and shyly ducking his head. Norah is used to the craziness and just does her own thing, sometimes with the older kids, sometimes hanging out with the adults.

We were on the beach yesterday from 9am-5pm so today we're all taking it easy. Ella and Isaac are mini golfing with their grandparents, everyone else is scattered either on bike rides or walking on the boardwalk, Catherine is on the porch coloring with Matt and I'm taking a few moments to update my blog!

We still have a few more days of beach and family time left and plan on making the most of it!