The Jersey Shore

No, not that Jersey Shore - the actual Shore! About a week and a half ago I heard that my grandmother who lives in Florida, was going to be visiting my aunt and uncle who live in New Jersey. Since New Jersey is a LOT easier than Florida to get to with 3 little kids and since I wanted to see all the family, Randy and I once again loaded up our van and set off on a road trip.

My aunt and uncle live near the town where my mother grew up. It's a beautiful, quaint location right beside the Shore. When we arrived the weather was hot - like over 100 degrees hot! We spent the afternoon visiting and relaxing in the AC.

The next day was overcast and rainy, but cooler. Randy and I carted the kids down to the park near my mother's old house and my grandpa's old dentist office.

This was a seriously cool playground

Have to show off Baby C's new kicks!

Loving the swing (and yes, also the trees)

Daddy also had some energy to expend

We drove around the town and grabbed some lunch for the kids before heading back to do what the kids love most:

Playing outside in the beautiful back yard,

Running away with Mama's keys, and

Vegging in front of the t.v. (This aunt and uncle have Nick Jr. on their t.v.)

The next day was windy and raining and gross! Randy tried to take the kids to the beach, but when asked if they wanted to head down to the water, the kids took one look at the frothy, crashing waves and said "No." So what do you do when it's too gross and dangerous to play in the ocean?

Puddle stomp!

So much fun!

The kids started to turn blue, so they came inside to dry off right as their Nana and Grandpa arrived for the weekend. It was quite the exciting day.

After putting the kids to bed that evening, Randy and I decided to escape for some very rare alone time. While we had a difficult time locating an ice cream shop that had not closed due to the weather, we eventually got ourselves some soft serve and headed to the beach to watch and listen to the active surf, in the still misty, windy weather. We didn't mind the weather so much, it was just nice to be out together!

The next day we had to leave town, but we did manage to sneak in a few group pictures before we left.

This is only a small fraction of the extended family on Nana's side. No, that is not an exaggeration.

Grandpa and Baby C

My grandma: Mother of nine, grandmother of too many to count, great-grandmother to three.

While it was a short, unplanned trip, we were so grateful for the opportunity to see my grandma. Spending time with the rest of the family was just an awesome bonus! We left for home, thankful for the blessing of a loving and fun family.