Better Beach Blog

How was that for alliteration in the title?

So I think I had mentioned earlier that I would do a better beach update once I had more pictures.

And now I have more pictures.  So be warned.  This is a picture heavy post.

So it's time for a better beach update.

This wasn't technically Jacob's first trip to the Atlantic Ocean.  Last summer, our vacation took us to Cape Cod and Acadia National Park, so really, Jacob had seen the ocean before -- but he hadn't gotten his feet wet in it.  We decided that this summer, we'd do a long weekend in Ocean City with both sets of grandparents, and get Jacob into the ocean.

Friday
My parents came down Thursday so that we could leave Friday morning and beat the majority of the beach traffic.  Success on our part.  We got in around lunch time.  We unpacked our cars, ate some lunch, then headed to the beach to introduce Jacob to the joys of sand and water.

Checking out how the wet sand feels.

Thinking about the water...

Milk snack on the beach

Checking out the surroundings

 He was a little timid at first, but he warmed up to the idea of it all.  Before we knew it, he was sliding into sand pits, asking to be buried in the sand, and getting a little more courageous in going down to the water.  We didn't spend a huge amount of time at the beach on this day, but we got in a few hours of sun, sand and surf time.  We went back to the condo and gave Jacob a snack.





This kid is a ham.

And while he snacked, Erik and I walked over to the grocery store that was just down the street for some dinner items.  We had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and mixed veggies.  I know.  Thrilling.  And then this happened:



Little man fell asleep as he finished up his own dinner.  You know it's been a fun day when you can't keep your eyes open much past dinner.

Saturday
Shortly after breakfast, we headed down to the beach for the day.  We figured that we'd go to the beach in the morning, come back to the condo for lunch, then do something during the afternoon/evening -- relax, go to the boardwalk, visit Assateague...  So we loaded up on sunscreen, tried to get Jacob to wear his hat, and went off to the beach.

Maybe if dad models the hat...

Jacob was all about the beach today.  He went running to the water and was ready to play in the sand.

Testing out the water.

Looking for airplanes

Loved being covered in the sand

The beach umbrellas were pretty neat

We left the beach around 11:30am and headed back to the condo for lunch.  Jacob took a good afternoon nap, and then we headed to the boardwalk for the evening.  We didn't take into account that it was Saturday evening, and that the boardwalk would be insanely crowded.  After driving around for about half an hour, looking for a parking place, we decided to scrap the boardwalk idea and go to Assateague.  Our dad's are eligible for lifetime passes to the national parks now, which get them (and whomever is with them) into the parks for free.  Assateauge is a National Seashore and part of the National Park system.  We were hoping to see some of the wild ponies, and we weren't disappointed.

Taking Grammy and Babcia for a walk

Pony crossing

Watching the ponies

Wild ponies

 The only problem?  Tons. of. mosquitoes.  As soon as we got out of the car, they swarmed us.  So we didn't stay long.  We made our way back to the condo and got some Grotto pizza for dinner.  The last time I'd had Grotto pizza was about two years ago when we had come down to the ocean with Erik's sister, her husband, and two of the Hohlfeld cousins.  It wasn't fabulous then, so I was a little wary.  But this time?  It was delicious.

Sunday
Our last real beach day.  We followed the same pattern as the day before: breakfast, beach, lunch, nap, something in the evening.  Jacob was once again all about the beach:

Waving to airplanes

Newest trick: stealing our beach chairs

This time, we made it to the boardwalk for the evening.  So dinner was Thrashers fries and Dumsers ice cream.

End of the boardwalk

Tasting soft-serve ice cream

LOVING soft-serve ice cream

Monday
Our official last day.  We opted out of going to the beach and instead walked a few blocks down to a local park.  There was a nice walking path that went around a pond and down along the bay.  There was also a nice playground, which Jacob loved.

If you are visiting Ocean City, I highly reccommend you make a stop at this park.  It's between 125th and 127th streets on the bay side.  So now you know.

We stopped along the walk and took a group picture:

Then it was back for lunch, packing up, and making our way home.



It's always sad for beach vacations to come to an end.  I'm so glad that we were able to have both sets of grandparents with us as we introduced Jacob to the beach.  It would be great if we could make this an annual trip.