Back From The Shore

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We just returned from a week-long trip to Margate, NJ. The boys and I flew up on July 31, and Rachel flew up the next day. The boys had so much fun on the trip. They just love being in the water and as parents it was great watching them have so much fun.

My mom, Grandmom, rented a house along with my cousin, Louis and his family. Louis has three kids, Peyton (age 10), Simon (7), and Benny (2). Peyton was very good with Noah and Benny and Noah got along. Evan really enjoyed playing with Simon. He liked being with the older kids. Also, my cousin Craig, his wife Lauren, their kids Zoe and Sam were there as well as my cousin Traci and her son Drew. They were staying with Aunt Edie and their mom, Edie's daughter, Sheryl. All the kids really played well together. My cousin Allison, her husband Richard, and her daughter Avery were there the first day we were there and the second weekend.

The first day, we all went on the beach. Evan literally just started running for the water. I had to stop him as I was carrying some chairs and Noah. Evan showed no fear of the water and stayed out in the water even when no one else was out there playing with him. Noah was a bit scared at first and at first didn't like sand getting on him.

The second day, we got to show Rachel how much the boys liked the beach. Noah did much better playing in the water and getting used to the sand. That night we went over to Aunt Edie's for dinner with everyone. Craig made burgers and hot dogs and the kids played and played together.

The third day, we again went on the beach and Noah got even more comfortable playing. Evan never let up playing in the water and he started playing with this kind of water gun. You can see from the pictures later on how much he enjoyed it. That night we went to the Ocean City Boardwalk and ate at Mack and Manco's which is my favorite pizza place. Everyone went which was fun. The kids went on rides and we all had ice cream.

The fourth day, Wednesday, we drove up to see Zayde in Philadelphia. We immediately walked to lunch and had a really nice lunch outside. Zayde is a member of the Please Touch Museum so we drove over to that. There the kids played with all this car stuff, some space stuff. Noah played with water exhibits. They went on the carousel, they made us food at a pretend McDonald's. All the adults were wiped out by the time we were done. We went back to Zayde's so I could set up his new wireless router and picture frame. Evan and Noah proceeded to eat all of Zayde's fruit.

The fifth day, we just went right to the boardwalk to play miniature golf. Evan had been begging the whole time to go golfing. It was a neat golf course and the boys seemed to like it. We got water ice after that.

The sixth day was another beach day. We spent a long time on the beach continuing to play. When we got back Aunt Fran and Uncle Scott came to visit. For dinner we went to the The Crab Trap. We had to get there at about 4:30 and we still ended up waiting 45 minutes to an hour for a table.

The seventh day was the longest beach day yet. Aunt Fran and Uncle Scott came on the beach with us. Evan played with his cousins while Noah played with Aunt Fran and Uncle Scott. Evan played a bit with Uncle Scott as well. Both kids passed out at the house when we got back. When they woke up we went to Ocean City to see my friends Linda and Jeff and their kids. Aunt Fran and Uncle Scott came with us. The boys went on more rides and we had dinner on the boardwalk.

Finally the eighth day was a very short beach day and Rachel's friend Brett and his wife Meryl and baby Lauren came to see us. Then we left for the airport and flew home, completely exhausted. I think Rachel and I need a vacation.

It was a very nice time and it was very nice seeing the boys get to interact with their family and especially nice to see them play with Grandmom.

I was going to put a few pictures up, but I couldn't decide which of the 353 picture to put up. So, if you have the patience, here's a link to all of them:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rachelkbelkin/JerseyShore2010#

Until next time...