Summer Vacation - Part II

Two weeks after getting home from Phoenix we geared up for our second vacation of the summer. I guess it was more of a staycation for us. Craig's parents came out as well as his brother and his little family from the state of Washington. (Talk about a coast to coast flight!) Craig's sister lives in South Jersey where her husband is working as a Resident Doctor so they were already here for the vacation!

We went to Six Flags one day, which is only about 30 minutes from our house. We had a blast! We got a Fast Pass that allows you to get on all the rides faster without waiting in line, so everyone pretty much got to ride all of the coasters they wanted to. We went on a Thursday and the park was fairly empty. The kids walked on all of their rides too. It rained a little bit in the afternoon, but other than that it was a beautiful day to be outside! And no one threw up on any of the coasters - that was a plus! We all ate a little too much popcorn and cotton candy, but isn't that what you're supposed to do at a theme park? :)

Grandpa Marc and Clark on the Swings

Mallory and Audrey on the Airplanes

Chase, Kori, Mallory, Audrey
Background is Grandpa Marc with Clark and Grandma Treesa with Declan

All of the "sisters" in the family - Sandra, Crystal, and I - each had baby boys within a 9 month time span. They all fell asleep in their strollers at the same time! We thought it was cute!

Craig with Baby Tristan

Declan, Scott, and Clark on the Merry-Go-Round. The boys rode this forever! They didn't want to get off!

Marvin the Martian (the BEST WB character out there!), Clark, and me

Grandma Treesa with Declan

Chase soaking wet from the Log Ride


We went to Point Pleasant Beach another day. I would have to say our beach day was my favorite day. The kids had a great time jumping the waves and running up and down the beach (sometimes to far - Clark and Audrey), building sandcastles, chasing birds, etc. The water was pretty rough that day so we REALLY had to watch the kids. At times the kids were a little too confident about being in the water and a wave would knock them down and throw them back up onto shore. Audrey, our niece, got carried out by a wave and scared the lifeguard right out of his stand! She didn't get too far, her mom or dad (I forget which one) was able to grab her. But it was a little scary because of how rough the water was, it put us all on alert. It's hard to watch 7 young children on the beach even with 6 adults! Other than that incident it was a very enjoyable day. My sister-in-law Crystal came prepared with EVERYTHING! The only thing I really brought was beach towels to dry off with. When we got there Crystal pulled out a beach umbrella, chairs, an ice chest, a huge bag packed with snacks, and beach toys. We were giving her a hard time because she only has one child and it seemed like she had brought half of her house to the beach! But then we realized how smart she was when we wanted some shade - we used her umbrella, she made homeade bran muffins, our kids ate her crackers because we didn't think to bring any! And her toys entertained our kids! She was our lifesaver that day. (We learned from her and now own all of our own beach gear!) We love the beach! It was a lot of fun! We ate dinner on the boardwalk and fell into bed exhausted that night!

Grandpa Marc showing Clark the ropes! It was his first time jumping the waves!

Sweet Mallory Girl

Kori & Grandma Treesa working on the sandcastle

Kori, Audrey, and Chase crabwalking

Clark chasing the birds (this was a big hit!)

Kori, Audrey, and Mallory (all of the granddaughters)


We also visited the Camden Aquarium. Just a few pics. Most of the pictures on my camera turned out fuzzy that day for some reason.

Touch-A-Shark exhibit




We drove up to Philadelphia for the day to take some family pictures. They turned out good. It was hard to get 15 people all looking the same direction! And of course getting the kids to all smile. It was hard to get them to sit still! But I think there were quite a few cute ones! Here they are:

Kori, Audrey, Scott (Craig's brother), Sandra, and Declan


Clark, Me, Chase, Mallory, Craig


Crystal (Craig's sister), Ben, Tristan


Everyone!


Everyone - another pose


Grandpa Marc and Grandma Treesa with all the grandkids! Notice Mallory's smile and Grandpa Marc's smile. We call it the "chump" smile. Tight lipped, no teeth. Craig does it ALL the time. This smile - apparently - is hereditary and is being passed on from generation to generation. :-|


We spent an afternoon in Central Park in Manhattan playing frisbee and letting the kids play in the grass.

Declan, Kori, Audrey

Mallory trying to give Clark a dinosaur ride!

Chase and Me

Tristan climbing on Ben

Craig throwing the frisbee with Clark and Declan on his heels!

Scott and Chase playing frisbee


Those were the highlights of the trip. It had also been years since we had all been together. It's hard when the family lives all over the country! We had a great time with everyone!