Some Beach, Some Where

 

We just got back from a wonderful little weekend trip with friends.  On our way home I asked Mike if he knew what beach we were at, because I didn't.

He didn't know either.  Honestly, it didn't really matter.  All I know is we spent a few days in Brick, NJ- playing, laughing and spending time with special friends.  Friday was my birthday and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate! 

We are sucking every last drop out of our summer and we were so excited when the Szjada's asked us to go with them to their family's beach house for the weekend.

Feeding the ducks

Catching tadpoles and minnows

5 boys- ages 6 and under

Mike was in charge of baths...

We were in northern New Jersey and a lot of the area was still recovering from Hurricane Sandy.


It was eye-opening to see first hand some of the devestation from Sandy and while a lot of work and restoration has already been completed, there is still a lot of work to be done.

I have a feeling Owen and Adam will be talking about our trip for a long time.  Owen and Tyler were perfectly content playing together the entire time.  They are such good friends and play so well together.

The first night we let all 4 kids sleep together on the loft.  It only took them about two and a half hours to finally fall asleep.  They were wild and crazy, but having the time of their life.

Surfboards on minivans... makes me laugh

The beach we went to was a private beach and we were the only people on it for miles.  The boys could run and run up and down the beach without us worrying about losing them.  They loved sliding down the sand hill. 

Adam and I enjoyed looking for seashells together.  We also liked finding different foot prints and guessing what they came from.

 The house we stayed in is on the bay side.  The boys kayaked the canal to "Treasure Island".

Do you see anything wrong with this picture?

The big boys dropped the little boys off on "Treasure Island" and went kayaking by themselves.

Thankfully the boys were fine playing there by themselves and building sand castles. 

See the boys?

Saturday night we braved the crowds and went to the boardwalk.

Visiting arcades and then cashing in tickets for junk isn't really top on my list, but our boys love it.  And seeing Owen's excitement and smile when he scored 1,000 tickets on a game made it totally worth it!!  He chose a stuffed Spiderman with all those tickets.

We were all sad to leave today.  It was nice to sit back and enjoy being together as a family and spending time with sweet friends before our crazy schedule starts this week. Soccer three times a week, karate twice a week, along with all the other things we have going on.

 What an amazing summer we've had... and we still have two more adventures before school begins in a week!

 

Mr. & Mrs. Below

This past weekend we celebrated Maddie and Shaun's wedding.  Maddie is my cousin and Shaun is Mike's best friend which made for one big, fun, friends and family celebration!  All of my close family from my mom's side + all of Mike and Shaun's good friends from college = lots of fun!

Maddie asked me to take a few pictures of her getting ready.  Thankfully, her real photographer, Claire, arrived shortly after I did.  I can't wait to see the pictures she took.  I know they will be amazing!

The beautiful bride

I really didn't take many pictures that night at all.  I was too busy dancing and talking and doing all the fun things you do at a wedding.

We are so thankful for our friends, Jenny and Adam, for watching our boys and keeping them overnight.  They have three boys of their own and adding two more is a whole lot of work, although they made it seem like it was no big deal:)  We usually never have a problem finding a sitter because all of our family is within a few miles of us, however all of our family was at the wedding.  We've never had our boys stay with anyone other than family, but the Szjada's are a wonderful family and they understand my boys quirks and I was able to have a great time because I knew they were in good hands having a great time!!

We had friends staying with us all weekend and it was so nice spending time catching up with them.  Papa stopped over Sunday with his motorcycle and took Tushanna for a ride. 

 

We spent a good part of yesterday with the Habalar's.  The weather was georgous!

Their boys are getting so big. 

After a fun-filled weekend it felt good to get 10 hours of sleep last night :)

Raystown Lake

This past weekend we went to Raystown Lake to stay with Papa and Finney.  This time, however, my sister and Eric were able to join us.  The boys were absolutely crazy with excitement when we all got there.  Owen was in one of his favorite places with many of his favorite people.  Adam was just bonkers.

Saturday morning after we all got there we went out on the boat for a little while before it started to rain.

Sunday was calling for more rain and when we woke up it was pouring!  We contemplated leaving, but by 10am it was warm and sunny and we were headed back on the lake.  Thank goodness we didn't listen to the weatherman.

Beth, Eric, and Owen tubed.  Mike wake boarded.  Owen and Eric knee boarded for the very first time!

Mike tubed next to Owen to teach him now to knee board

Here Adam is telling Aunt Beth that he will knee board when he's 6 like Owen.

Adam was so proud of Owen and kept telling him "Good Job!"

After a bit, Adam became very cranky, but thankfully he fell asleep in the cutty for 3 hours which made for a very relaxing afternoon out on the lake :)

Scott & Sharon's boat