So many pictures, where do I even begin?!
Well, I guess I’ll start out by saying that we had a fabulous week away in the VERY sunny Wildwood Crest, NJ last week. The weather, honestly, could not have been much better…mid to upper 80’s everyday and only one cloudy day out of them all. Can’t beat that!
After a very long car ride down (hello, crying Alex and whining Lucas), we arrived down to Wildwood around 3pm on Saturday where we met up with my parents, my brother, and his girlfriend who had already arrived shortly before we did.
Funny enough, we ended up coming to find out that a family that my mom used to babysit for YEARS ago was actually staying in the hotel next to the condo we were staying in. All three kids are grown now, so everyone spent a couple of hours hanging out on the beach playing corn hole.
Or, just playing in the sand.
Later that evening, once the kiddos were in bed, the adults enjoyed our first (of many) nights hanging out on the balcony, enjoying a great view and a few beverages.
For the entire week, we ended up having a pretty similar daily routine, starting with a casual breakfast in the condo.
This was our first year going the condo route over a hotel and I will say that it was a million times better. Especially with having both kiddos, it was just so nice to let everyone have their own rooms (Alex slept with me and Jay) and space, without feeling like you’re on top of each other the whole time.
We’d make coffee and relax while someone (usually my dad) would make breakfast, including things like pancakes, egg sandwiches, and english muffins. Most mornings, Lucas would also wind up coercing at least a few people to play some sort of game with him, too…having a bingo game going before 7am happened more than once. ; )
Once breakfast was over, everyone would start getting ready to head down to the beach!
This also usually coincided with Alex’s morning nap, so there were a few mornings where my mom or Jay would offer to stay up in the room while he slept so I could enjoy a little time without my appendage (aka, Alex was pretty much attached to my hip all week).
We did manage to get a few good stroller walks in (with one resulting in a nap) but he doesn’t really wind up staying asleep if you stop moving, so those naps don’t last quite as long.
Before Alex would come down for the day, I’d usually spend my time either trying to relax a bit in the chair or playing in the sand and water with Lucas. I always appreciate the extra 1:1 time with him, since he doesn’t get that much of it these days!
We built sandcastles, we played in the waves, and we even managed to do sprints up and down the beach. Hey, made him happy AND allowed me to squeeze in a little exercise…win, win!
Once Alex was up, he’d arrive down with my mom and the next couple of hours would be spent playing at the beach some more.
As I mentioned earlier, Alex was definitely attached to his mama on this trip. Every once in a while, we’d get a good stretch where he’d play on his own or with Lucas in the sand, and those were great. I loved watching them play and have fun!
But most of the time, he just wanted to be held by me and nobody else (unless I was not in sight, then he’d be okay for a while with Jay or my mom).
FYI: I got this bathing suit above from Target and I am obsessed with it! (I’m almost ALWAYS a medium but ordered a small and it fits great)
Otherwise, he’d get angry. ; )
I’m sure it was a combination of being in a new place + we think he may be getting a new tooth + he developed a pretty bad butt rash on our second day there which did NOT look enjoyable (poor babe). So it was fine! We made it work, and we still had plenty of fun in the sun.
FYI: This bathing suit is also from Target and the hat is CALIA by Carrie via Dick’s Sporting Goods!
These boys of mine <3 <3
Usually anywhere around 1-2pm, we’d head back up to the condo to rinse off in the showers and spend a little more time at the pool.
There was usually nobody else there, so it was great to pretty much have the pool area to ourselves. We’d eat lunch (if we hadn’t already down at the beach) or just enjoy some snacks while letting Lucas swim around. There really is not much better than jumping in a pool and rinsing off all of that beach sand, is there?!
Alex and I would usually have to leave pool time a little before everyone else so we could head back up to the room for his second nap. Little guy was usually so tuckered out, it wasn’t an issue.
By about 4ish most days, everyone was back up in the room. We’d shower up, play some more games, let Lucas wind down with a show, and get things ready for dinner. Another perk of being in the condo? Having a full kitchen to be able to COOK and not have to eat out at a restaurant every night!
We had all sorts of goodies, including BBQ Pulled Chicken, grilled chicken salads, burgers and dogs, and my mom even brought down a homemade lasagna for one night. SO good!!
Both kids were SO tired every night that I’m sure I could have put them to bed by 6pm and they would have been OUT. It was usually a little before 7pm when we’d put them down for the night, which meant that the adults had the rest of the evening to relax and enjoy a few beverages.
And plenty of games, too. We had all sorts of good laughs over games of Scrabble and Rotten Apples.
And then we’d start it all over again! We really did not do much else other than beach + pool time most days, but there were a couple little trips that we ventured out for, so I’ll share those tomorrow. : )
I’m glad to be back!! Hope you’re all doing GREAT!
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