New Jersey Trip 2010 Part 2!

So from the beach we headed to visit Yaya, Poppy, Doug, Alli and Julie. We left the beach around nap time in hopes that the kids would go down. Riiiight.. After quite a bit of fussing on Cole's behalf we stopped at a rest stop, Steve and Addie went in for drinks, and I fed Cole till he fell asleep and put him carefully in the carseat. We instructed Addie to be very very quiet so as to not wake him up and if she needed to talk, she had to whisper. Well, whisper she did. For the entire 1.5 hours left of the trip. No nap for Addie that day...and a lot of whispered stories and songs later....we arrived! Cole and Julie got straight to re-acquainting.

Not sure why I can't turn this one, but I love it because they're holding hands again...awwww....remember when they did that back in May?

Coley loves hearing Poppy whisper secrets into his ear.....pssst.

Dinner time! Lots of yummy food to be had this weekend....

What....you've never seen pureed carrots before? They can be just as tasty as pizza.

Ayum!

Julie is a smiley bug! That bow was Addie's when she was a baby--featured in this old school blog post. Doesn't Julie look a bit like Addie did?

Addie loves to "hold" Cole like she did when he was little, but now he's so big, she has to settle for just hugging him from behind.

Couch photoshoot. BIG Smile :)

Sweetness.

Cousins!


We took a trip to Halo Pub for some ice cream. Yum!

The babies had to settle for chilling in their carseats.
Because this is what happens when Cole gets out...


Addie's first chocolate chip cookie dough...big fan!

Douggo and Cole relaxing


Addie and Yaya laughing...

....and giggling...

...and cuddling :)

It was Poppy's birthday the day after we left, so we celebrated early with some birthday eclairs.


Some more kisses and cuddles...

Some family pictures...



And it was time to go home :( The trip went too fast! So we left home around naptime on Tuesday in hopes they would go to sleep....riiiight. But wait! They did! I fed Cole until he was asleep at the house and put him in the carseat and Addie was--once again--instructed to be quiet. She was and...miracle of miracles, she fell asleep!! We were relaxing, feeling a bit smug actually because we got our kids both down at the same time when...what's that smell? Oh look, Cole's awake but happy. And yes, what IS that smell? Oh...he pooped. So we pull into the parking lot of a Burger King and I set to a 20 minute clean-up because he pooped all over the carseat, all over his outfit (in the trash!) and all over him. Addie woke up halfway through the cleanup and because it was only after 20 minutes of napping...understandably cranky. We whipped out the emergency portable DVD player and she was happy and Cole was happy for the rest of the 2 hour trip...seriously!

And look who followed us home!

New Jersey trip 2010!! (PART ONE)

Well everyone, I'm a bit behind on the blog posts, so keep your eyes out this week, I'm going to try and do a few to catch up.

Last weekend the fam and I packed up the car and headed on our first road trip since Cole was born. As you know, he was a terrible car rider and in the last couple of months has finally gotten over his screaming-hysterically in the carseat bit and so we were off! Woohoo!

First stop was our annual beach trip with the McGee family. This time we hit Wildwood New Jersey. See our trips from 2008 and 2009 to see how much the kiddos have grown!

We decided to leave around bedtime on Friday night in hopes that both children would pass out blissfully at 7:30 leaving us with 4 hours of peace and quiet. Riiiiiight. Cole cried for a good bit until we stopped in a dark bank parking lot and I fed him until he passed out around 8:30. One down...one to go! Addie rallied and didn't fall asleep until 10pm! She was looking for fireworks because we had told her that on July 4th there are fireworks at night after she goes to bed. Apparently she thought it would happen every night. Woops. We pulled in around 11:30 and by 1am both kids were finally asleep. Cole was up for the day at 5:45. Seriously? And that, my friends, sums up a "vacation" with children :)

First on the to-do list...relaxing...



Oh wait...4 adults and 4 kids to keep track of...no time for relaxing! ;)

The last time Addie and Shannon saw each other, there were some tears when it came to sharing. This time there weren't really any toys about, so guess what? They got along famously!! They played all kinds of games including half-naked racing through the condo...ready set...go!

I think Shannon won this one :)

The girls had fun playing in a fort made from blankets and couches.

Um, remember when Kelly was a baby? She's all grown up now!

Chris came up with this awesome game of "magic carpet ride"


Steve wanted in on the fun.

After all the indoor fun, we hit the beach! Addie wasted no time getting her hands in the sand.
I love how the girls each found a spot


Coley fell asleep on the walk from the car to the beach, so I became trip photographer!



Addie, timid as ever, still wasn't a fan of the surf.

The McGee girls loved the water!


Kelly was a BIG fan of the tidepools...it's like a baby pool at the beach,warm and shallow. Perfect!

Though she wanted to swim a bit too much and she forgot she doesn't know how to swim :)


Coley finally woke up and was like "whoa....where AM I?"

But he quickly remembered that he's pretty happy wherever he is.

I tried to get an Addie/Cole picture with not much luck. The reason I posted this one is because if you click on the pic to make it larger, I think it shows how alike they look!
Jodi taught Addie and Shannon how to take a "friends" picture with arms slung around each other. Cute!

In the meanwhile, Steve was committed to flying a kite.
Woohoo!

It got really high!

Cole tried to watch it but too much sun...so he started focusing on more important tasks at hand....

...eating sand.


Yeah...he loved the stuff :)

I tried putting his feet in the ocean and he was indifferent. Didn't love it, didn't hate it.


Family picture!

After the beach, we headed to the boardwalk for dinner.

Much to Addie's chagrin, we didn't have much cash on us, nor did we have much time there due to my very poor sense of direction, so she couldn't ride any rides. The girls are sitting on this merry-go-round without it going merrily around...poor deprived children :)

Not pictured: Both my kids crying in the bathtub from being overtired. The adults finally getting the kids all to bed by 9pm and listening to music from the live band at the nearby restaurant. Ah...relaxing.

The next day was just as sunny and beautiful! We hung out in the condo in the morning. Love this mommy-daughters loving :)

This is the view from the balcony--gorgeous!

The girls played choo-choo train
And feasted on french toast and strawberries for breakfast

Jodi got the girls adorable matching shirts. This photo shoot was awesome :)


We hit the beach one more time before we had to go...I didn't get as many pictures this time. Here's a cute one of Kelly feasting on more strawberries. That girl loves her fruit :)

And Cole hanging out in the shade of the tent.



All in all a quick but wonderful time with the McGee family as always. Next stop....visiting Yaya and Poppy. Stay Tuned for Part Two!