My mom rented a beach house the week of August 17-24. It was one block from the Rehobeth Beach boardwalk and was very nice. Here are some pictures of the actual house. I know it wasn't cheap to rent, so THANKS Mom for letting us come to the beach with you.
The McGowan family also went along. Becky & Tim decided not to. Jen & Mike planned all the meals and purchased all the food before going, which was nice. We gave them a check for our portion then when we got there. Here was the kitchen, which was surprisingly small compared to the size of the rest of the house. But, it functioned, which was all that mattered.
Here was the dining room.
Here was the living room.
This was the master bedroom that Mom shared with Grace.
This was the attic where all the boys slept together (except for Ryan, who slept in his pack n' play in the master bedroom closet. The closet was huge and gave him a quiet and dark place to sleep all by himself).
This was the room where Shawn & I slept. Mike & Jen got the other bedroom with a queen size bed and the girls had a room with two twins as well.
Here's our family on the boardwalk.
Here's the McGowan family. Faith was throwing a royal fit that night, so there's no picture of all of them smiling.
I didn't take a ton of pictures (after all, sand isn't great for cameras) but we did have fun. We went to the liquor store one of the first nights and bought some drinks. I also ran a couple of the days on the boardwalk (which was beautiful!). From end to end is exactly one mile, so I could run it back and forth a few times to get in my typical 4-6.
We went to Grotto's pizza the one night because it wouldn't be a trip to the beach without it. Instead of going to the one at the beach, we went to the "Grand Slam" where the kids feasted on popcorn with their pizza. Here we are enjoying our pie.
We took the kids to fun land the one night. And we also took them to the arcade a couple times. Anyway, it was nice that on this particular night, Mamaw took Ryan back to the beach house with her so Shawn & I could enjoy some time with our older boys. Here's Joshua & I getting ready to get on the bumper cars.
Here's Daddy & Caleb:
The boys wanted to go again, so this time I took Caleb and Joshua went with Daddy. Joshua had been upset the last time that we never hit Daddy and Caleb. So, when Caleb was with me, I purposefully slowed down and positioned our car to get hit by Joshua throughout the entire ride. He was no longer upset, and Caleb didn't really care either way. Shawn & I high fived for getting the Bean excited again.
I loved the pictures below of Daddy & Joshua:
The kids had a blast at the arcade. It wasn't cheap, but it was vacation. And we were blessed to not have to pay anything toward the house.
There was a giant four-player pacman game there that the boys enjoyed (and we had fun playing too!).
Here we are waiting for the boys to wrap up their one game.
This was the outside of fun land at night. All the noises and bright lights draw kids in! And it was the last week before school was starting.
Here's "Ryan's minigolf" which the kids begged to do, but we never got around to. Next time!
The one night Mamaw agreed to keep an eye on our sleeping kiddos while we went out for a date. We were both exhausted from a long day, but that wasn't going to keep us from enjoying each other's company.
We decided to do our own picture slide show (where does Caleb get it from, I wonder?)
The picture below cracks me up. I love Shawn!
We went to the Green Turtle, thinking we may catch a game that was on. But the TV's were inside and the cool ocean breeze and beautiful views were outside. So, we opted for outside. We had already eaten dinner, so we both just got a drink and enjoyed watching the crowds below on the boardwalk and the ocean in the distance.
These pictures are really not in any kind of order, and neither is my telling about our week. The one below is the boys walking on the board walk one of the first nights we got there.
There was a nice playground near the beach house where the kids enjoyed playing.
Here were the kids watching TV (I'm assuming) not that they ever sat down much. On Sunday it rained for a little while, so Mom, Jen, Grace & I went shopping. I bought a new pair of running sneakers (in yellow, which I really wanted!), a Redskins t-shirt and some sneakers and dress shoes for Joshua who was starting school. We found some other deals, too.
I know Mike went fishing a couple of the days. One of them he took both Grace and Emma, which bummed Joshua out. But, he still had fun with his brothers and other cousins.
All kids flock to Shawn, including John, who wanted up when Ryan was being held.
We got Kohr Brothers ice cream twice while we were there, once in the evening after dinner and another time for lunch along with some yummy boardwalk fries (thanks, Mamaw!).
The McGowan kids fed the seagulls some fries and then Aunt Jen got pooped on. YUCK!
We had fun at the beach, too. Here are some of the pictures I took. Daniel took the wagon that we had pulled all our stuff down to the beach in down to the water. The walk to the house was only a block, so it wasn't bad. But we had beach chairs and sand toys and towels and umbrellas and coolers with drinks, etc. So, it was nice to have a wagon.
Joshua loved chasing the waves in and out. He is a beach bum!
My boys collected a TON of seashells at the water's edge. At one point, Joshua stumbled at a wave and dropped his bucket with all his seashells in. He cried and cried, but we helped him gather up as many as we could before the ocean took them back out to sea. He was better then.
Here he is showing off his collection (which he insists on keeping for now).
The funniest part of our day was when Mamaw grabbed a great looking shell. It was beautiful! Until she realized that there was someone else who thought it made a lovely home! It was still occupied by a crab! She dropped it quickly. :) :) :)
The ocean always makes me a little nervous. Shawn took the older two boys out a little deeper by himself. But, when the kids took on water, they decided they had enough.
I was happy when they stayed in the shallow part with the little waves and looked for treasures.
Here was mom and Jen and me and Jen. I thought we got one of the three of us, but it's not on my camera.
Here was Joshua and me with his shells. The kids had fun making sand castles and getting water from the ocean and bringing it back into a pail where they would put their shells or dig it out for their buildings.
At one point a family came over and took some of our toys to build their own sand castles. WEIRD! It was okay, but I thought it was a little strange. Such is life!
Here were some other random pictures.
We had a really fun time!
Ryan had a love/hate relationship with the beach and sand. As long as he had his watering can and bucket, he was happy!
He also loves Daddy and time with him!
Gotta run! Enjoy the photos from our beach trip 2013!
