Ocean City Fun, Chef Chris, and a Quick Family Visit!

Dear Friends and Family,

We have had some non-stop fun the past 10 days.  So much fun that I think the kids and I are hitting a wall and the weariness from all the fun is setting in...But it was SO worth it!  On Friday night last week my sister flew in from Greenville, SC so she could ride into Ocean City with us.  It also gave us some extra time with her since she didn't need to use those days driving.

Normally, I would say that I am hands down the most excited person to see my sister.  I love being with her! But I think Claire now has me beat.  She absolutely adores her Aunt Sara - so much that she will pause from time to time to remind me that she still loves me but that she just needs to spend time with Aunt Sara because Aunt Sara is so much fun!  Sara proved herself the best Aunt in the world by allowing Claire to not only sleep in her room all week, but to also have her as a constant shadow each day. Sara and Claire played games, exercised, did chalk hair, temporary tattoos, and many beach walks.

Will also proved to be an Aunt Sara fan by often grabbing her by the hand and saying, "Come on, Aunt Sara!" Thanks for being so great with my kids, Sis!

Claire is in heaven: eating a cookie, snuggled in a super soft blanket, and watching the sunset with Aunt Sara!

Sara did chalk colors in Claire's hair and then Claire did Aunt Sara's hair!

This year Chris had more vacation time, so he got to play with us until Tuesday afternoon.  It was so fun to do all kinds of Ocean City things with the whole family.

We hit the arcade on the board walk:

Both kids like the basketball game

Look at that form!

Air Will!

Family picture! Claire is all decked out in her winnings.

We took walks on the beach!

Riding high down the beach!

Big smiles!

Claire and Aunt Sara couldn't resist jumping the waves! 

Princess of the arcade.

We took naps...

These two! 

We checked out the amazing scenery and Wild Horses at Assateague Island.

Beach fun with the wild horses in Assateague!

Will is ready to help with clean-up...just kidding! He enjoyed digging holes.

The horses get ready to jump the waves.

Check out this decked out horseshoe crab!

Jumping waves to the tune of lots of giggles! 

They (Rick, Dixie and Sara) also did lots of fishing.

Rick shows Claire his fish before he throws it back.

 Unfortunately all the fish we caught were too small to keep.  However, quite a few were reeled in. Among them were flounder, sea bass, sun fish, blue gill, and puffer fish.

We also had s'mores! Chris helped build the fire and roast some marshmallows.

Time for s'mores!

The master marshmallow roaster in action!

Claire and Sara go back for more.

One of Chris' perfectly roasted marshmallows.  It was crunchy on the outside and warm and frothy on the inside!  Yum!

Dixie's son, Rick, is extremely fun and generous.  This year he reserved the camp site at Assateague for two nights so we were back the next day for more fun on the beach and a seafood lunch feast!

Thanks to Dad for picking up this delicious lunch!

Here's a speckled crab we found playing in the surf. 

Claire creates a mighty fortress with all of the shells she collected.

Chris and I took the kids back over to the boardwalk for lunch one day. We treated ourselves to classic boardwalk fare: Dough Roller pizza and Polish Water Ice.

Claire devours her pizza!

Battle of the spoons!

They were actually quite civilized compared to me and my sister when we share desserts...he he...

Since lots of fishing happens on this trip, I went out and bought the kids new fishing rods.  As I mentioned before, Claire had cast both rods into the bay when learning to fish with her Nana Barb and Papa Ralph.  So this time we attached a rubber band to the handle of the rod to hold the rod to her wrist and we practiced casting on land before taking to the sea.

Rick even got in on the fun and offered to net all of Claire's catches!

Let's see what you caught!

Oh look! It's a blue fish!

Will casting off the deck.

Will had a blast casting off the deck, but I was getting tired of untangling his line from the plants below so I suggested we take his fishing game to the bay.  We sat on the side of the dock fishing for a while, and Will would rejoice every time we reeled in his red fish.  Then I asked Will if I could have a turn casting.  I was excited to see how far I could send the little red fish when I felt a tug as I cast and to my horror I dropped the fishing rod right into the bay!!!  I watched the rod float a moment before it went under, and I briefly considered jumping in after it. Then I turned to Will and said, "Oh Will! I'm so sorry!" Will said, "Hmmm....I have idea!  Mom go there (to the ladder) and in water!" I said, "That is a good idea, but I don't think I can find it anymore."  To my surprise, Will just shrugged his shoulders and walked off to find something else to do. God bless him! (I, of course, still feel bad about it!)

After this mommy fail, I kept my distance from all fishing rods, but Sara was kind enough to let the kids cast and reel in fish with her. No wonder why she is such a favorite!

Three anglers on the pier!

Claire and Sara reel in a fish early one morning!

Dixie waits for a tug on her fishing line.

And we spent even more time fishing on the boat!  Rick rented us a boat to cruise around the bay and to do more fishing. Dad did a great job driving the boat.  And Will even took a turn at the wheel!

Papa keeps this button pusher in line!

Checking on the bait! Look at his blond waves!

We had more boardwalk fun when we rented a surrey bike to ride down the boardwalk.  We stopped for our traditional Sweet Frog Frozen Yogurt break and for some other fun photo ops.

Will sits with Papa to eat his frozen yogurt!

And of course Claire sits with her Aunt Sara.

"Hello! From the giant wheel!"

Reaching for the top!

Our trip was made even more wonderful by all of the great food we devoured during the trip. Dad and Dixie brought filet mignons and breakfast foods, Chris and I treated everyone to crabs for dinner one night, and Rick prepared some amazing seafood meals!

Large crabs for easy picking! Yum!

Crab picking time!

Sunset? Check! Delicious food? Check! Wine? Check! Kids in bed? Check! It was the perfect last dinner in Ocean City!

A sister picture!

Rick smiles with his masterpiece and the sunset!

Rick prepared an amazing Crab Cake sandwich for our last lunch!

He even did a batch of crispy shrimp for Claire!

We managed to fit in some more fun before it was time to leave! Dad buried play-doh canisters in the sand and told the kids he saw a mermaid hiding something in the sand the night before.  They quickly started digging and were excited to find out about a mermaid that gives you presents rather than stealing things away!

Playing with play-doh

Upside down!

Baiting the hooks to try for an evening catch!

Rick and Dixie hope for some evening nibbles.

All smiles with Nana and Papa!

The kids were allowed to stay up late one night to watch the sunset. Dad told me that Claire said she had never seen so many stars in the sky!  I said, "That's because she is usually in bed before the stars come out!"

Now that's what I call smiling from ear to ear!

I love this guy!

Mornings were chilly so Claire loved having an excuse to run around in her Dad's Pitt hoodie. 

One of the many caught puffer fish - before he puffed up!

Cheese! Now all puffed up!

Dad is ready to explore in the kayak!

Off he goes!

Toe nail painting party!

Our last trip to the beach! The water was warm enough to swim in and the tide brought in a great little pool of water for Will to splash in!

I love him in this hat from my mom!

What a view!

This one is pretty nice too! Will helps Aunt Sara with some digging.

Claire smiles in front of her sand castles that she built with Aunt Sara!

Sara and Rick go for one last kayak ride before we head home. 

It was truly another amazing and fun family vacation. I am so grateful to Dad and Dixie for planning this vacation and renting the house each year.  What an amazing gift! Not only for the food and adventure, but for all of the quality family time we get to spend together each year. Thank you SO much, Dad and Dixie!

But the fun doesn't end there!  We returned home to another two days of fun with Sara. We took her to our amazing area park, took time to relax, watch football, and of course Claire and Aunt Sara made a collection of paper crowns.

Sara was thrilled to get to ride a Carousel again!

These guys were excited too!

Smiles from the Emerald City!

Will drives a big tractor!

We came home from the park to see Chris busy preparing us lunch!  Chris just signed us up for Blue Apron.  It is a meal club that sends you the recipes and ingredients for three meals a week.  Chris was busy mincing garlic, searing pork, and slicing eggplant for a delicious Pork and Fresh Ramen Noodle dish with summer vegetables. The best part of this Blue Apron gift from Chris is that he and Claire are going to cook all the meals!  What an awesome husband!  I really can't tell you how excited I am about it!

Chef Chris!

Seasoning our dishes!

It was delicious! I never would have thought to try to serve Chris roasted eggplant with micro greens!  

Paper crowns with Aunt Sara!  Claire now has a collection of about 10 crowns - she decided that her new career goal is to open a crown boutique.

After taking Sara to the airport on Sunday, the fun continued when we came home to see that Chris' parents and grandparents had already arrived for their overnight with us before a big tropical vacation to the Dominican Republic.  They were flying out of BWI so we were extremely glad to host them even for just a dinner and a few hours sleep before they had to catch their flight.

Chris impressed us again with his crab steaming skills!

A special dinner for Dad's 60th birthday this week!  Happy Birthday, Dad!

Walking off dinner and catching a gorgeous sunset at the pier.

Walking with Papa Whistle down the boardwalk

All smiles on Vacation Eve!

If you've made it this far on my epic blog post, thanks for taking the time to read it!  I hope everyone else is enjoying their week!  We go to see the Pope tomorrow (Thursday)! Wish us luck, and more on that next week!

Love,
Bethie