Vacation: Part 2

(Disclaimer: This is a long post since it includes three days!)

After Sesame Place, we headed east to Cape May, New Jersey.  While most Ohioans vacation at Myrtle Beach, the Jersey shore is, as we found out, a great option as well.  We reserved a room at the Camelot Motel. 

It was wonderful!  I would not call it luxurious, but it was exactly what we wanted.  It was a half block from the beach.  You can see it half hidden by the building in the forefront.  It has small patriotic decorations hanging on the balcony rails.  We were on the third floor in a corner room; we barely had a glimpse of the ocean, but when you are living that close, just walk out the door and enjoy it!

It had two rooms – a living room area with a full kitchen and dining room and a bedroom with two queen size beds.  We liked the full-size fridge and oven in the kitchen.  I brought along a lot of the staples and stocked up on the cold stuff when we got there.  We liked the dining area.  The girls like the large area provided for the sleeper sofa to pull out; they used it to play and dance.  We really liked that it had a door between the beds and the living room.  This meant (and all parents will understand what I mean) that we could shut the door when the kids went to bed and then read, watch TV, or talk about the next day.  It was great. 

On Monday, we arrived in time to get groceries and order pizza.  Tuesday, we slathered on the sunscreen, gathered up the multitude of sand toys, and headed out to the beach!  The girls were super excited.  When they put on their hats AND their sunglasses, Madison said, “We are like big people!”  And they were!  This is one of my favorite pictures of the entire trip.

    

The weather was great; in fact, it was perfect the entire vacation.  Jeremy even had a conversation with a local who said this was the best week of beach weather they have had all summer!  (I did thank God for this because I had been praying about this for the weeks leading up to our trip.)  We found an open spot on an almost empty beach.  The people who set up towels nearby said this was the most room he had seen on the beach for awhile.  (We did plan this well, since we went after the big crowds of Labor day and summer.)  Ellie started digging.  Madison wanted to see the waves. 

 

We quickly learned two things: 1) The sun is hot and there are no trees, so either rent or buy and umbrella.  We rented the first day, and bought for the next days.

  

2) The waves at this part of the beach crash hard right on the shore which is not so fun for little kids, but is fun for big kids.  Head down the beach about 10 minutes (walking) for a little calmer waters – which we did on our last day.

  

While Madison and I played in the waves, Jeremy and Ellie constructed dolphins in the sand.  (On a side note, we saw a dolphin/whale watching boat go by the first day.  We saw the a pod of dolphins playing just in front of it.  It was pretty cool even from a distance!)  They also took in the scenery of our little Victorian town.

Next trip, I would bring some good beach chairs along with our (newly purchased) beach umbrella.  Ellie spent a lot of time chillin’ and eating in those, since the waves were a little intimidating.  See exhibits A, B, and C below!

 

That night we went to historic Cape May.  It had little shops and restaurants on a cobblestone street.  The girls enjoyed the wishing fountain and the ice cream that night. 

The next day, we took a day to go to the Cape May Zoo.  It is a free zoo not far from the beach.  We thought the girls might enjoy that; we were right.  They had a nice variety of animals; it was well-kept.  The enclosures for some of the animals could have been a little bigger, but they were in the process of making improvements.  Ellie wanted to see the zebras.  (I have no idea why exactly.) 

  

Madison wanted to see giraffes. 

  

We also saw some cows, goats, and ducks, some bison, monkeys, and birds.  There were other animals as well; I am pretty sure we saw them all in the 2-3 hours we were there.

   

We said farewell and headed home for some naps.

That night we ate supper in and headed to Sunset Beach to watch… the sunset.  It was aptly named because you can catch a pretty good sunset almost any day.  The beach was made up of small gravel; the clearer stones are known as Cape May Diamonds.  The rocks were fun to play with. 

Madison enjoyed the water here.  The waves barely lapped the shore – more like a lake than an ocean.  She was the lone frolicker that night, although there were quite a few people there. 

 

Ellie at least posed there.

The girls had some fun sister moments this evening, as well.

    

We were able to get a few group shots in. 

  

It was a nice evening to be together.  If there would not have been swarms of invisible, but annoying, bugs settling on our bodies the whole time, it would have been even better!

The last full day, we went back to the beach, but went about a little ways down to seek out calmer waters.  The girls loved it.  We hunted shells; we hadn’t seen those at the other section of beach.  Jeremy and Madison went to the waves first.  Then, Madison and I were out there a long time.  We went waaaaay out and drifted over the waves as they were starting to build.  It took Ellie most of the morning to get brave enough to come out with Jeremy. 

   

After naps, the girls decided they wanted to go see the Lighthouse.  There are apparently over 300 steps to the top that you pay $7/person to climb.  We decided that would be better for when the girls are a little older and can climb those on their own.  But the lighthouse was cool. 

The beach was pristine. 

 

We saw our first flock of seagulls there, so we sent the girls out to chase them. 

  

The area was also good for birdwatching, hence the binoculars the girls are trying out. 

They also picked up some souvenirs on this outing.  They both bought bubble necklaces at the lighthouse gift shop.  Madison bought a bottle full of small shells.  Ellie bought a turtle necklace.

Besides the beach and the outings, we also spent time in the motel pool, in the room, shopping, and running.  It was a great time to relax and refresh and rebuild as a family.  I am so thankful for our beach days.

Vacation: Part 1 and 4

I know that’s a confusing title, right?  Well, our vacation was bookended by trips to Sesame Place.  Yep, we went not once, but twice!  Why?  Because the tickets are not cheap, and you get a 2nd day free when you purchase the ticket…. and we were going to get our money’s worth! 

I was pretty unsure about going.  Would the girls like the rides? Would the lines be atrocious?  Would the weather be okay?  Would Ellie make it past a nap?  WAs it worth it?  We didn’t know anyone who had gone, so it seemed like a shot in the dark.  Ellie LOVES Elmo.  I mean every time – without exception – she gets an Elmo movie at the library and doesn’t even bother to look at any others.  Madison, by default, knows all the characters and tolerates it. 

We left on Sunday after breakfast.  We made it all the way to Philadelphia area by about 5pm.  The girls did a little coloring, some movie watching, an hour nap, some snacking, and singing along to music (namely, Sesame Street Kids’ Favorite Songs… which we had had out of the library for the past 3 weeks.  It is literally the only CD Ellie asks for, and the one both girls know most of the words to.)  I had packed little “presents” along for them to open along the way; a trick I got from pinterest.  My presents were things like a small notebook, some candy, new twistable crayons, etc.  It sounded like a great idea.  It was, however, the most annoying thing I brought along because it was all we heard – “When do we get to open the next present?  Can we open the next present?”  Ugh.  Pinterest fail.  At any rate, they travelled well, and we were happy to get to the hotel. 

The next morning, we headed to Sesame Place, arriving before the gates opened.

We started off with a bang – Madison and I took on the roller coaster, her first!  She did like it, except for when it tipped sideways around some curves.  Must be the reason for the thumbs down evaluation. :)

   

Then, we began posing with the characters.  I was unsure, even after reading LOTS of reviews, whether we would see characters to be able to interact with them or not.  We saw almost all of them walking about or in the photo spots.  While Madison loved  this and would hug them all,

    

Ellie enjoyed seeing them, but would only take a picture if one of us held her. 

         

She did NOT want to be touched by any of them.  When one of the “Honkers” touched her on the head, she began shaking and crying; it was not cool. 

The highlight of character interaction came at the end of our first day for Madison – Abby Cadabby!  Ellie was past her limit (and her nap time and was not interested in even trying with this one). 

What else?  We rode the Flying Fish, the Cookie Cup saucers, the swings (Ellie’s favorite), and the carousel.

We took in one show our first day.  (Insider’s tip: if you ever go, sit next to the platform because that is where the character’s go to interact with the audience.)   The girls liked this a lot. 

Ellie attempted a lot of dance moves from her seat. 

The Girl Loved It!

Madison rushed the platform as the “rock stars” came near, just hoping for a touch!  (It happened as the evidence below attests.)

       

Madison went on her first water slide at Count’s Castle.  Ellie attempted to avoid getting sprayed.  It was a pretty cool water area, but you were in danger at being sprayed if you ventured passed an imaginary line in the water.  They also had a HUGE bucket that dumped water; it was refreshing and completely drenching. 

    

The second day happened on our way home.  We didn’t get to Sesame until about 45 minutes after the opening, but at least we knew what to expect.  The girls picked things they wanted to do again, the lines were not long, and the weather was hot.  We did some dry rides (swings, cookie jars), took in a show (Elmo the Musical: Cookie Monster’s Lost Cookie) and Elmo Rocks

         

and then hit some new wet rides before eating lunch and going home.  Jeremy did a waterslide he remembered from being there as a kid. 

    

Madison and I (and then she and Jeremy) went down double on a tube down a big slide – super fun.  Jeremy and her were faster, and he made a bigger splash. 

       

And we went to this wading pool area that was huge.  The girls liked it, and Ellie felt safer without all the water splashing her like at Count’s Castle.  

We did walk away with a few souvenirs:  Ellie bought an Elmo stuffed toy, an Elmo washcloth, and a camo rubber duck.  Madison bought nothing our first day, but waited the entire trip to return to buy an Abby Cadabby stuffed toy.  (We saw the doll, or a similar one, two different places, but it was more expensive; we persuaded her – sometimes through tears – to wait til Sesame!  The lesson of patience!)

Our verdict on whether it was worth it?  It was, for us, at this point in our lives, but maybe not repeatedly.  The girls had more fun than I imagined.  The lines (at this time of the year) were almost non-existent.  The characters were abundant.