Mommy Meltdowns: OC, NJ for the win!

Magical: beautiful or delightful in such a way as to seem removed from everyday life.

I love this definition of the word "magical". It completely sums up our week at the beach. Bringing our extended family together with my sister/brother-in-law/niece, mom/stepfather, and cousins has got to be one of the best feelings ever. And to be with everyone for 7 days at one of the best beaches in the country (Ocean City, NJ) is magical.

I've never had a week of time go by faster. I felt like we had just arrived when it was time to start packing up for our return trip home.

This is our 3rd year of meeting at OCNJ, getting beach houses near each other and having a blast. When we arrived on Saturday, July 30th, it just felt like home. The excitement level of getting out of the car and thinking about all the things we had to look forward to in the coming week was through the roof. We certainly have our favorite things we like to do (Aunt Betty's for ice cream, Uncle Bill's for pancakes, renting Surrey's on the boardwalk, going to the amusement park for the rides, Johnson's popcorn!, flying kites on the beach in the evening, countless hours chilling on the beach, playing paddle ball, and so much more).

And this year, we tried a few new things too! Ian and Max took a surf lesson. The boys were finally tall enough to go on the Go-Karts by themselves. And we also let the boys go get breakfast on their own -- more on that later. We found two new restaurants in a town nearby that we loved and will most definitely return to in the coming years.

One of the best things I have to report on: Jeff took Monday and Tuesday off from work. Yes! He had plans to join us on the beach. The rest of the week he worked remotely from the beach house and put in his usual 10 hour work days. But for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday he was all ours! Funny enough, the weather was the worst on the 3 days Jeff was available to put aside his dislike of the beach and join us. On Sunday, we excitedly made our way to beach, set everything up, and within 5 minutes, the skies opened and it started pouring. Both Leslie and I were a bit shocked as the weather app we used didn't say anything about rain in the forecast. We did make it back out approx. an hour or so later, but at this point, Jeff was done for the day and opted to stay indoors. Ha! Monday was another washout and the skies looked gloomy most of the day. None of us even put on bathing suits that day. So Jeff got another free pass. Tuesday we did better and not only made it on the beach with Jeff, but also went to Ian's surf lesson. Although, I have to admit, you could actually see the switch flip from when Jeff was 'ok' being on the sand, to when he had 'enough'. And when Jeff's had enough, its best for everyone he gets off the beach as soon as possible.

In other good news to report: We had enough bedrooms this year. Jeff and I didn't end up on the living room sofas or close to getting a divorce over my huge SNAFU last year. Whew! This went far in keeping the good vibes going all week long. Our house was in the most awesome location of being positioned right next to Aunt Betty's (fabulous ice cream place) and Uncle Bill's (amazing pancake breakfast place). I joked with my mom, whose bedroom was closest to Aunt Betty's that if she rolled out of her bed the wrong way, she'd be ordering ice cream. We were that close!

The beach is my happy place. Even on a rainy or cloudy day, there is something so tranquil about being near the water, waiting for the sun to come back out. We don't lack stuff to do together even when the weather is not at its best.

One of my most favorite times of the day is when we've been approaching 7+ hours on the beach and the sun is starting to set. The kids are very content to stay and play much longer. I've settled into my chair with a good book. We are happily munching on our snacks, sipping our drinks and discussing what we will do for dinner later that day. Time is standing still (but really it's not!) and we are savoring every moment. At 5:00pm, the lifeguards call everyone out of the water and give us the speech that they are going home and swimming in the ocean is at our own risk. It takes all our willpower to call it a day.