The OC photoshoot

Okay, photoshoot is an exaggeration, but with some great light we had fun taking some great pics of the kids. And Mommy even got out from behind the camera!

 

Brothers

 

 

Ocean City and Stephen's Brithday

We had a lot going on early in the summer, but we knew we needed a quick vacay before Stephen started his new job. So with 8 days notice, we booked a hotel room in Ocean City, MD for Stephen's birthday week.

In case you were sleeping  through October, a huge hurricane hit the northeast and did billions of dollars in damage to the Jersey Shore. Luckily, not a dime of that damage was to the Ness/Lamont shore house....because it was torn down for renovation two weeks prior. Sadly, Hurricane Sandy did slow down the building process too much for us to enjoy the house this summer.

We had never been to OC before nor (obviously) made the trip. The Bay Bridge was quite an experience (a survey named it one of the scariest driving experiences in the US) and the trip through, what Josh termed, "the midwest of Maryland" in the Eastern Shore, could not have been more different than the trip to the Jersey Shore.

Because we only had 8 days lead time, we got a hotel room. Actually, we got a suite at the Holiday Inn Suites. Our friend, Kristin and Josh, gave us the sound advice that when traveling with kids, a suite is the difference between bed time at 8pm and the adults getting to stay up until 10! We got an oceanfront suite on the 5th floor. The view did not disappoint.

view to the south

view to the north

The sweet pool. More on that later...

 Our hotel was right on the boardwalk...in OC that has the potential to be really disastrous. But thanks to our high floor, the height of the hotel generally, and the thick walls (thanks to Trip Advisor for giving me that info!), it was a huge hit. The boys loved it. We walked down the boardwalk for dinner every night. We caught the tram-- which was possibly the highlight of the trip for Chase-- almost every night.

After dinner the first night, the boys played on the beach. Brice found a football (ball!)

Brave little Chase ran off...

Some of the highlights of our days included Mommy jogging down the boardwalk with the boys in the double stroller and stopping for Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast. Obviously we dined al fresco for breakfast.

We spent the days at the pool...and it was pretty great. It was zero entry and only a little over 3 feet at the deepest part. It was heated (which was actually important during this unseasonable cold spell). There were two slides and a lazy river. Literally, one of the top hotel pools for kids I've ever seen.

 When we could drag the kids away from the pool, which was no easy feat, we spent some time at the beach. The water was cold, and a lot colder than the pool water, so most of the beach time was spent digging in the sand. (more pictures coming)

A few iPhone pictures we were able to capture... 

Way down the boardwalk is one of a few amusement parks. This one had a ferris wheel. After a morning jog down to the end of the boardwalk, Chase was insistent that we go on the ferris wheel. It was a family experience.

Yeah, it was high!

Afterwards, Chase took his first ride on a real roller coaster. He wasn't sure how he felt about it at first, but by the end he was smiling.

And finally, the reason we came to the beach-- to celebrate Daddy's birthday! Luckily Daddy was happy to spend part of his birthday flying a special kite with Chase.

Spidey!

The only downside to Stephen's birthday at the OC was that we had a hard time finding a nice restaurant within walking distance of our hotel....so eventually we decided to check out the restaurant at the Hilton, about a mile up the beach, where we found a nice reliable, yummy hotel restaurant. Somtimes you gotta love chains!

Delicious! Happy Birthday, Daddy!