Tade's First Sleepover

I never thought about how old my kids needed to be to have a sleepover.  Then one day during the summer Tade and his friend Owen asked if they could have one.  Kathleen and I looked at each other with nothing to say.  I don't think either of us had really thought about it.  The only answer we had at the moment was we'll think about it.  When we didn't have a good reason not to we told them sure.  Tade was soooo excited!!  Owen came over with no fear.  They played, watched a movie, ate popcorn, and stayed up late.  All proper fixings for the perfect sleepover.

The boys were masters of creating mosaic sticker pictures.

All tucked in and ready to not sleep.

Pig Bums are the BEST!

The fair came to town as it does every August.  There have been several years where we have missed it because we have been out of town.  This was not one of those years though we thought we might not make it due to rain and extreme heat.  We did have one day with a slight break so we headed out.  Tade chose to play with a friends that day so I took Seth and our friend Ellie Anna.  They loved it.  At the age of 4 animals are beyond fascinating and as we found out rather humorous.  Turns out pig bums are the funniest thing in the world.  The pigs just lay around an sleep with their massive bums facing the isles.  Seth and Ellie Anna kept pointing and laughing saying, "look how big they are."  It was adorable to watch them giggle.  I don't think they were expecting such large pigs.  The ones on TV and in books are so trimmed down.

There was a John Deere section for the little kids to play in.  They was even a "Frank" combine slide.

Seth was pretty much in heaven.

After seeing the animals I took Seth and Ellie Anna home.  The plan was to come back later with Tade.  Jake's foot was still an issue so he stayed home with a napping Andelyne.

We saw a few of the animals again then we headed over to the pig races.

They also raced ducks and pot bellied pigs.

We got rained on during the races.  Seth took advantage of the situation to create a new hairstyle.

Seth has been waiting to ride the ferris wheel for two years.  This year I told him we could finally ride it.

Seth had no fear.  I kept having to tell him to sit still.

Tade on the other hand was quite nervous.

He kept peeking over the edge.

Tade stayed away from the edge.

I did get him to scoot over for a second to get a picture of he and Seth with the fair below.

Ocean Grove, NJ

It turned out that all our big summer adventures were all clumped together.  We went to Chicago, had a week off, went to the beach, had a week off, went to Luray Caverns then school started.  So basically the last week in July and August were the crazy times.  Now I have a ton to blog, but since I have to blog in order it will take a little while to get to the first day of school.  For now here is our family vacation to Ocean Grove New Jersey.  Ocean Grove is a cute little beach town.  There is no big commercial stuff in the town.  Pretty much you get there park your car then walk the rest of the time.  It's great.  We went to OG for my Great Aunts 85th birthday even though she shares the same April 26th birthday with Seth and Shauna they thought celebrating in the summer would allow more people to attend.  We went with my parents and got a little two bedroom place a block from the beach.  It was the perfect location.  The boys loved being so close to the water and sand.  They also loved the easy two block walk to main street with it's little shops and ice cream.

The first night there there was a concert in the pavilion on the boardwalk.  It was a Christmas concert which we thought was odd for August, but it was still fun and the kids recognized the music.  They also had Santa show up on a fire truck at the end of the show.  Seth thought it was the best night ever.  Santa even gave him two lollipops.  After the concert there were fireworks in Asbury Park, the next town up the boardwalk.  Asbury Park is much more known than Ocean Grove.  It's where Bruce Springsteen if from and there is big a surf and skate competition there.  We were able to stay right where we were on the boardwalk to have a great view of the fireworks.  So we got Christmas and the 4th of July all in one night.  In between the music and the fireworks we headed down for a moonlit walk on the beach.

The next morning we were up early and went for a walk on the beach.  The boys loved it.  It's the first time Seth has seen the actual ocean and the first time Tade remembers seeing it.  They had so much fun running in a out of the water and collecting shells.

Seth was soaked by the time we got home.

Second cousins hanging out.

Our almost complete family picture.  Jake was on a store run to get a bathing suit.  Yeah, bad thing to forget when you're going to the beach.

We hit the beach once before lunch and then after.  That was one nice thing about being a block from the ocean.  We could go home for lunch and nap time.

Seth was in heaven!

We had to keep a close eye on Andelyne.  She just kept charging the ocean.

This was probably me favorite part.  My boys are old enough to do more than just play in the sand.  Their dad on the other hand might need to stay in the sand.  He broke his toe while skim boarding.  Oops.

Tade loved it until a wave knocked him over.  Then it took a lot of convincing (full on bribes) to get him back on.

The best part of Ocean Grove is it's quaintness.  It's such a quiet beach town.  The houses are perfect, main street is adorable and there is family history there.  The day we left I got up early with Andelyne and took a long walk on the boardwalk.  It was so peaceful.

This is the Ocean View Inn where we stayed.

This is the Ocean Plaza across the alley street where we at breakfast in the morning.

This was our short walk to the boardwalk and beach.

These are the perfect houses that line the streets.  The are so colorful.

Ocean Grove is a Methodist beach town.  This is the auditorium.

These tents have been around for ages.  The have been summer homes to families for generations.  My mom used to come every summer to visit her grandparents here.  They are handed down and impossible to get one any other way.  They do have living rooms, kitchens and bathrooms.

Tade picked one souvenir.  It happened to be a Hermit Crab.  Jake and I caved an let him get it.  I think this was the best pet to get.  It has got wanting a pet out of his system for a while.

This is Dwebble.  Tade's Hermit Crab.