She sits She eats She smiles

Audrey is all over the place! She has mastered the army crawl. She goes right for the cords and eats any piece of dirt she can find. (Not that there is any in my immaculate house of course) She is so fast! My mom calls her greased lightening because she just flips all over the place when you try to change her diaper. She is babbling like crazy! She still looks so tiny in the high chair!

First Day of School

Yeah! Emma is beginning fifth grade and George third. Charlie is going to morning kindergarten. He seems too little...I'll miss my buddy. His best friend Nicholas who lives up the street is in the photos. They are holding hands walking into school. Its too cute. Someday they will hate that picture!

50 Things...

I "paraphrased" this from an article I read in Philadelphia Magazine. The article is entitled "50 Things You Love Down the Shore". We did most of these things this week...and some I have done in my younger days. HaHa. I can't resist posting it...as I am still on a high from our vacation. We had a great week! Those of you not from the area will not understand much of it. But those who are will sigh and remember years of memorable trips to "the shore". I have so many great childhood memories of going to the shore with my family every summer. I hope my children are absorbing it all and will appreciate the time we spend there year after year.

1. Roll down the car windows as you go over the bridges.
2. Get stuck in beach traffic.
3. Wear a beach tag.
4. Read on the beach.
5. Reminisce.
6. Eat donuts.
7. Secure an umbrella in the sand.
8. Bury dad.
9. Put your toes in the water.
10. Build a sand castle.
11. Jump the waves.
12. Walk on the beach.
13. Dock and drive.
14. Do puzzles on a rainy day.
15. Buy a t-shirt.
16. Pee in the ocean.
17. Fly a kite.
18. Sightsee.
19. Nap on the beach.
20. Watch the dolphins.
21. Feed the gulls.
22. See a cover band. (Secret Service...OMG)
23. Play miniature golf.
24. Go to a bar and don't act your age.
25. Play skee ball.
26. Waterslides.
27. Run on the beach.
28. Run on the boardwalk.
29. BYOB
30. Send a message via airplane banner.
31. Go barefoot.
32. Check out a lighthouse.
33. Flirt on the boardwalk (tweens)
34. Go to an arcade.
35. Change behind a beach towel.
36. Buy jersey produce.
37. Step into a photo booth.
38. Play at the beach.
39. Swim in the bay.
40. Watch fireworks on the beach.
41. Eat at the counter.
42. Don't dial an area code.
43. Stay late at the beach.
44. Get a sunburn.
45. Rent a bike.
46. Ride the rides.
47. Go fishing.
48. Bird watch.
49. Watch sunsets over the bay.
50. Stop at Frank S. Farley

And I have added a few of my own...based on our family experiences.

1. Rent a big ass beach cart for the week.
2. Pack a lot of beers in the cooler and don't forget the plastic cups to avoid the fines.
3. Remember, a seagull taking a dump on you AND stealing your sandwich out of your hand is not a bad thing...its a right of passage. (Yup, happened to me this week)
4. Five bottles of spray on sunscreen = gone!
5. Take outdoor showers...we've got it down to an assembly line science.
6. Eat Mack and Manco Pizza.
7. Check out every ice cream shop.
8. Don't let your kids bring live starfish, hermit crabs or sea turtles back from the beach...they will be dead in the morning.
9. Ignore constant comments and "God Bless Yous" regarding how many kids you have.
10. Go back every year, no matter how many times husband says "we are never f****** doing this again." Its like childbirth, you forget the pain and remember the good parts.

Sea turtle...Thea bonded w/ this thing. She was devastated to have to put it back in the ocean. Despite the fact that I am NOT an animal person, I must admit the thing was really cute!