Painting

We are in our last week of summer vacation and it’s bittersweet. I’ve enjoyed being able to stay home with Zoe and enjoy the time with her this summer. The older she gets, the less time I will have with her so it’s nice to soak up as much time with her as I can.

This morning it was raining so I asked Zoe what she would like to do that was indoors? She wanted to go to the pottery place to paint something. I’ve taken her there before but never painted anything myself so today, I decided to join in and paint something too.

Zoe picked a dolphin to which was right up her alley. The girl working at there was telling Zoe that she was a huge dolphin lover and had her room decorated with everything dolphins. Zoe told her all about her trip to the beach and how much she loved shells too. Mommy picked a mug to paint (since winter is around the corner!) We will pick up the finished product next week. 

Zoe & Rosie

Jackson

It’s been a while since Jackson has gone out with us. This morning Zoe wanted to bring Jackson along to run a few errands. She got him all dressed up (in Jill’s white pants) because they matched his shirt but. I think it’s adorable that she takes such good care of him. We stopped at Starbucks for a quick snack before heading to the grocery store. When we got to the grocery store, we didn’t get down two aisles before Zoe had to go to the bathroom. When we got to the bathroom (on the other side of the store), she started to buckle Jackson into the baby-changing table. I thought I would die laughing. Zoe left him strapped in while she went to the bathroom, then ‘changed his diaper’ before we continued shopping.

It was nice having my grandson join us for our outing. Zoe loves all the attention she gets from people every time she takes him out. People always stop her and ask her questions about Jackson. She loves every second of it.

OCMD

We just got back from the most amazing family beach vacation. I can’t remember the last time ALL THREE OF US were so relaxed and had so much fun. We drove down to check out Ocean City, MD. We always do the Jersey shore and thought this year we would mix it up a little and try somewhere new. Boy did we love everything about OCMD.

Day 1: It was about a 2 ½ hour drive and the weather was overcast, and not really a ‘beach’ day.  Once we got checked into the hotel we headed straight to the boardwalk. Like any other boardwalk, they had rides, yummy ‘junk’ food, performers, and all the cool t-shirt shops. Zoe’s favorite thing about the boardwalk is the arcade. There is something about spending all your allowance money on games to win tickets to buy stuff that you can get at the dollar store. Not that I blame her because we’ve all been there and done that plus, I love skeet ball, and the fudge is pretty good too!

Day 2: After breakfast at the Fractured Prune (a hand dipped donut shop) we headed to Assateague Island to search for the wild ponies and enjoy the beach. Shelli has wanted to visit Assateague since she was about Zoe’s age.  I had to hear her tell Zoe the story of ‘Misty of Chincoteague’ about a hundred times over the last few weeks.  I am not sure who was more excited about seeing the ponies, Shelli or Zoe…  After going through the visitor center we began the drive through the park, it took about 10 minutes, but sure enough we saw a pack of horses grazing within camera range. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen and I know Zoe and Shelli thought the same thing. We even saw a few standing on the side of the road. It was really amazing to see. We are looking forward to going back and camping there.

 Day 3: BEACH, surfing, BEACH, surfing, BEACH, well you get the picture…

Day 4: Yucky weather, so we took advantage of Delaware’s tax free Outlet Shopping – Everyone made out pretty good!

 Day 5: Slept in, packed up, visited the Fractured Prune one last time, and headed home.

And what is a trip to the shore without an old time photo????? Boy did we laugh!!!

This was a great way to end the summer. We feel refreshed, re-connected, and oh so thankful for quality time together as a family. Life is good!

Dermatologist

I recently took Zoe to the dermatologist to get her skin checked out. Well, this is the first time she has seen a doctor that wasn’t her pediatrician.  She was the youngest person in the waiting room and kind of got a kick out of the whole experience.

When we got back into the exam room, the nurse explained to Zoe they didn’t have ‘kids’ gowns so she would have to wear a ‘big girl’ gown. Zoe was so excited, the nurse couldn’t get out of the room fast enough before she was taking her clothes off to get into that gown. When the doctor came in, he checked Zoe out and prescribed an ointment to help clear up the little rash. As soon as we get in the car, the first thing out of Zoe’s mouth was, “We HAVE to go fill my scription!” We went over to CVS where Zoe handed the pharmacist her script and we waited for it to be filled. When they called Zoe’s name, she jumped up and ran to the counter to pick it up. I’ve never seen a child so excited to get a prescription. I’m sure if it was anything other than an ointment that didn’t burn going on, she wouldn’t of been so thrilled to get it but, for now I’m grateful the only script she needs is for a little rash – Amen!

Bracelets

Zoe's latest passion is making these cute colorful bracelets....

Firefly Festival

Tonight was so much fun! We went to the firefly festival with the Ostroff family. They had great crafts for the kids, live music, wagon rides out to the bonfire for s'mores making, family games, and bbq dinner and desserts and of course....fire fly catching!!!

Jersey Shore

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Shelli just took a position at her old employer and as exciting that is, we knew she had a lot of paperwork, and setup to do over the next few days. This being her first week back, we knew Mimi would need a little quiet time to relearn the ropes.  So, Z and I hit the road and met up with Dana & Jaylyn at their family beach house in Wildwood, NJ.

The house ‘down the shore’ is small so Z and I opted to stay at hotel a few miles from the beach house. Dana’s parents are always so warm and welcoming when we visit. They always make meals and have lots of yummy snacks on hand.

Dana and Jaylyn had been there since the beginning of the week so Jaylyn was super excited to have Z there to play with. The girls did it all from the beach, to the boardwalk, the rides, the playground, of course ate lots of junk food on the boardwalk, played UNO, and just had a good ‘ol time.

It was nice after a full day of crazy to go back to a quiet hotel room. As we pulled into the hotel to park Zoe saw the rides on the boardwalk all lit up and she looked at me and said, “Mommy, can we walk back up to the boardwalk, PLEASSSSE???” Our hotel was only two blocks from the boardwalk.  Even though it was already 9:15pm, we grabbed our sweaters and headed to the boardwalk for some touristy shopping. If that doesn’t say summer vacation, I don’t know what does!

We only went down for 2 days, but it was worth every second of the 2-hour mother/daughter road trip. We have one more trip planned to the beach before school starts. This time Mimi will be able to sneak away and join us. We can’t wait!