(Special thank you to Aunt Jen for allowing me to steal some of her blog post to make this one a little easier on me!)
After a great week with the Owens family in Ocean City we hopped on the Cape May Ferry to begin Beach Week #2 in Brigantine,NJ with the entire G-willie side of the family.
Colin wasn't too sure about the ferry. Riding on a giant boat in the ocean was certainly a new experience for him!
Little G was just happy to be in mommy's arms. She eventually fell asleep and Colin was being so loud on the boat I was literally having to hide from him to keep his sister from waking up. She can sleep through most things but no longer her brother's screams.
In honor of Nana and Grandpa's 40th wedding anniversary, they rented a big house near the beach where 17 of us, ranging in ages from 4 months to 91 years old, could all be under one roof for the week. It was the perfect house for all of us. Just a few blocks away, Aunt Ellen and Uncle Jim had rented a house with 12 more G-willies to join in the festivities. In short, it was awesome.
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| Our house on 33rd St. |
We couldn't wait to arrive because this was the first time the Goodwillie side of the family would be meeting our sweet Genevieve.
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| Genevieve Rose, 4 months |
Uncle Anthony couldn't wait to get his baby fix, and Genevieve greeted him with the biggest and best smiles!
Cousin Liam was also excited to meet his newest little cousin and called dibs on holding her right away.
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| Pierre, Genevieve, Liam, Dad, Joergen, and Sarah |
Sarah had to endure five little boys joining the family until finally getting a girl Goodwillie cousin!
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| Aunt Erin so excited to meet Genevieve |
Though we were at the beach, our gang spent a lot of time back at the house holding down the fort. Colin was struggling with a diaper rash and Genevieve had a strange rash on her body, add in lots of baby naps and a toddler staying up well past his bedtime it was best for us to lay low.
Staying back at the house gave us lots of one on one time with each other and different family members.
Genevieve spent most of her time being cuddled...
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| Genevieve was all smiles over all the attention. |
While Colin enjoyed telling stories and playing games....
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Uncle Tim, Colin, and Sarah
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The cousins had lots of fun getting reacquainted with each other:
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| Move Time! |
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| Sharing Grandpa's Snack |
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| Breakfast Cartoons |
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| A little electronics time |
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| Craft Time! |
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| Twister! with Mommy too |
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Nana telling bedtime stories
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Reading books at naptime
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Pretending to be animal rescuers
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The Dads:
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| Toddler Walk with the Daddies |
Lots of food and drinks to go around!
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| Men in the kitchen; Aunt Jayne keeping them in line! |
And with all that excitement, sometimes we even needed to rest.
Even Mommy and Daddy needed some shut eye...
While we mostly rested back at the house the rest of the fam spent most of their days on the beach:
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| Uncle Thomas off to the beach with a herd of kids |
One of the best parts of this vacation was having GG there with us. Since it isn't exactly easy to walk on sand in the first place, let alone when you're recovering from a hip replacement, Grandpa rented a cool beach-ready wheelchair for her so she could enjoy the beach and surf too. GG wanted so badly to jump outta that chair and go swimming for real!
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| Four generations in the surf: Liam, Aunt Jen, Grandpa, and GG |
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| Sarah, Pierre, and Liam |
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| Eric, Lena, Dillon, and Liam |
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| Aunt Erin, GG, Aunt Jen |
It wasn't easy but all four of us did indeed finally make it down to the beach!
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| Our little sleepy head enjoyed a nap in the breeze - cuddle up with Daddy of course. |
On one strangely chilly day, all the Dads and Aunt Jen headed over to Atlantic City to play at Steel Pier, where they had so much fun riding rides and playing games!
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| Liam, Daddy, Colin, Uncle Anthony, Joergen, Uncle Thomas, Augustin, Pierre, and Sarah |
A random family was leaving right when we arrived and handed us a big booklet of their unused ride tickets. Thank you, whoever you were!
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| Liam on the ferris wheel |
Uncle Anthony just can't help himself around those basketball games on the boardwalk, and that day was no exception. He did awesome, though, and won a prize for each of the kids!
Liam and Sarah had so much fun that Aunt Jen promised she'd bring them back to the AC boardwalk for an hour or so the following day. They were greeted at the pier entrance by a couple of Atlantic City "showgirls"-- oh heavens!
After a quick lunch, they hit up some games. Liam and Sarah were determined to win prizes, and win they did! Sarah won the first game, and without batting an eye, she asked Liam what prize he wanted and handed it right to him. It was the sweetest gesture! And a contagious one at that-- Liam won their second game all on his own and returned her kindness by asking her what prize she wanted and giving it right to her. Liam then passed on the dog to Colin who preciously tells me daily its the dog that Liam gave him!
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| Sarah and Liam with the prizes they'd won for each other |
Our 4th Anniversary happened to be in the middle of the week...
Since we had a house full of babysitters we took advantage and went into Atlantic City for dinner. We had an excellent meal at The Knife and Fork.
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| Complete with a Happy Anniversary treat from the chef. |
This was not the only milestone to be celebrated during our vacation. We also celebrated...
Colin's Birthday...
Aunt Erin's birthday...
Cousin Melissa's birthday...
Cousin Gilbey's birthday...
and of course, Grandpa and Nana's 40th Anniversary.
Their milestone event warrants a post of its own... to be continued!
