Cape May!

Every year my whole family heads to Cape May, NJ for a week in August. This week was a little more special because my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on Sunday, August 9th. We reserved a big table at the Carriage House tearoom at the Physick Estate which has its own sentimental value because we usually do a ladies tea there every year. It was a humid day (thus the foggy lens on the camera), but other than that it was a beautiful event. Here's the happy couple:

I put together a scrapbook with some photos of when they were first dating and of their wedding day. I also collected memories and cards from important people in their lives and included them in the scrapbook, too. They were obviously thrilled with the result. It was so fun to go through the old photos.

My aunt sent along a copy of their wedding announcement (click to see a larger view):

Here is me with Mom and Dad enjoying reading what I wrote for them.

The food was excellent. A wonderful luncheon tea and the kids got delicious cookies. Liam is especially a fan of the cookies:

Here's the whole crew in the garden next to the tea room. It was a beautiful morning and such a nice way to celebrate 40 years of happiness!

The rest of the week was all about relaxing, enjoying the weather, each other's company and the ocean! John and Nathaniel had to jump right in. To think a few years ago these kids didn't really like going in the water. So much has changed since we first started coming to Cape May 5 years ago.

Sebastian is a fan of the little rides outside of the Arcade on the little boardwalk. Here he is with my brother John on this little Alien spinning ride.

One of Emerson's favorite things to do is try on other people's shoes. Here he is with my mom's sneakers on:

Here are all 5 of my nephews watching a movie. They really seemed to enjoy all laying on the floor together. This wasn't the only time during the weekend that this scene occured.

And yes, we play lots of board games. One of the most fun is Apples to Apples. It's great for a big group and for different age ranges (as long as they can read). John and Nathaniel are both super readers and enjoyed the game very much.

Another thing we do every year is go out to a nice dinner with just the siblings. No kids, no parents, just our generation. Here are Dan and Mo, me and John and Jill before heading out to dinner.

Every year as the boys get a little older and a little bolder I find that I need to get a little bolder, too, as far as going in the ocean goes. I think the first year we went I didn't even own a bathing suit! Sebastian really liked standing on the boogie board like the big kids, but he needed a little help when the water actually made it up to him. He doesn't weigh enough to not have the board float away! So here I am holding on and waiting for the water:

We saw a lot of dolphins this year and they were closer than we've ever seen them. Here's a shot of mom with a dolphin in the background. It was so cool to see them jumping and playing so close to the beach.

And of course, after some time in the water, you need some time to dry off. Here are Mom, Dad and Liam and enjoying the shade of the big beach umbrella.

The Washington Street Mall is a wonderful pedestrian street with tons of shops and restaurants. It's always fun to stroll along, buy at least one pair of shoes and get a frozen custard orange-vanilla twist with rainbow sprinkles at Kohr Brothers - one of my favorite summertime treats. Here are Mom and I at the Cape May Bell:

And every year we attempt to get a big family shot in front of our house. This year we tried, but these are the best two. It was starting to cloud up and sprinkle a little and Liam was afraid it was going to be a thunderstorm, so he's covering his ears, and Sebastian was a little worn out from getting pictures with his brothers just a few minutes before this, but overall I think it's a great shot and shows our family as we are in 2009.

And here's a fun one!

It was a really great week, as always. I'm already counting down the weeks until next year!

PS - Here's a hilarious video of Liam surprising my Dad. That laugh is totally contagious!