Mini-Vacay

On the weekend before Joergen's birthday, we took our very first family trip for just the four of us for a little weekend getaway to the Legacy Vacation Club in Brigantine, NJ.  I was supposed to take this trip back in November with a group of girls for my best friend's bachelorette party, but alas, Hurricane Sandy had other plans!  So the trip was rescheduled for a different weekend at a different hotel with different people, and although different all together, we had a blast. 

Who wants to go swimming?!

We do!! (Sweet get-up, L-dog!)

We got there on Friday night, ate a quick pizza dinner, and hit the pool for a nighttime swim.  And on Saturday morning, we woke up, ate breakfast, and went right back to that pool.  We loved being able to go swimming even though it was only 40 degrees outside and spent the majority of our weekend right there.

What a difference 6 months (and a cool life jacket) made with regards to Joergen's confidence in swimming!  He started by just putting his feet in and splashing...

Followed by sitting on the first step... (look at that grin! He knew what he was doing!)

And then he was off, putting his face in the water and motoring around that pool by himself like a big kid!

Liam needed no encouragement whatsoever-- he was in that water (and it wasn't exactly warm!) faster than you could say "brrrrrr!" and didn't stop until we pretty much dragged him out by the goggles.

Liam also managed to make friends with a gaggle of teenage girls... heaven help us!  Our four-year-old flirt!

Liam and Dad also had some fun taking turns jumping in:

Love this picture of Liam "steering" his dad around the pool!

While Joergen (and Dad, for that matter) took a nice long nap on Saturday afternoon, Liam and I decided to head over to Atlantic City to check out the aquarium.  Bonus point if you can find who's hiding in this picture!

The aquarium was the perfect size for a preschooler, and we had a great time meeting all kinds of sea creatures.

Well, hi there!

A highlight for Liam had to be this tank, where he could actually pet a shark.  They were just little guys, but he was ecstatic to make contact and exclaimed, "I did it!  And they're super-slimy!"

We then spent some time watching this giant sea turtle... who spent some time watching us right back.

Liam took this picture of his new turtle-friend, and I thought it was pretty darn awesome:

We then checked out the much smaller version upstairs:

"Awww, hi buddy!"

On the very top floor, Liam was thrilled to find Captain Hook himself!

When we were all aquarium-ed out, we headed back to Brigantine, woke up the lazy half of the fam (who was seriously still sleeping!), bundled up, and hit the beach.

As we were walking towards the ocean, little Joer held my hand and just stared with wide eyes at the sea.  I heard his little voice say, over and over, "wow. maaazing. wow" and wondered, could this be his first time ever seeing the ocean?!  I turned to Dad and we racked our brains for a few moments, only to realize that yes-- this was it!  Such a cool, almost-overlooked, milestone for our baby boy!!

He took in the great sea with every bit of wonder and awe in his little self.  "Ocean maaazing, Mommy!"

Thanks to an early Easter present from Aunt Doreen, we had a bucket and shovel on hand right in my car, so Liam took charge of the hunt for cool seashells (which he later painstakingly washed in the bathroom sink of the hotel).

We were relieved to see how great Brigantine is looking post-Sandy, and can't wait for July when we return with warmer weather and a whole lot of G-willies!

Race ya down the dune!