24 hours

after dinner and soccer practice last wednesday we headed out to coldstone creamery; it was a reward for going three days without sugar. we have a shop less than ten minutes away but opted for one farther away for a later-to-be-disclosed surprise.

after enjoying a delicious treat we headed to the oceanfront for a walk on the beach ~ it was 8:00 p.m., dark, windy and c-c-c-cold. while walking we discovered a play set right on the beach; it had two slides, monkey bars and a small rock wall. m2 was a little frightened by the loud volume of waves crashing on the shore, along with the fact that it was very dark. m1 scooted across the monkey bars without hesitation and little man was crawling on the roof above the slide. at least if he fell the landing would be soft.

when we returned to the car instead of climbing in, jd opened the back and the children discovered their suitcases. "are we staying in a hotel room tonight?" it clicked with little man first and then m1 started jumping up and down with delight. not to be left out m2 joined in the jumping and "yeah-ing". we headed inside, checked in, unpacked and got ready to hit the pool. as soon as i took out my camera it fogged up, so i only have one picture of the girls in the pool. jd and i took turns with pool responsibility and soaking in the hot tub. by 10:00 we were ready to head up for bed ~ these guys are normally in bed by 7:30 on school nights! of course, they were on sugar highs!

the view the following morning was grand. (no school due to veteran's day) looking to the right of the sun you can see the play set on the beach. breakfast of make-your-own waffles, fruit, yogurt and scrambled eggs, fueled us up for walking along the boardwalk and playing on the play set. it was fun how the slides dumped you right into the sand.

we snacked back in the room while i was packing up and then headed off for another surprise... 36 holes of putt putt at what should be m2's nap time. we had the whole course to ourselves. it was water filled with lots of rocks, caves, waterfalls and bridges. little man, our natural athlete, had several hole in one putts. some were on those trick holes where it drops in a series of drain pipes and you are never sure where it actually ends up until the ball pops out.

m1 was a good sport and added some comedy to our day.

everyone cheered on m2's one correct putt. she had the lowest score of the day since she placed her ball no more than 2 inches from each cup and putted in.

john david kept wondering how little man was getting all the breaks!

yes, it was nap time and other than this one small meltdown m2 did great!

oh, and i was there also!

by the time we were done, we were ready for some good eats. john david had scored a $25 off to max and erma's so we headed there for an early dinner. our final surprise of the day! we got home almost 24 hours after leaving for ice cream. a great family day was had by all!