July 19 - Day 5 Ocean City
We decided to try a different day today. We found a flyer for a whale and dolphin boat tour in the little town 30 minutes away. The tour was a 3 hour one. Insert your own Gilligan's Island jokes here. We found a fantastic place to eat breakfast (pancakes and fruit!) and then made the drive to Wildwood. This little town also had its own boardwalk so we checked it out. It was also fun though incredibly hot!



Abby and Olivia hanging out in Wildwood.



Abby on the boat as we headed out to sea in search of whales and dolphins. Sadly we never saw any whales but we saw lots of dolphins (including several very cute baby dolphins). Both Abby and Olivia fell asleep for about an hour of the trip. Abby fell asleep on my lap while we were sitting on the front of the boat. It was one of the most peaceful feelings I ever remember having. My sleeping child, the sun, and a great breeze.





Both girls woke up very happy from their boat naps!



One very cool part of the boat was the touch tank. They had a large tank filled with sea animals that were fine for kids (of all ages) to touch. The captain that explained about each animal was really good and both Abby and Olivia listened intently as he told about each animal and demonstrated the correct way to hold them. Then he let anyone who wanted to hold them. We were the last ones to leave once the boat docked! In the picture above Abby is learning how to hold the hermet crab.



Look mommy!!



After the boat docked, we stopped by the Wildwood beach for awhile.



They were so cute running around the beach holding hands.





On the way back to the house. She had put stickers on her lips. :-)

July 18 - Day 4 Ocean City
Another wonderful day at the beach! More sand castles and swimming around jellyfish. Somehow I didn't get any pictures from the beach but suffice it to say we had a blast.



After baths and before naps, Olivia "read" a book to Abby.



After lunch at the house and a nice long nap (and some great reading time for me!), we ate dinner at a well-established place. The kids menu even had turkey, applesauce, and mashed potatoes. We found a nice (and very large) playground and let the kids play until it was time to head back for bed.



My little monkey.



Two sweet girls!



Tickle and a hug combined.

July 17 - Day 3 Ocean City - part 2
After nap time, we went to the boardwalk in Ocean City. We loved it!! There was so much for the girls to watch and do (and eat!). We started out eating pizza that was just delicious. I can't remember the name of the place now but it was clearly a landmark.



After pizza we went to one of the amusement parks on the boardwalk. Both girls loved riding the rides!



The Ocean City amusement park we visited (there was another one too but this one seemed to be the biggest).



We started out with the little cars and worked our way up. Abby was grinning and waving the whole ride.



This was the view from the Thomas the Train ride. It was a little train that was elevated (so parents rode with the kids). Right when we were next in line to ride, we were told the ride had to shut down because "something was broken". Fortunately, whatever it was must not have been major. We only had to wait 5 minutes.



Another view from the Thomas the Train ride. We also rode the kid's roller coaster and Abby LOVED it!! I couldn't take pictures on it but she even held her hands up when she saw other kids doing it.



Abby and Olivia posing on one of the many boardwalk benches. Later in the evening it was hard to find a bench that was not occupied.



Posing behind the Ocean City flip flops. :-)



Ocean City boardwalk. It is a truly family oriented place. By the end of the week Abby would say "can we please go to the boardwalk". It was one of her vacation highlights.



No trip to the boardwalk would be complete without ice cream. The funny thing is I found out AFTER buying what I thought was a small ice cream cone that they actually sold much smaller kid cones. Let's just say the birds got about half of this one. :-)

July 17 - Day 3 Ocean City
We went to the beach early again. This time we had a much shorter walk (about 2 blocks) since we didn't need to make the store detour. Abby LOVED the water and was fearless. The water was pretty cool (even though the day was very hot). Unfortunately, we saw a lot of jellyfish so we didn't get to do a lot of swimming. I have been stung several times by jellyfish and I did not want Abby to get stung. Jellyfish hurt sooooo bad.



Like mommy, like daughter. She loves the beach!!



Covered in sand just as she should be.



We built a lot of sand castles. And also packed a lot of heavy sand in one small bucket.



Partners in crime.



I know my dad would be so proud of her. He loved building sand castles.

July 16 - Day 2 Ocean City
After a good night's sleep, we got dressed in bathing suits, loaded up all necessary beach stuff and walked to the beach. Because we had not yet gone to the store, we had to walk a few blocks to stock up on some bottled water. The girls did great but we did have a few meltdowns through that first full day. We knew the kids were tired and were actually expecting it. But even with a few scattered tears, we still had a wonderful and fun day. It was very hot but it was beautiful.



Abby and Olivia all ready for the beach. They are sitting on the steps of the house.



They walked the first part of the walk to the store holding hands.



Hats? Check! Beach cover-ups? Check! Sunglasses? Check! Good friend? Check! And that last one is most important!

We found a little place to eat lunch. It was good (though a bit slow!) The girls took pretty long naps that day so right when they woke up we went to dinner. After dinner we stopped by the store so we could get basics like milk, bread, and fruit. Even though it was a little late, it was vacation, so we stopped by a very good ice cream store.



Chocolate ice cream with sprinkles makes any vacation!

July 15 - Day 1 Ocean City
This year for vacation we went to Ocean City, NJ - http://www.oceancityvacation.com/. We went on vacation with our friends Amanda and her daughter Olivia. Amanda and I went through the adoption process at the same time. It is definitely like being pregnant at the same time. Olivia is just one month older than Abby and even though we live in different states (they live in Pennsylvania) we have all become good friends. Our other friends, Julia and her daughter Katy, were also supposed to join us but due to illness they had to stay home. :-(

Abby is a wonderful traveler. She just kind of rolls with delays, sitting still, and lots of walking. Our flight to Philadelphia was early so we had to be up and ready early. We arrived at the airport to find a VERY long security line. The Atlanta airport is busy no matter what time you travel. Fortunately, I brought Abby's stroller and anyone with a stroller gets to go to a slightly shorter line. Abby has flown enough now to know to take off her shoes when going through security. She looks like a little professional.



Abby was great on the plane. I had packed some new books, sticker books, paper and crayons, and a few card games. Between that and eating breakfast, she was busy the entire flight.

We arrived in Philadelphia on time and made our way to pick up the rental car. Ugh. Though I had reserved a toddler car seat when I made the reservation, they only had a (tiny) infant car seat. After a lot of waiting, they finally sent a manager to the store to buy a seat and he came back with a booster seat (for much older kids). Strike two. We were there for 2 hours and I finally had reached the point of wanting to go to another rental agency when someone turned in a toddler car seat.

We met Amanda and Olivia at a cute little restaurant not too far from the airport and after a late lunch, we followed them to Ocean City. Olivia and Abby were both so excited to see each other! Amanda and Olivia live in Philadelphia. We last saw them the week before Christmas in New York City so it was really something to see how much Olivia had grown.

By the time we arrived in Ocean City, it was late afternoon. We found the house without any trouble and after unloading the cars, we quickly walked to the beach. The weather had cleared up and it was a really great evening.



YAY!! We are finally at the beach!



When we got to the beach Abby was so excited she just plopped right down in the sand. Yes, I felt that way too!



She was also ready to start immediately with the sand castles.



Two adorable friends happy on the beach.



So this is the Jersey shore. Abby has now been to 7 states (Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey). Oh, and she has also been to 3 countries so far (Kazakhstan, Germany, and, of course, the U.S.).



We found a pizza place within walking distance and ate dinner there. It was ok but we definitely had better meals later in the week. After dinner, we walked back to the house (which was very nice!). The girls played a little before bath time and then bed. Both were pretty tired and went to sleep without any trouble.

We were definitely off to a great week.

Avery's Birthday
Avery turned 3 and had a very fun princess party. The party was at her uncles' house which is simply beautiful. They had a bounce thing for the kids and a margarita machine for the parents. :-)



Avery wore her very pretty dress. She impressed me by being able to jump in it too!



The girls were laughing and eating cookies on this window seat. It's amazing to think about how much they are now able to communicate with each other.



What 3 year old doesn't love the bounce thing?



Thank goodness pinatas now have strings for the kids to pull. Three year olds swinging a bat is a bit stressful to watch!



Avery's birthday cake. It was very yummy too!



Closely supervising the present opening.



My happy girl having fun at the party.

Twirling
One of Abby's favorite activities is twirling. This also includes variations of twirling so spinning ranks right up there. While twirling can be fun anytime, maximum twirling is best when wearing a skirt.



We started out watering the flowers but Abby managed to get some twirling in as well.



Whee!!!!