Virginia Beach - Travels and Matthew's First Time on the Beach

The drive wasn't as tedious as one might have thought.  We were able to get out of town without any major hitches and, basically, right on time. Punctuality has been an ongoing battle for us since Christopher's infant days and has only gotten worse since Matthew has come in to the picture.  The drive was alright until about half-way through Delaware, when we encountered intermittent torrential downpours, which last for the duration of our drive.  We also ran into heavy traffic of other people heading to the numerous beaches between Philadelphia and the Outer Banks.  Matthew and Christopher were able to bide their time without much issue.  Matthew opted to gnaw on his feet and Christopher entertained himself with the GPS...hey, whatever works, right? 

Once we arrived at the beach house, we unpacked and got some much needed relaxation time.  The family got ready for bed and we all went up for an early to bed.   We knew the next day we'd be heading to the beach.  Of course, Christopher woke up at the crack of dawn and he was so excited that he roused Matthew as well.  So, I took the opportunity to get the boys down to the beach to see how they'd handle it.  Matthew had never been to the beach and Christopher hadn't been in 2 years (and, notably, he was having no part of the ocean back then).  Shannon, Colleen's cousin Jackie's wife, happened to be awake as well.  Christopher loves that girl, and he asked if she could come with us to the beach.  She agreed and we all went down the beach.  I didn't have my good camera as our charger died and I had to replace it (which I did later in the week) so I was limited to using my iPod touch, which is why the pictures are grainy and low quality.(sorry for that).  Matthew was having no part of the intimidating waves...Christopher refused to get into the water with me, but was able to man-it-up when Shannon asked him to join her. It was really neat to see Christopher take to the water as well as he did and was equally neat that Matthew braved the waters later on in the morning....well, braved meaning that he allowed me to hold him while standing in the water. 

 

 

Matthew's Birthday Bash

Matthew turned 2-years old on Saturday.  We threw a party at Colleen's mother's, Marianne, house.  She has an above-ground pool and we thought it would be more fun to have that than to bear the heat and what not at our pool-less house!  We, as usual made the cake...not from scratch, mind you (and thank you Duncan Hines for providing such wonderful instant cake mixtures that makes this whole process a much less tedious one!).  We also had a lot of pool time for the kids.  I think it was fun for everyone!  We catered in a a dish and made the other two, saving us some cash on top of it, so it was a good experience all around!














The day started off a little suspect when an out-of-the-blue crazy thunder storm happened. We weren't sure this party was going to go down at all, but it did eventually subside and the festivities went on without any further hitches...well major ones anyway.

"What the hell is this?"

After the rain subsided, we were able to commence with the birthday celebrations.  Everyone gathered in my mother-in-law's sun porch and sang "Happy Birthday", then enjoyed, at least I'd like to think that, eating some cake and ice cream.  Then again, who doesn't love them some cake and ice cream.  I can think of no one who isn't out of their mind!  Matthew was able to oblige everyone's hope and get himself all sulleyed up just like he was supposed to. Pics of the cake to come a bit later on.

 The kids were able to drive on, through rain, sleet, or snow...no storm would take away from the fun!  But, as I mentioned, the rains did subside and the kids were able to take advantage of the pool.

I just love this picture for some reason...

There were gifts a-plenty and every kid seemed to have a good time....success.  Below I will update the pics of cakes past, ending with our latest production.  This one was Colleen's favorite. My favorite was our original cake, the Cubs baseball cake, but this one is a close second.  I have to admit that the figurines on the Matthew's 2nd b-day cake were made by Kari's Cheesecakes here in Levittown.  (www.facebook.com/pages/karis-cheesecakes)

Christopher's 1st

Christopher's 2nd

Christopher's 3rd

Matthew's 1st

Christopher's 4th

................................ DRUM ROLL PLEASE...................

Matthew's 2nd