The Beaches of Cape May County

We're home from another spectacular week at the shore. I really like our summer vacation schedule of a week at the shore with Rob's family and a week in the Poconos with my family. And not just because we stay for free both places...
This year the weather was perfect at the beach. The first three days we were there it was HOT HOT HOT. However the water was COLD COLD COLD. It was something like 64 degrees, which didn't matter at all to the 7-year-olds, but did matter quite a bit to the 51-year-old who had to be in the water with them.
This is the first of two posts about the shore vacation. This one focuses on our two favorite beaches: Stone Harbor and Reed's Beach. Actually it's probably just me who likes Reed's Beach since you can't really swim there, but you can walk out on the rock jetty and watch the sunset which (for me, but not the 7-year-olds) totally trumps digging sand out of your bathing suit for an hour after you've come home from the beach.
So, here are the pictures. This is Rob and the girls on the beach. I'm pretty sure Rob was forcing them to get out of the water in this picture. We tell them to go down to the shoreline to rinse off some sand and then we see them dancing around in the water again. LAST year, they were afraid of the waves and wouldn't let go of our hands. THIS year, we are the superfluous parents who are pretty much there to drive them to the beach and purchase ice cream for them.

See what I mean ... no fear. They couldn't get enough of the waves. The VERY COLD WAVES.

I'm not sure if Lizzie is reacting to the water, practicing Jazz Hands, or doing some sort of re-enactment from the Karate Kid. Whatever, it's cute, although I'm probably biased.

Here she is again, just splashed over by a swell. I didn't get any pictures of it (because I was a little nervous having my camera in the water already) but both of them were diving into the waves and then swimming underwater before they came up, only to dive into another way. Worrying about them was my aerobic exercise for the week:

Hannah dancing around in the waves. She's wearing a sunblock shirt to protect her from the sun's rays, even though she already has a deep, dark, tropical tan. She thought the shirt made her look like a real beach girl:

Lizzie being chased by a wave:

Lizzie just about caught by that same wave:

Both girls enjoying the water. Next year we may try boogie boards. But first I have to go to the doctor and get a full cardiac workup:

This pretty much summed up the beach for Lizzie. She loved every minute of it: This is Hannah, conducting the waves to break before they get to her:

Things in the sand were fun, too. Here's the obligatory picture of a child buried in the sand:

And then it was on to Reed's Beach. The light in the early evening is great for pictures. Here's one of Hannah. Hannah's growing out her bangs, so I try to braid her hair most days to keep it out of her eyes. At the beach it gets wet, so when we take it out at night, it's all curly and she LOVES IT:

Here's Lizzie on the jetty. Yes, Mom, she does need a haircut. ;)

Hannah picking her way between seaweed, sand and dead horseshoe crabs. She stubbed her toe right after I took this picture and nearly bled all over my car.

Here's my yearly sunset photo of children playing on the rocks at Reed's Beach. I swear that someday I will buy one of the ticky tacky run-down buildings that are there (and still cost about a million each) and I will sit on the deck and watch the sun set every single night.