More Summer Fun!

We had a crazy, busy fun summer but still managed to do some of the things we do EVERY summer.
Here's some photos of the shore (where we begin our summer) and next post will be the Poconos (where we end it!)

Standard shot of the girls jumping in the ocean with their clothes on. It started as they disobeying me, but has become a joke. Some years I get better shots than other ... 

Lizzie leaping for joy at the thought of spending a few days at the ocean!

 Rob and his brother Sholto (Uncle Dude, to the girls):

We always celebrate a few birthdays at the shore. Grandma Connie's still recovering from her cancer treatment, so we missed celebrating Rob's big 5-0 so he and Dud partied the night away (which for Rob means 5 p.m.) and here's their cake:

 We always go to the same beach and THIS year they had built an ice cream stand right by our spot, so of course we had to try it out:

 Fish barbecue! Living at the shore for several years ruined me for regular fish from the markets around here, so we always make sure to BBQ some fresh fish.

Our spot at the beach. One day I WILL rent one of those houses (or not) just so I don't have to lug everything to the sand for 14 blocks away!

 Trolly Stop Ice Cream place is a regular stop ... although the name seems to change a lot so I'm not really sure if it's still the Trolley Stop.

 Here's a picture of some of the nature at Reed's Beach:

Sunset at Reed's Beach. The area really cleaned up a lot after the storms last year, but it's still worn and tacky and so I still love it!

 Sunset at Reed's Beach without Hannah and Lizzie:

We rescued this horseshoe crab and a couple of its friends. They come up on shore to lay their eggs and then get knocked on their backs by the waves and then can't get back to the water and become dinner for the seagulls. :( I don't know who saved them back in the day because they are as old as the dinosaurs. But in 2014, it was Hannah and Liz.

Sunset Beach ... home to Cape May Diamonds, a decaying concrete ship and lots of rats. I try to ignore the rats swimming around the ship.

Lizzie found lots of different rocks, including a couple of diamonds:

I cannot tell you how many trips to Lowe's and/or Home Depot and/or Walmart and how many DAYS it took to fix this door, but let's just say it was a theme for the entire trip...

Much to Lizzie's chagrin, there's always time for sports:

 And (more happily for Liz!) bike riding: