Monday, April 21, 2014

Spring Break

By the second week of April, we were finally enjoying spring-like weather.  G's parents came into town and we were looking forward to a trip to southern NJ for spring break. 

Before we left though, we stopped by the elementary school for J's Bio-Wax museum.  All the 3rd graders researched an important person (mostly from history), dressed up, and "became" that person Friday afternoon.  They were frozen until we pushed their buttons, then they gave a short talk about themselves.  Can you tell who J was?

Most people couldn't.  He was the Swamp Fox, Francis Marion!  I love Francis Marion.  I had a huge crush on him in high school (I know; that's probably why I didn't date much...) so I was very pleased when J came up with that idea all on his own.

He did awesome, and it was fun to go around and see who all the other kids picked.  There were a lot of Rosa Parks and George Washingtons, of course, several Oprah Winfreys, two girls who picked Elizabeth I, and a great Elvis who was Indian.  Awesome.

Monday morning, we packed up and headed for the beach.  We got there in time to run around in the sand for a while in the afternoon.  It was nice and shallow, so there was a lot of beach at low tide.  We saw some snails crawling around ("Those shells are moving by themselves, Mama!") and found some really nice shells.  The boys loved that there was "quicksand" that they kept sinking into.  Yuck.  I don't know if that was oil or what but it was not sand or normal dirt.

But we were lucky to have that afternoon because Tuesday it POURED rain.  During one break in the storm, we went out to Cape May lighthouse and climbed the 199 steps to the top.  The boys loved that, especially the gale force winds at the top.  They chased some waves at the beach while the grandparents and I took M into the little museum which was full of slithery creatures that she adored.



Lighthouse hair

We got home in time for the storm to hit again.  We were glad we weren't in a tent.  The temperatures dropped dramatically, so we went to the zoo.  It's a pretty nice zoo but because of the cold, all the animals the kids wanted to see were in their houses, so we missed the snow leopards, giraffes, lions, the tiger, and most of the birds and smaller animals.  :(



M really wanted to pet this swan.  It really wanted to nip her.



J really, really liked the aviary.
Then the stomach flu hit.  So Thursday, G graciously stayed home with the three youngest, and I took C and the grandparents to take a trolley tour of Cape May and another tour of a Victorian house.  That was really interesting, and the architecture in the town is adorable.  That's what comes of a resort town built by rich vacationers!

All in all, it was a nice week and the kids loved the house and the beach and all the time they got to watch PBSKids while stuck inside...  I am still hoping that next spring break (after two in a row spent shivering), we get some nicer weather!

Shenanigans in the back seat.  The reason they rarely are allowed to sit together.



C was glad he brought a tripod.  He had fun taking pictures from the balcony.

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