Ocean City

It was a busy summer for us (well, for Nate), so we really wanted a little break before school started up once again. And since I love the warmer water of the Atlantic Ocean, we decided that it would be really fun to do a beach vacation. We looked up some places and Ocean City, Maryland looked like the closest one and it looked really fun. We booked the cheapest hotel that was right on the boardwalk and we were excited!

We left on Thursday, August 22nd and were able to meet up with the Kreischers in Hagerstown for lunch, so that was fun. We were able to do some catching up. The only downside is that I was just getting over being sick. I didn't have any symptoms except a fever and horrible aches and pains. But as long as I took Ibuprofen every 4 hours, I was ok. Luckily that was the last day of the sickness and I felt better at Ocean City. An answer to my prayer, I'm sure!

The long bridge we crossed on our way to OC

Our hotel was really old, but they kept it as clean. The room was also small so we did a little bit of rearranging to get the pack n play in the room. We had brought an extra sheet and some pushpins hoping that we could partition off the pack n play from the rest of the room, but the walls were too hard! We couldn't get the pins in. So that first night, we tried putting Logan to bed while we were still in the room. We even tried acting like we were sleeping, but Logan would not go to sleep. He just kept crying off and on. He didn't even ever lay down! After awhile, we decided it wasn't working, so we hung out in the hall until we were absolutely sure he was asleep. People probably thought we were crazy as they practically stepped over us to get to and from their rooms (the hallway was teeny). But our baby finally went to sleep. The next naps & nights, we decided to just start out that way and we left the TV on so that way when we came back in, there would be something to cover up our noise and something for us to do.

So the next day, we walked on down practically to the end of the boardwalk bright and early so we could get cheaper tickets for the Sea Rocket. It was a giant speed boat that boasted that dolphins like to play in the wake. They weren't joking! We saw a bunch of dolphins! Logan noticed them too! I've never seen a dolphin so I thought they were really cool. The only downside was that when we were going fast against the wind, there was a lot of force and made it difficult to breath which made Logan cry. Not to mention the fact that it also made his nose run like crazy so we were almost constantly wiping it, and snot was still flying! Luckily the other people on the boat didn't seem to mind the crying.

Logan wasn't a fan of the wrist thing we had to wear. He kept trying to take it off.

On the boat

Looking backwards to avoid the wind in his face. This was before it got so bad that he was crying

Dolphins! It was really hard to get great pictures

The nose of one

The boat assistant (I can't remember the ship title he was given) took a family photo.
Too bad Logan wouldn't look at him. I guess it was too bright.

Some sort of crab/sting ray
We actually saw some at the Akron Zoo but here they are in the wild!

Gigantic kite

Some religious group I guess always does some amazing sandart

The little white boards in front just had different scriptures on them

After the Sea Rocket, we walked back to our hotel (stopping for some ice cream) for lunch and a nap for Logan. We bought a cooler so that we could bring milk for cereal and lunch supplies to save money so we only had to eat out once a day. And we knew that there was a fridge in the room so everything would stay good.

After Logan's nap, we went out for some fun on the beach. Logan loved playing in the sand. He did ok in the water too, but the sand was the really fun thing. He had sand everywhere by the end, but he had fun and that's all that matters. We had a shovel a bucket from his birthday and we decided to buy a few more sand toys for his souvenir as well. We figured he'd like that better than a T-shirt (which is what we got for ourselves) and he would use them for longer. He also really liked chasing the seagulls. His other favorite thing was to watch mommy or daddy getting hit by the waves. He thought that was hilarious!

Our sandcastle. It was difficult to make one since Logan enjoyed knocking them down

Look at that big boy!
I promise I was there! I just always seem to take pictures so I'm not in very many of them.

Playing on the beach

For dinner we had some pizza that tasted exactly the way they make pizza in Italy! The thin crust baked in a brick oven. I was in heaven! And luckily, we just missed the rain. As we were eating under an umbrella, it started raining. But while we were out at the beach, the weather was great! Not too hot and not too cold. And the water is never as cold in the Atlantic as in the Pacific, which I love.

The next day we decided to see the Assateague Island National Park where there are wild horses that have acclimated to island living. Online it said we could get in for $6 so we figured it would be worth it. When we got there, first of all, it took a bit for us to figure out where to go. We first went to a place that seemed to be mostly for the beach and it was less money. So we went a different way and it turned out we had to pay $15! The pass was for a whole week, but we only wanted to be there for a few hours! So we were annoyed with that. And then once we were in the park, we still couldn't figure out where to go. Luckily, we did spot some horses hanging out on a beach so we hiked over there. They looked normal enough but there are warnings all over that if you get too close you would probably get bit or kicked so we stayed a very safe distance away. We made another stop that seemed to be some sort of wetlands. There were lots of birds, people fishing/crabbing, and people kayaking. We decided it would be fun to kayak in some nice, calm water. I would be freaked out about tipping over if I ever kayaked in white water. All-in-all, it wasn't the greatest experience but I can see how it would be really fun if you had kayaks, bikes, or wanted to camp or swim there but it's not a great place to just walk around in. Oh well, live and learn.

A crab measurer. You could only take the crab if it was bigger than the pictured crab

After that we went back to hotel for lunch and a nap for Logan. Then we went back out to walk the boardwalk again, eat Thrashers fries (we were told we had to by the Kreischers), and play on the beach again.

A lady was enjoying watching Logan (because he's darling:) and offered to take a picture of us.
Yay for family pictures!

The next day we had to head back to Ohio. It was hard to leave. I really wished we could've stayed longer and that we had more money! There were so many little shops and restaurants and things to do on the boardwalk. The vacation was too short! But we are too poor for it to have been any longer. We were going to try to make it to church, but the closest one was over a half hour away and we didn't think we could get checked out and ready to go by 8:15 so we just left when we were ready. Unfortunately, we needed to eat out one more time (since we had to eat 2 meals on the road) and so we went to a Burger King that had a play place. Before we could even eat, we had to change Logan because he had leaked through his diaper. I guess when you are stuck in a carseat for hours, you drink a lot! While he was playing on the play place, he then pooped so we had to change him again before we left and in the process of trying to get out and getting him changed, I left his messy outfit outside on a table. And it was one I really liked! And it might have been one of Missy's, so I'm really sorry if it was! It was a one piece short-sleeved/shorts that was tan with brown trimmings that said something about Beach Bum and had an orange palm tree.

Inside that dirty play place

Anyway we had fun and would love to go again, but we probably won't.