On the Way to Cape May…

In the mid-70’s, my grandparents bought a summer home in the heart of Cape May. I’ve been going to their house, only a few blocks walk to the beach, since I was 6 months old. Cape May is all I have known in terms of a ‘beach town’ and I adore it.

We’ve taken Cbear (age 3) to the shore house the summer after he was born, and this will be his 3rd trip. Bman (age 1.5) will be making his 2nd trip this year. The past two years have not been great shore traveling experiences for us. We’re talking lots of tears and reststops. This year, we hope to change that!

En Route
The main three differences this year are:

1. Bman is no longer nursing;
2. I just turned Bman’s carseat forward facing this week; and
3. We have a dual screen DVD player for the car

Really, while items #1 and 2 seem like significant changes, the DVD player definitely outshines them by a landslide. We’ve taken some trips to the mountains and it has been a lifesaver. I fully expect the same results on this trip as well, and many reruns of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse being viewed. We’re also going to watch a new DVD titled Happy Valley from OrganaKids (check back for a review upon our return).

Hitting the Beach
I mentioned our house is a walkable distance to the beach. With two kids and all their beach needs, driving is still a must. Just like ‘back in the day’ when my father carted our umbrella, chairs and toys to the beach, we’ll probably be employing the same strategy. Bring the kids and all the stuff in the car, unload and one parent goes back to park the car at the house then walk.

All Cbear has talked about is visiting Great Nana’s house and letting the ocean waves tickle his toes and chase him. I’m hoping once we get there he is still just as excited. On his first visit, Bman was not happy in the sand. The hour it took us to get the 5 month old Bman ready for his first trip to the beach resulted in about a 10 minute stay. I’m optimistic that he’ll love chasing his older brother around near the water, and the only tears we’ll see on his face are from being splashed!

Playtime!
We’re lucky enough to have a good bit of fenced in property, so we’ll try to take only a few indoor toys such as legos, and wean ourselves to only one or two Lightening McQueen cars. What I’m really hoping is to have just a few outdoor balls and our trusty Fisher Price lawnmowers. That’s right… we’re bringing two since only having one just causes a fight. While the boys love walking the blocks and mowing the sidewalk, but I’m hoping they start practicing mowing the actual lawn so they put that knowledge to good use in, say, 10 more years 😉

Naps and Bedtimes
… oh the schedule. We went off schedule just before vacation and I just went with it. Our usual bedtimes of 7 and 7:30pm had somehow managed to be pushing 8 and 8:45. But, I figured with vacation and boardwalk strolls, that would be OK. We are also planning on attending the Movies on the Beach at Howard Street so hopefully we’ll be able to keep the kids going enough to catch a little bit of the movie. You can check out more fun things to do in Cape May by visiting our contributing blogger A Magical Mommy’s site and calendar, which is how I found out about the beach movies!

Another question mark in our plans are the sleeping arrangements. Bman will be sleeping in a pack n’ play and Cbear will, for the first time, have a raised twin bed with a bedrail (his bed at home is a full mattress on the floor). I’m hoping that this doesn’t upset those Z’s too much!

The Boards
Since my kids are just 3 years old and 18 months, I opted to take my double side-by-side stroller. Cbear is a BIG walker, but with the sea air and playing outdoors all day long, I know he will just crash at some point. Not wanting to miss a nice walk at night, the double stroller was a must.

Wish us luck!