We were very last minute this summer to make our “vacation” plans, but we managed to set up a few days to go to Ocean City, MD and hang out on the beach. We were very excited…lucky for us, we got there prior to the whole “Hurricane Irene”, though we did have a mandatory evacuation on Thursday evening, when we were suppose to stay over one more night, until Friday morning. (I was actually happy about it, b/c we were not planning on doing anything, just sleeping and leaving very early, around 8 AM, so I look at it as “we saved money!”)

While we were there, we did the normal going to the beach and swimming in the pool thing, but we also went to a National Park called Assateague Island National Seashore, it was a neat place. It’s a unit of the National Park Service occupying much of Assateague Island along the Atlantic coast of Maryland and Virginia. It is a barrier island shaped by stormy seas and gentle winds. It lies adjacent to Assateague State Park and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.

There were three main sections to go and visit and do a hike with each one. The Sand dunes, the Forest and the Marshes. The ranger guy told us his favorite is the marshes, so we knew we would do that one, it was very hot outside and we didn’t know if the kids could do all three, so we chose to do the marshes and the sand dunes. We did the sand dunes first. After we applied sun tan lotion on all of us, particularly the kids and put on our hats, we were on our way. Oh wait, the water bottles and lemonade juice boxes! Silly us, we forgot it in the nice chilly ice pack back at the hotel!!! Oh boy, we hoped we could survive doing even ONE hike without any drinks! We were not near anything to buy any drinks. We survived, but were all very thirsty and hot!!! We saw WILD PONIES, along the roads before the hiking trail! So cool. Here are some pictures:  They can be very dangerous, they tell you not to get too close, to stay at least 10 ft. away, notice the last pic of my hubby and baby girl pointing towards one…it was right near our car. When we got inside, it moved behind our car, so we had to wait until we could back up, THEN, it came right up against my husband’s seat and along his window. I told my hubby, “quick, shut all the windows and lock the doors!” You know how on a safari, they tell you to keep your hands and arms inside at all times…well, you should listen! It showed a few people who got bit by the horses on the bathroom doors…it said, better you get bit by flies and mosquitoes than a horse!

The sand dunes were amazing also! My hubby and I discussed how cool it was that the sand dunes were just on a hike and then a few minutes later, we saw marshes on another hike. You felt like you were in two different ecosystems…really amazing! Here are some of THOSE pictures…

Lastly, I just wanted to say, there is always an opportunity for not only adventure, but lessons taught and learned on vacations.

My older daughter and son explained to me how they found “sand crabs” with their friends on the beach…they really enjoyed finding them and showing them to me.

Also, I asked my son, “why don’t you go and build sand castles with that boy over there?” he said, “he doesn’t need any help!” I said, I am sure he would love a friend to help him…he wanted me to go with him, so I did and they both had a great time…My son, sometimes needs encouragement that way and after speaking to the boy’s grandma, I think he could use a friend too. His parents recently went through a bad divorce and they are having a rough time. Nice that the grandma can take them away from their troubles a bit and have a nice vacation away from all of their stresses.  Lastly, just teaching your kids about manners and holding doors for people, being polite and also having the opportunities to teach about good behaviors and having rewards, etc. All in all, it was a great trip, the hotel was nice, the weather was beautiful and the kids behaved pretty good the entire trip. Of course, DVD’s really help on a long trip in the car ride. Oh, did I mention we also played mini golf and my son felt so proud when he did well? We also had slurpies for them on the way home after that HOT time at the National Park…they were so pleasantly surprised with that!

It was just nice getting away from our hectic fast paced life here in Northern, NJ, and spend time together as a family. When it comes down to it, family is everything and we need to try our very best to make happy memories always! Hope you all made some great memories this summer, please feel free to share your stories in the comments. I have enjoyed reading all my new fans and old fans comments. THANKS!

Hope you all have enjoyed your summer and enjoy the last bit of it…stay safe and may Hurricane Irene just wizz right past us!