Jersey Shore*

*We went to New Jersey. And we visited the Shore. How do you not?

On a trip actually planned in advanced, we traveled North to hang out with our decade+ friends , from good ol' ISU and our Iowa City days, Tim and Terri Nordin. Why was there planning? Terri and my Iowa State roommate and friend of us all, Nicole, came on a Eastern seaboard spring break tour.

Tim and Terri live in New Brunswick, doing grad school at Rutgers and finishing residency respectively. Harper, age 5, and Olaiya go way back, born just six months apart in Iowa City. Then there's little guy Enders, who's two and half. Their neighborhood lifestyle totally charmed me: walking distance to Harper's to-be elementary school, walking distance to their super cool church that meets in said elementary school and next door neighbors that attend said super cool church. And that Jesus-loving dad of said next door neighbors, also loves playing uber-geeky, set-aside-half-a-day-to-play board games. Seriously, does life get any better for Tim Nordin?

And that describes our weekend. While Terri and I shopped in the morning ('cause you know that's all Jersey is - strip malls interspersed with malls), Tim, Kurt and some other hardcore gamers (including Naomi and Olaiya's family doc from Iowa City - yep, she's awesome) hit the dining room table at 9:00a. Not kidding. They played for six and half hours. When you ask Kurt about the trip, that's what he'll talk about. And on Sunday we walked to church and came home to eat on their deck in the 80 degree sunshine.

The Shore, Tara, we want to hear about the Shore! Of course you do. Nicole hooked up with us Saturday afternoon and we loaded up the kids and headed for the Atlantic. Despite the 20 degree drop in temperature from city to shore, which left us slightly under-dressed, I was loving every second of Olaiya and Naomi getting their first dose of ocean.

Olaiya's dose came liberally and literally. I wanted her to be able to play in sand with the waves lapping at her heels. Classic, right? Boldy frolicking together, she and Harper got deeper and deeper into the wet sand territory, with the water hitting them shins and below. Then a big wave came up and caught them at the hips, which made them stumble as they ran up the sand and the next wave splashed them while they were down. The mouthful of salt and sand left Olaiya momentarily less enchanted with the ocean.

Hmm, maybe I should have put the camera down when my daughter runs up soaking from salt water. Or...I could capture it on film and then comfort. Yes.

Beyond-boy-scout TerriAnn had a kite ready to redeem the beach. And thankfully, extra clothing to share.

Naomi's beach experience was far easier to capture. She was completely enthralled with picking up shells. And totally afraid of the water. She was leary of just Olaiya and Harper's shoes being near the waves.

Nicole!

Not only did my children meet the ocean, but I also got to introduce them to the fried doughy sweetness that is funnel cake. The second we were within a block of the Boardwalk, it was clear it was going to be a mama-must-have. Highlight? Naomi attempting to triple fist the donut-hole version.

Yes, we were packin' four kiddos ages five and under and one mama still residing firmly in the first trimester, so perhaps not the college girlfriend reunion you would envision, but the whole weekend left me lovin' our time.