Beach Bums

As I type this blog post, school has started and the beach already seems like a distant summer memory.  However, looking at these pictures again makes my heart happy and especially thankful for such a wonderful week last month at Rehoboth Beach with our Winterhoff family.  The weather was perfect with the exception of one rainy day, which turned out to be full of fun indoor activities.  It wasn't too hot, and the water and sand were perfect for our beach goers.  This year, there was a grand total of 30 extended family members dispersed among 3 houses during our beach week.  We congregated on the beach each morning and the kids loved swimming and playing together:

We counted 22 out of our 30 family members in the water together!

There was also lots of fun at our beach house.  The cousins are very cute together and it's a neat dynamic to watch them interact with each other:

Luke and Gabe bonded over a shared obsession with Minecraft, and the rest of us had no idea what in the world they were building/creating/doing during this time in their virtual worlds:

On the morning that it rained, the kids created 50 balloon animals/objects.  It was a perfect way to pass the time, and pretty soon, the couches and main room of the beach house were covered in balloon creations:

There was also Book Bingo to pass the time until the raindrops stopped... Balloon Headwear optional:

Poppy's Treasure Hunts are a favorite beach tradition, and that Beach Fairy is getting trickier every year with the clues:

Another beach favorite is Crab Night.  What started out years ago as 3 people in our house feasting on crabs (Anika, Brian, and me) has now morphed into a full family affair!  Luke, Leah, AND Mark joined our growing crew of seafood lovers this year- Hooray!!

We loved our family time together, the boardwalk, and the beach:

After our week at Rehoboth, we headed back to Mimi's house where Winnie was spending her annual week at "summer camp".  Luke had been hanging on to another wiggly tooth, and was determined to lose it while on vacation due to the double money rule (somehow, when Luke lost Tooth #3 and #4 last year on vacation, the Tooth Fairy paid double for these teeth... coincidental that grandparents just happened to be with us?).  Captain Literal (who stores every memory/fact in his head) recalled this, and wiggled Tooth #7 right out of his little mouth on the very last day before we returned home (and yes, Mommy had packed the tooth pillow again... Do I know that kid or what?!):

Worth $2

We piled in the car on Sunday morning after a successful overnight Tooth Fairy visit.  On our way back to NC, we decided to stop at the Mill Mountain Star in Roanoke.  This landmark overlooks the city where Mark and I lived when we were first married and new parents of a black lab puppy named Winnie.  In honor of Winnie's 11th birthday this month, we drove to the top of Mill Mountain and let all 3 kids enjoy the views of the Roanoke Valley.  It was a fun stop, and included ice cream cones for the final stretch of our car ride:

Such great summer memories and wonderful week at the beach!  To see more beach week pictures, click below:

Funland

Part 2 of my Winterhoff Beach Week Blog Series focuses on Funland, the darling amusement area along the boardwalk.  We go to Funland every afternoon during our week at Rehoboth beach, and it's full of good old fashioned family fun, with rides and games for all ages.  I have known that we've been on borrowed time for a few years with the sweet kiddie section at Funland.  The fire trucks, boats, and cars were the main attraction for my children for years, and this was the first summer that L&L didn't even glance in that direction- Sniff, Sniff.  I did, however, convince my family to ride the carousel together, which appeased me:

One of my favorite Funland pictures this year.  These two are a hoot together.

However, when one stage ends, another begins, and this was the summer we took a giant leap from toddler rides to showing Mommy that her babies are absolutely fearless.  On Day 1, Leah and Luke insisted that they wanted to ride the Gravitron... you know, that ridiculous ride where you spin a million miles an hour and the floor drops out from under you... so you are pressed against the wall only by centrifugal force... and people exiting the ride always look green and nauseous?   Yep, that one.  I was SURE that Leah wouldn't be tall enough for this ride, but sure enough, she was a fraction of an inch over the line, and marched right into the Gravitron beside her big brother and cousins:

Climbing the walls of the Gravitron:  FEARLESS

Thankfully, my kids have some amazing uncles, and Matt/Brian took turns riding the Gravitron with the kids.  When Leah exited the ride for the first time (and my heart started beating again after staring at that awful UFO-shaped contraption that held my baby captive for what seemed like a million years), she declared, "Mommy, I didn't like it..."

She paused, a hint of a smile on her face:

"I LOVED IT!!!"

The Gravitron became the highlight of Funland this year for the kids, and they eagerly waited each afternoon to ride it together:

Other favorite rides like the Bumper Cars remained a hit with a new dynamic this year, as Leah was old enough to ride.  She and Mark chased Luke around the track, and Luke enjoyed having a guilt-free excuse to bonk into his sister without consequences attached:

The children also loved the Freefall and Paratroopers, and the rides were a great source of amusement for our entire family this summer:

The games at Funland are also quite a hit, and the children can earn quarters each day at the beach by reading, completing puzzles and worksheets, or memorizing trivia/facts.  Bean has a great reward system in place, and the kids were so excited to earn Funland $ that they worked hard at these tasks.  The bragging rights are stuffed animal prizes for winning Funland games, and each day the cousins returned to the beach house with various new critters of all sizes:

Daddy passes on his love of the racing games to the kids.

One afternoon, Luke decided to try his hand at the Goblet Game.  For a quarter, you are given one chance to toss a whiffle ball into a tray of hundreds of goblets.  If it lands in a red goblet, you earn a small prize.  A toss into a yellow goblet earns a large prize.  If your ball lands in the one and only silver goblet, you earn a jumbo prize:

 

Sure enough, that lucky kid's ball landed right into the silver goblet (not pictured).  In the fifty summers (yes, 5-0) that Mark's grandparents and their offspring have frequented Funland, no one in the family has ever held this honor:  

Luke was beside himself.  He selected a GIANT fox, whom he promptly named Silver Goblet.  Mommy couldn't help but wonder how our newest family member would fit into our already tightly packed car for the 10+ hour trip back to NC (via PA), but we figured it out, and this second grader was absolutely delighted:

We love how Funland evolves and changes each summer, as our family explores new things and creates such fun boardwalk memories together!

Donut Days

 

 

We just returned home from our annual Winterhoff Beach Week, and I've been busy editing and sorting tons of pictures of our special family time.  I usually include Poppy's Donut Days with the grandchildren as part of a larger Rehoboth Beach recap, but this year, there were too many wonderful photos, so I am giving them a blog post of their own. 

 

It's one of the most anticipated parts of the week for our children.  Poppy takes the girls and boys for donuts on separate mornings, and the kids pile into a car and drive to Rehoboth Avenue, which is the main street at the beach and is lined with shops and restaurants.  During the day, this area is crowded with beachgoers and shoppers, but early in the morning, it is quiet and picturesque.  The kids choose their donuts and carry their bags to the boardwalk, where they sit on a bench and feast on their goodies:

 

Bean has somehow managed to find coordinating shirts for all of the cousins for the past few years, and this is one of the most adorable details of Donut Day.  After eating their donuts, the children climb a lifeguard stand and take turns jumping off into the sand:

 

 

 

The girls may outnumber the boys, but Gabe and Luke are precious together.  Luke whispered to me last week:  "Mommy, Gabe is my BEST friend!" 

 

Apparently, eating your donut on Boy Donut Day is very serious business:

Poppy's boys:

 

 

Most adorable lifeguards on the beach.

I love these next two pictures, with the iconic Dolle's taffy sign in the background:

Cute beyond words.

 

Donut Days are such a fun way to start the morning at the beach.  From the biggest to smallest, it's a tradition that is treasured by all:

 

We never tire of these blue skies, soft sand, and serene beach mornings on Donut Days:

 

It's a badge of honor to wear your icing on your face with pride...

 

 Hooray for Donut Day!



Summer Sweets

We had several sweet adventures during our week in Pennsylvania this month.  As usual, Hershey's Chocolate World was #1 on the kids' wish list, and they are old pros on the ride by now.  L&L guided us straight to the milkshake and souvenir area after we rode through the chocolate factory tour, and we always love this sweet outing:

 

We also tried something new, and participated in the Turkey Hill Experience.  This fun, educational attraction consists of interactive exhibits which chronicle the dairy culture that is such an important part of life in central Pennsylvania.  We experienced what it is like to be a farmer and Turkey Hill ice cream maker, and even created our own ice cream flavors in the Taste Lab!

First, Leah milked the mechanical cow and the children "drove" the vintage dairy truck:

 

 

Next, we watched a short video detailing the ice cream making process while we tasted yummy samples:

The kids learned about homogenization and pasteurization, and then played games to freeze the mix, fill the cartons, and measure out the perfect batch of ice cream:  

 

 

 

We made special reservations to participate in the Taste Lab, and this was such a fun experience:

 

Each participant started with their own pint of vanilla ice cream.  We added extracts, inclusions, and toppings, and developed our own, unique ice cream flavors: 

 

 

 

There were lots of activities in PA to keep us busy all week.  In addition to our sweet excursions, we also went gem mining at Indian Echo caverns, which was Luke's special request.  Both kids enjoyed searching for stones at Gem Mill Junction, and became experts at sluicing with Mimi and Grandpa's help: 

Leah at Indian Echo Caverns.

Our little sweets were great helpers at Mimi's house, too, as they collected walnuts in her backyard.  A little side note: When at a grandparent's house, you are often rewarded for chores/helping, and once the kids realized that they were going to make 5 cents for each walnut, they were eager to gather them daily!

 

There was craft time, painting, musical entertainment, and even a Luau Party to entertain us at Mimi's house, and the kids had a ball:

Proud Artists.

If only I could add the audio here...



Ready for Mimi's Luau Party.

 

We spent several afternoons at Grandpa's pool, too, which was the perfect way to tire out our sweet little guys.  We love our annual summer getaway in PA!