Da Shore

After a week in Pittsburgh we headed east...I had the extreme pleasure of driving the rental car across the entire state of Pennsylvania.  It's a beautiful state.  There is a lot of corn.  The turnpike is in need of a little love I will say...but those rest stops!  This California girl is most impressed by the fact that one can get a Starbucks (or Burger King or Arby's or Subway) at an actual rest stop.  These places are like little food courts, much unlike the step up from a porta-potty and a picnic table we get out west.  I suppose we do have exits off our highways though that enable us to choose just where we'd like to stop.  You are kind of screwed if you miss a stop in PA.

*This is where I would insert the picture of the younger two going to the bathroom side by side.  As in on side by side toilets in the same stall, the family stall!  I will save them the embarrassment but just know this was both disturbing and hilarious.* 

Our first stop upon arriving to the eastern side of the state was the most fabulously large King of Prussia Mall for a delicious dinner at the place that many of us have a love/hate  relationship with...The Cheesecake Factory.  (drool).  This really isn't blog-worthy but who would believe that right outside the restaurant would be a traveling interactive Wii event?  TV after TV set up with a Wii game that you could play for free...Sam Sam the Wii Man surely thought he'd found paradise.  Not only could you play any game you'd like but the more you played, the more stickers you earned and the more Mario Bros. collectibles you could receive.  This was ran by some of the nicest people I've encountered in a mall setting, well, ever.  Really passionate Wii loving folk who were more than excited to pawn off their Mario Bros. stuff on the kids.  Thanks guys!  Love those key chains, stuffed animals, hats and figurines!  The kids did get to design their own t-shirt, complete with favorite Mario character iron-on.  Lots of fun.  It's a traveling show so be on the lookout at your local mall.

The next morning, after taking advantage of the hotel pool we packed up and headed to Jersey for a week in beautiful Cape May.  With Brian at the wheel and me at the iphone GPS we were rolling along.  Rolled right into this...

Not exactly the Victorians we were expecting!  Hello Atlantic City!

Oops. 

The good pictures from our trip to the shore are on the other camera so there may not be much to look at here, but the kids had the time of their lives going to the beach, er, shore every day...learning to body surf, dig for sand crabs and talk with a funny accent.  Brian and I took them to the Ocean City boardwalk for sugar and gaming.  Fun was had by all!

Brian found coffee, what a bonus!

Happy Beach Bums

There was no way we were getting out of town without first going on a bike ride. Not what Brian had in mind when it came to bikes but the rest of us were really excited to give this a shot!

 It turns out the boys' legs were just an inch too short to be of any use when it came to pedaling this thing.  No amount of training for runs or rides could compare to the workout we got trying to motor around town.  Why Brian wanted to take this out on the main drag more than once I don't know, but we were laughing so hard it was well worth it.

We are thinking this may be what we need to get around those Belgian country roads.  Maybe not, but it would be more than ideal where we are now!  

Matthew and Aunt Alisa. 

We love you Aunt Carolyn and Aunt Alisa!  Thank you, thank you, thank you for making us a part of your vacation and making great memories for the kids.  We are lucky.