Uhhhh, not the biggest update.

We stuffed the cars this morning to limits deemed impossible by natural physics, and left around 10:45am.  We made it all the way to Exit 4 on the NJ Turnpike before the kids got too antsy (as well as our stomachs), and we made one pit stop at a rest area for a late 3pm lunch.  We got home around 4:30pm on another bright sunny day.

I have to go to work tomorrow, don’t I? Sigh.

I will have to make some time this week to post all the photos.

After a few days of rainy weather, we finally hit the beach!  The weather cleared up, which has been a nice surprise.

Yesterday, we hit Ocean City, Maryland.  We had intended to take the ferry from Lewes to Cape May, NJ, but the ferry ride itself is 1:20 hours each way, and we didn’t think the kids would enjoy that much time on the boat.  Instead, we all took a drive to the Talbot St. Pier for a boat ride on the Assateague Adventure.  [Side note: it's so immature how much I like to say Assateague out loud.]

The excursion is about an 1:15 round trip through the harbor to this little island where kids get look around and even collect stuff with supplied nets.  It was ok, overall.  After we returned, the rest of our family group left, leaving us Ipes to adventure in Ocean City on our own.  Since the weather had turned from overcast to gorgeous, we found some great parking, we spent 2 hours on the Ocean City Boardwalk.  Much funnel cake, gyros, and corn dogs was enjoyed by us.  The kids got to play on the beach, and we kept my daughter from eating too much of the sand.

Today, we all (except my in-laws) hit Bethany Beach for two hours to relax in the sun, and play time in the water.  Unfortunately, the water was friggin’ ice cold. So, we just hung out on the beach.

I brought my PlayStation with me on this trip.  I beat my Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune game, and I’ve played other games as well, just for relaxing without guilt.  Pretty fun.

Tomorrow, we head home.  Sigh.

I may feel a little guilty, but I like relaxing on vacation.

On Tuesday morning, it took us a much longer to pack for 2 adults and 2 kids for a week away than I thought it would.  We had meant to leave by 10am, but we didn’t leave until sometime after noon. We took two cars: Nums and Josh in our car, and myself driving Lily and my father-in-law in his car.  We made one pit stop for lunch in Delaware at a chez McDonald’s somewhere on Rt 1 past the bridge.  Otherwise, we kept going and going.  Kids don’t like sitting around in a car that long, and may daughter has no threshold for boredom.  Our strategy was drive fast, and don’t look back.

After a lot of driving in the rain, we arrived here at the house in Bethany Beach, Delaware.  The luxury townhome looks just as good as it does in the pictures.  It is clean, spacious, and very comfortable.  So far, I’m loving the TVs in every room, the way comfortable reclining leather couches, the well-stocked kitchen, and no work.

We’ve been to one of the pools in the community twice now, as the beach area itself has been pretty foggy.  Tomorrow, we’re hitting Ocean City, Maryland.

We had a pretty good Memorial Day weekend, a good start to the weekend. Great sun, great weather.  Couldn’t have asked for more.  We spent most of the weekend prepping for our super family vacation this week. We bought new additional summer clothes, new sneakers, new sandals, and other supplies.

Starting Tuesday, we’re driving down to southern Delaware to vacation with my wife’s side of the family for an entire week. Hitting the beach, the pool, , BBQ’ing, and all-around relaxing.  I’m looking forward to it.

I’m working in Delaware this week.  First time, ever.  Delaware isn’t even all that far from home — 90 mins each way, which is just 15 mins more than it takes for me to get to my office in NJ! I don’t want to drive 160 miles found trip every day, so I’m doing a mix of staying overnight and driving home.  One of those on-off-on-off deals.  This way, two nights I can work late, and two nights where I can see my family. I was glad that I had the flexibility to do what was best for me and the family, and balancing what work I had to do. Makes life easier.

Delaware looks the same as the rest of America, though I still don’t understand why their automotive license plates are so weird.  You know what I’m talking about — the dark blue plates with a with just a “4″ on it.  What’s up with that? It must be a popular place — the hotel is booked solid, and I’m stuck in a smoking room. Listen, I don’t care how much the staff says they cleaned the room.  They put an air ionizer in here as well, and I’ve got it running nonstop.  The room still stinks.  Strangely enough, I’m in the mood for a cigar.

After work, we did have a very nice team lunch, which is always a plus when travelling on company business with your colleagues.  If it’s a good group like this one, then it’s a good experience. I can’t remember the last time, if ever, that I had a bad trip because of the group dynamic.  Basically everyone is fine to travel and work with.  I guess I’ve been lucky, or people in general are not that bad, you know?