My wonderful wife

Last night while I rested, Nums took care of packing up our stuff. I appreciated this, because I wasn’t in much shape to do much. This morning, we were up early to wrap it up, get the kids ready, and get the car loaded. When my sister and her husband came over yesterday, they brought a cooler for us to store the leftover food we had. No reason to waste, you know?

We had to check out by 10am, and no issues, we were on the road by 10:10 to drop off the keys and activity pass badges. A quick stop to get gas and a donut for Lily, and we were off! First stop? Lunch at the Dover, DE, Waffle House. We let Josh decide, and he was in the mood for a waffle. Me too, actually. I tried a bite of Lily’s waffle earlier this week, and it was way better than a frozen Eggo waffle. A fresh waffle is delicious!

Lunch @ Waffle House

Nums took care of driving on the way to Dover, and I drove from Dover to home. We beat the traffic, and got home in the afternoon. I got the perishables in the fridge, and everyone wanted to rest/nap. In the evening, I decided to play it safe, and I went to the Brunswick Urgent Care. Took about 90 mins of waiting, but I eventually saw an ER doc. Prognosis? I’m just banged and bruised up, and I’m lucky that’s all it is. Treatment? Higher strength naproxen (“Alleve”), so that’s it. I’m going to take it easy for a while.

That’s basically it for the big part of the vacation. It was good, despite the car accident yesterday. We’ve got church and Labor Day, and then I’m back to work on Tuesday.

Beach day

Beach day!

We stocked the cooler with sandwiches & drinks, filled up the beach bag with snacks and blankets, and we took the local (and free) shuttle bus down to the beach. I had to take a status call from the boardwalk, but eventually joined up with the family down by the water. The beach was certainly in better shape than it was back in 2009. Everyone had a good time relaxing in the sun and playing in the water.

In other news, we forgot to pack boardgames with us, so my wife and I (mostly my wife) have been teaching Josh how to play chess on the chessboard that is here. I’m happy that he’s learning, but I’m a little frightened of a 6-year-old who can play chess. Nothing good can come of this.

I can’t believe tomorrow is September 1st.

An exhausting but fun day

In the afternoon, I made us all lunch (sandwiches), then I took Lily on a small run to the nearest sports store. You see, I apparently snore. I’ve been using this mouth guard plastic thing to keep my air passages open when I sleep, which isn’t the most comfortable way to sleep, but it helps keep the peace in the bedroom. Of course, I forgot it Monday. The good news is that I found a sports store in Dagsboro that carries them, so I took Lily along on my outing. Mission accomplished, so we all hit the pool. The water was a little good, but let’s call it “refreshing.”

We just came back from briefly checking out the situation at Bethany Beach, and the good news is that the beach is in good shape. Tonight, the evening promises to bring old episodes of Tiny Toons and Ducktales after dinner.

Checking out Bethany Beach

Lily & Nums @ Waffle House

We’re finally here! We finished packing this morning, loaded up the car and the bicycles, bid farewell to the cats, and were finally on the road by 10:45am. It was a bright sunny day, and a nice drive down to Delaware with no traffic. As per tradition, we stopped at a Waffle House for lunch somewhere close to Dover. We made to the vacation condo around 3pm after picking up the keys and activity pass badges.

The condo looks great. Two bedrooms, and the kids get to enjoy separate beds and a television (and DVD player) in their room. We’ve got a nicely appointed master bedroom, and our own separate bathroom. The living room and kitchen are large and comfortable, with a decent-sized Samsung LCD HDTV in the living room. There’s also a screened-in porch in the back.

They like their room

Everyone is relaxing at the moment. In the evening, we are heading to the local Super Giant supermarket to purchase food supplies for the week. The plan is similar to our 2009 Delaware vacation — we cook the entire week, which reduces meal expenses. My wife is currently compiling a grocery list and meal schedule as only she can do. We’ll probably budget one day out towards the end of the week (Thursday / Friday) to eat lunch out on the boardwalk and have a family dinner at a nice local restaurant. I’ve been fancying myself a good steak for a while now. This might be the week.

Relaxing in the condo

My wife and I are looking forward to the inventive cooking. Many years ago, she and I rented a place out on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. This was before the kids came around. The island had no restaurants, so we purchased groceries and cooked up inventive dishes based on whatever ingredients we had. It was a fun trip, and we still talk fondly about that experience.

What does the rest of the week hold for us? We’re planning to:

• spend time at Bethany Beach
• spend time at the pool here at Bear Trap Dunes
• hit up the Ocean City boardwalk, and also a boat ride
• more beach and pool time
• I’m going riding so I can mark Delaware and Maryland off the places I’ve bicycled
• playing board games and watching movies

Sounds good already!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?