Shark bait, hoo ha ha

The aquarium is one of the boys favorite parts of vacation. Andy and I were extremely impressed by how much they remembered about it from last year. And yes, we did see "Nemo"...you should have heard Zachary shout that when we got to the clown fish!

One of the best things about the Mystic Aquarium is that your tickets are good for the two consecutive days following the day you initially visit. We learned this last year and scheduled this years visit around being able to go twice. It makes for a much more relaxing time when you don't have to worry about seeing everything in one trip.

We arrived our first day just in time for the sea lion show. It was a big hit with both boys last year...and this year as well. As a matter of fact, Zachary (and Daddy) went to see it both days. (The fact that he likes it so much amazes me a little because he won't go near the sea lions that live outside because he thinks they are too loud. He stands way back and complains...loudly...until we finally move on.)

The second thing we had to do was go climb down into the submersible. (It's positioned so that it's more or less under the floor.) They talked about getting to do this pretty much the entire way from the beach house to the aquarium!

I just had to share this shot. The penguins come right up to where you are standing. It's pretty cool, in my humble opinion!

It seriously seemed like this penguin came over just to say hi to the boys. He was that interactive!

How could we not take a picture with the marsh sign!

Zachary just did not want to have his picture taken but Jacob was in love with all of the things related to the sharks so I had to include this photo.

I'm impressed with all of the new things Jacob is trying lately. Here he and Andy are trying to pet the rays. Unfortunately, one never got close enough to his hand but he stood there quite a while trying. Last year, he wouldn't even consider it. (Andy was able to put his hand in deeper and actually touched two.)

They just love the interactive displays!

We love that the aquarium has an area where kids can handle several different types of sea creatures. Jacob braves the cold water to touch a spider crab.

We were pretty surprised when Zachary decided to give it a try as well. This empty shell was his favorite. He didn't touch anything alive...although he'd swear that he did.

The much more daring older brother...this shell actually has something alive in it!

Fascinated by the rays. Jacob was really observant and remarked, "Gee, I didn't know they had mouths on the bottom." Honestly, neither did I!

Again little one refused to be in the picture. Part of the problem was that he wanted to get inside this sub...which is not an option!

They did settle for "manning the controls" for a few minutes. Thankfully, they didn't really do anything.

One last trip through the tunnels before we left.

Track stars

Vacation was full of new experiences, one of which was the chance for the boys to try their hand at track and field events. One of the nearby towns has a running club that sponsors a summer youth track series. The neighbors invited us to tag along for the last night of a five week series. The boys had a blast!

Zack in the 50 meter. He ran 100 meters later in the evening as well! According to the website (where they actually post all of the results!) his time in 50 m was 21 seconds and in the 100 m was 44 seconds.

Jacob in the long jump. He jumped 4.6 feet.

Zack takes his turn and jumps 3 feet.

The ball toss... Jacob threw it 35 feet!

Zack gave it a try too...the ball is out of the shot, I swear. He actually did pretty well! His ball went 23 feet.

Zack had to have some watermelon once he spied it! It kept him busy while we waited to Jacob to finish his final event.

That's Jacob in the orange shirt. Yes, I know it looks like he's skipping. He really was running fast in his heat of the 200 meter. Unfortunately, he lost his steam right after this part of the race. He's definitely more of a sprinter...or he needs to work on his stamina! His times in his two races were 21.3 seconds for the 100 meter and 57.5 in the 200 m.

It's family time at the beach

Vacation isn't vacation without spending a little time with my family. (Whether we want to or not...ha, ha!) One of our favorite parts of going to Rhode Island is getting to spend so much time with Nana and Grandpa. The fact that we get to do so at the beach and in their amazing house is just an added bonus!

A snack and a drink after the beach is a family tradition. Don't be alarmed...it's a fruit soda...Zack had to have it in "one of those wrapper things."

Nana makes the best salads!

Daddy and Jacob play a game.

Goofing around with Grandpa.

A little love from Nana

My sister's visit went better than any we've had in years, a fact that makes me feel truly blessed. It's been a hard road but I think that we're coming out on the other side with an amazingly good relationship. The boys loved having Aunt Mary come along with her...as I said before, she is one of the best storytellers ever!

One of my all-time favorite pictures

A captivated audience

Later on in our vacation we got to spend an afternoon and evening with my cousin Justin, his wife Kristen, and their two kids. They braved some pretty unwelcoming weather to come see us...and for that we are truly grateful! Jacob was absolutely thrilled to have a playmate his own age and loved the idea of having second cousins...although we're still trying to explain exactly what that means! It was a treat to catch up after too many years without an opportunity to get together. A visit with the "cousins" is definitely on the schedule for next year!

Zachary and Cameron build sand constructions with Grandpa.

Emma and Zack

Jacob really was with us on the beach that day but he and Daddy took advantage of the weather and spent their time at the beach boogie boarding on some pretty good size waves!

An unexpected treat

One of my absolute favorite things to do on vacation is read on the beach. Amazingly, our children seem to feel the same way! We were lucky to be able to enjoy a little downtime here and there in which we all took a break with a good book.

Supervising Zachary at the start of the first day wasn't too taxing!

Relaxing with a new fave...comic books!

This day was a little chillier...perfect weather to get wrapped up in a towel and sweatshirt and enjoy a good book.

Aunt Mary has always been the best story teller!

Playing in the sand

Well, I've finally made it through the plethora of photos from our vacation. Because we did so many activities on more than one day, it seemed to make the most sense to put them into categories and share them that way. Now my goal is to blog about all of them before Jacob's birthday this Sunday. An ambitious goal but I'm going to give it a try!

I decided to start with our fun in the sand since no vacation at the beach is complete without a castle and at least one big hole!

Count on Grandpa to help.

Nana isn't half bad at building things either!

Zack made up some game using Army men and a bucket of water. The dialog was the best part...I wish I could remember what he said!

My parents are lucky to have some really great neighbors. Across the street lives a couple who have four daughters who are around the same ages as my sister and me. Lucky for us, that means there are grandchildren...and playmates for the boys! (I have some really great pictures of them playing but don't like to post kids photos without permission. They will be in the scrapbook though!) Zachary made himself at home in a big hole that the older boys were digging. The ledge was just too tempting as a chair. (He did provide a little muscle as well!)

Evidence that Mommy went on vacation too...and didn't just sit around all day! Jacob and I gave paddle ball a try. Hopefully, we'll be able to actually hit it back and forth next year.

Brothers creating.

Nana builds a tunnel.

Jacob added water. I didn't have the heart to take photos of the demolition that followed!

Another little jaunt

Before we could truly adjust to being home from our fabulous vacation, we were all off again for a short trip to DC. Andy was attending the American Chemical Society conference and we tagged along for a little bit of it. Daddy headed out on Sunday morning (very, very early) and we left on Monday around dinner time. The boys survived Mommy driving into the city and were thrilled with the idea of staying in a hotel, something they both done just once before and that they had not done since Uncle Timmy and Aunt Rachel got married two years ago.

Tuesday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel with Daddy. What at treat to have so many choices and not to have to do much of anything to provide them. You have to love the Hampton Inn's complimentary spread! The boys definitely approved of the choices.

After we ate, Daddy headed to attend more of the conference and the boys and I headed to the indoor pool. Our fish couldn't bear to miss the chance to swim! That part of our day complete (and it was not yet 9:00), we headed to the room to take advantage of a little rest time...and a t.v. that got channels we don't get at home. The boys had no complaints about having to hang out in the room!Jacob, Zack, and I once again braved the DC traffic to head out to Alexandria, VA to visit my friend from college and her gorgeous baby girl. Once again, we all survived!
After another chance to rest (and watch some more t.v., of course), Daddy returned and we headed off to the Air and Space Museum. We'd debated taking the Metro since we knew it wasn't really very close but at the advice of the hotel clerk, we gave walking a try. (Apparently it would take just as long, if not longer, to ride since it involved changing trains while if we walked, we just headed straight down 7th.) Zachary rode in the stroller but Jacob amazed us by walking the entire way...with very little complaining.

The boys loved the museum, especially once we found the hands on exhibits. Shutterbug that I am, I took as many pictures as possible!

Jacob is our space nut. Here he is with as many planets as I could get in the shot...before yet another person walked in front of him!

Checking out the cool telescope...that we never did get to work properly. (Even with Daddy's help!)

Zack really got into exploring the exhibits. Here he is moving the galaxy up and down...all by himself!

Daddy has as much fun checking things out as the boys do!

The boys were absolutely thrilled to find something that they could actually climb inside! This airplane simulator didn't do much but they loved it just the same.

While we were in the kid friendly hands on area we stumbled upon an paper airplane demonstration and contest. All three of the boys gave it a try.

Walking back from the museum in the rain wasn't the highlight of the trip but once again, Jacob rose the occasion. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at a pretty nice restaurant where the boys showed off their ability to behave. (It probably helped that Zack fell asleep on the walk there and was a little groggy during the meal! He's not known for his patience in restaurants.)
We headed back to the hotel after dinner and home to Lebanon the next morning right after breakfast. Overall, we had an amazing time and would take the boys on a similar trip again in a heartbeat!

Popping wheelies on the walk back to the hotel! The trip really was this much fun!

Ah...this is the life!

We were truly blessed to be able to spend the first two weeks of August at the beach in Rhode Island. This wonderfully long and relaxing vacation would not have been possible if my parents weren't so phenomenally generous. Thank you, thank you, thank you...not only for lending us your beach house but for everything else as well.
You may notice that there are no pictures with this post. That's not because I was so relaxed that I didn't take any. It's because there was so much that we did that I wanted to capture in a photograph that I have over 1,000 photos to go through! My goal is to have all of vacation chronicled in the next few weeks. We'll see if reality lets that happen!