Seashells, Planes, and Sand

We went on vacation to the Jersey Shore and stayed at a place in Mantolocking, NJ. There was a terrific deli a few blocks away where I had the best store-bought potato salad that I have ever had.
This was Drake's first trip to the beach. He hated it at first because we brought him to the beach tired (his nap schedule was screwy from travelling), we held him in the waves and one splashed him in the face, then he rubbed his eyes and got sand in his eyes. So the next day we went into the kiddie pool and treated it like a bath with bath and beach toys. Then the next day we went to the beach to play in the sand and throughout the vacation we gradually worked our way down the beach to the waves. After we came back home I think he missed the beach because he kept going outside, then inside, then outside, throughout the day and asked for the beach toys multiple times. Drake learned so much at the beach! Seashells, planes, sand, waves, sunscreen, sea creatures, etc. It was alot of fun!
It will also be an Independance Day celebration that I will always remember. We were walking down the beach with our ice cream cones (Drake was asleep in bed by then) and it seemed like everyone was setting off fireworks towards the ocean! It was amazing to see fireworks as far as you could see in both directions!