The Lau Family: Family Beach Vacation

Last weekend we took the kids to Ocean City, MD for a little family getaway. We had a blast, here's a summary of our trip.

Arrival on Friday at the Princess Royale with their brand new suitcases:

Checking out the view of the pool:

I'm a huge fan of this hotel. It's right on the beach, has a fantastic indoor pool in an open atrium, huge deck that overlooks the ocean, tiki bar both by the pool and in the sand at the entry to the beach, convenience store on site, full kitchen and separate bedroom, and far from the shenanigans of the boardwalk. I'm officially old. I want to stay somewhere quiet and clean with a comfy bed. The boardwalk is fun to visit but I'm all done sleeping in musty rooms with the raucous noise of crazy kids in the background. I don't need to hear the victory of someone's keg-stand at 1am. Yep, officially old but that's ok, I totally embrace it.

Shortly after checking in we headed down to the beach where the kids had a blast playing in the sand:

They spent a lot of time splashing in the ocean too, but I was afraid to take my camera down to the water so I didn't get any pictures that day. Neither kid had any fear at all of the ocean, which was great since last summer Zoey was initially a little tentative. This year she ran right in. We jumped over waves, buried our feet in the sand, and looked for sea shells. In the afternoon Marty took Finn to the room for a nap while Zoey and I swam in the hotel pool.

Friday evening we went out for pizza at the Dough Roller, which would have been much more awesome if we wouldn't have had to wait almost an hour for our food.

After pizza we headed next door to try out mini golf for the first time with the kids. Zoey absolutely loved it and did really well being patient and learning how to hit the ball. Finn got a hole-in-one on his first try (woohoo!) then decided it was much more fun climbing everything in sight.

By the end of golf it was hours past their bedtime and Finn was all done, but the mother in the group ahead of us said afterwards how impressed she was that we brought our 2-year-old out and that he did so well. After clarifying that she was serious, it was a nice surprise since keeping Finn from jumping in the sandtraps and water obstacles felt a little like juggling a rabid cheetah.

Saturday morning we drove down to the boardwalk to have breakfast at Brass Balls and walk around the boardwalk for a little while:

Afterwards we came back to the hotel and swam in the pool (haha check out Marty's farmer tan):

Then headed back to the beach for some fun:

Until being 2-years-old got the better of Finn and he proceeded to have an epic meltdown when his attempt at building a sand castle failed. Meanwhile we giggled and took pictures because it was that ridiculous watching him toss himself facedown in the sand:

However, soon afterwards he had success!

Saturday evening we went to Fish Tales, one of the kids' favorite restaurants in OCMD. However the wait for a table was almost 2 hours so we just let them play on the big wooden pirate ship for a bit while we had a drink. Then we headed back to the boardwalk for some fries and sandwiches, walked around, and went to Dumser's for ice cream:

Sunday we spent most of the day at the beach, it was cloudy and overcast but warm. Unfortunately I had to take all pictures on my cellphone because the lens on my camera got stuck. So quality isn't great, but at least I got pictures and since it was just my phone I dared to take it down to the water.

Finn in his typical 2-year-old contradictory self had a major episode when sand got in his butt (I totally relate, cheek chafing is no laughing matter):

However then he chose to eat sand like it was a delicious treat, crunching it with his teeth and licking it off his arms and legs. Two-year olds are weird.

Here are a couple videos of Zoey frolicking in the water. I really wish I would have gotten Finn, but at the time I was taking videos he was still waking up and in the mood to be held.