Turning 30 in OCNJ

Move-in basically completed, we headed to Ocean City to Ryan's grandmother's house.  Ryan's parents, both grandma's, his sister and nephew were already there.  We had really been looking forward to this trip, as it had been about 6 years (back when we were dating, and Ryan was just applying to dental schools) since we'd been to Ocean City.

Ryan grew up with Ocean City as a regular family getaway and has many fond memories of the boardwalk, the beach, and many restaurants, gift shops, ice cream shops, and more.  It feels good to be a part of this family tradition.

Each morning we rode our bikes up and down the boardwalk with Ryan's parents (one morning Ryan ran instead of biked) and then headed to "Positively 4th Street," our favorite coffee shop.  Ryan and his Dad picked up donuts from Brown's (arguable the best donuts on the east coast) and brought them along the first day.  Unfortunately, starting that first morning I felt a cold coming on.  All the Emergen-C packets in my purse couldn't ward it off.  Soon we were biking to Rite-Aid for Afrin, tylenol, and decongestant.

We spent the days reading, going to the beach (Ryan, Nicole, and Josh went in to jump waves, I stayed under the umbrellas with the rest of the family), and stopping at Uncle Bill's with everyone for pancakes.

Nicole has a July birthday as well, so we celebrated hers and mine with a delicious dinner at the house and cake and ice cream to follow.

The next day commenced with more relaxation and a run to a bead shop with Nicole, she was working on a few necklaces.  Walking through the bead shops brought me back to my bracelet making days.  I made a few cute things back then, but never really saw it through.  Nicole made some really cool "Tree of Life" pendants.

That evening after dinner the family went to play putt-putt on the boardwalk.  At this point I was so uncomfortable with my cold. I was sweating like crazy, blowing my nose every 30 seconds, and just experience general malaise and fatigue.  In a moment of pathetic self-pity, I started crying when Ryan's mom came upstairs to ask if we were ready to go play putt-putt.  Here I was crying because I was too sick to play putt-putt on vacation as people around the world are suffering with real diseases that actually affect quality of life.  I blame the fever for my emotional display.

Anyway, after waking up the next morning with half a cough-drop fused to the inside of my cheek I actually felt better.  I ordered coffee at 4th street instead of tea and was able to enjoy the trip again.

We stayed about a day more than we had originally planned.  We were enjoying the slow pace and relaxing atmosphere of Ocean City.  When we did finally head home, we stopped at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods in King of Prussia, PA to stock up on our favorites from each.

I left Harrisburg 29 and returned 30.  I think 30 is going to be a good year.

setting up umbrellas on the beach

Relaxing in the house

Surrey ride on the boards