So I am back for round two of my vacation diary! You can catch up on Week 1 here!
The kids spent a few days at my inlaws while Owen and I headed back to New Jersey to catch up on housework and laundry! I also had to get everything packed for the second week of our vacation. This year we didn’t go to Avalon for our normal week. We ended up staying local while the kids enjoyed weeks at basketball, CCD, camps and swimming lessons. We had a very busy summer. But towards the end of July, Joey and I were really missing our week away at the shore. It was a little late to book a house in Avalon so we decided to head on down to Rehoboth. We both grew up right in Delaware {Joey was only 15 minutes away from the beach town} but we never really vacationed in Rehoboth. Yes, we spent tons of time there growing up but neither one of us actually stayed down there for a vacation. It was so nice staying at a hotel right on the boardwalk! We just parked our car for a few days and walked everywhere! It was great! The beach and boardwalk were right outside our window. Plus all of the restaurants, rides and games were a few blocks south on the boards, it was awesome!
Joey and I were in NJ and packed up and left Saturday morning to head down to the beach {for all your Jersey folks, we call it the beach in Delaware … I know it’s the shore in NJ}. We took our time traveling down. It is only a 3 hour drive but we decided that since we only had Owen that we would stop for lunch and hit up a few beer stores that we can never get into when we have the whole gang! I think this trip took us 6-7 hours but it was fine. Owen was a trooper! We stopped for lunch at Two Stones Pub in Wilmington, DE. We love this place! The food is awesome and the beer is superb! We have never been disappointed!
We finally arrived at Joey’s parents around dinnertime! We picked up some pizza and had dinner while we were reunited with our other two boys! They almost forgot about us! They have a blast down there in the open yard. They swing, play basketball and we cook s’mores on the firepit! It’s always a nice and relaxing time! Plus they live 2 minutes from Dogfish Head Brewery so we always stop in to see what’s new. We spent the night there and the next morning headed into our hotel in Rehoboth.
We stayed at the Henlopen Hotel. It’s nothing fancy but it has a great view and the rooms are decent. It definitely needs some upgrades but it was perfect for us! We couldn’t check in right away so we decided to go to Dogfish Head for lunch! The kids always enjoy the food and mommy and daddy always enjoy the beers!
After lunch we headed to the beach for a few hours while we waited on our room. I think that the kids were still a little nervous about the rough waves after last weeks knockdown. But they still had a blast. It was another rough day but they managed to get wet and sandy! Owen on the other hand hid from the sun! The kid sat like this for a good 10 minutes! He cracks me up!
At this point we were all anxious to get into our room. Luckily it was ready. So we unpacked the car and headed on up! I fell in love with our view. I mean look at this! I love falling asleep to the sounds of waves crashing and since it was a cool night we slept with the door open so we could hear all the wonderful sounds of the Atlantic!
After we checked in and unpacked a bit we headed on down to the boardwalk! Walking the boardwalk with my kids brought back sooooo many memories of my childhood.
I remember walking up and down the boards holding my dads hand as we walked past the “hotel that had the pool out front”. It was my favorite place to look at. I loved how my boys had to stop and check out the pool as we walked down. I loved taking my guys into Ryan’s Gems and Junk {I think that they just call it Ryan’s now}. They sold some of the same “junk” from when I was a kid. I made Sean pose in front of the sea shell jewelry boxes! I guess that they never go out of style {were they ever in style}.
We stopped off at Obie’s by the Sea for dinner that night {after a hit up Candy Kitchen and the arcade}. I mean how can you not love this view at dinner!???
The boys were a little crazy but we somehow managed to get through dinner {after I had to remove one of them from the restaurant}. The next morning was a little windy so we decided to go for a nice walk around Rehoboth and hit up the park for a little bit and then Grotto Pizza for lunch! We can’t go down to Rehoboth without getting some slices from Grotto’s.
Then it was off to Funland. The rides were opening so we had to get there as soon as we could. My inlaws came into town to spend the afternoon with us. We had one major meltdown because of a game that we will never mention again. Okay it was that damn claw game! Come on, it’s rigged… The 6 year old boy never win it! But despite the breakdown we did get on a few rides! Owen went on the boats for the very first time! It’s a tradition that all kids must ride those boats {there are quite a few generations in our families that have spent many of summers ridding those boats}.
After the rides, we decided to go down to the beach for a few hours before dinner. It was such a gorgeous night!
Since we loved Obie’s the night before we decided to go back again! It was the perfect spot to bring the kids and the stroller. This night was a little smoother and the kids were pretty well behaved!
Tuesday morning we met up with some good friends on the beach in the morning. We spent a few hours down there playing and relaxing in the sand. After they left it was off to lunch at Nicola Pizza and then back to the beach! That night was our last night in town so we had to go big! We spent a ton of time back at the rides and the boys went into the Haunted Mansion for the very first time! Again this ride has been there FOREVER so we knew it was time for them to get on it. I love how they pretended to be so scared waiting in line but their faces as they came out of it were priceless! They were scared to death! It was awesome!
After the rides we hit up the ice cream shop and ran into a skunk in the dunes before heading back home to get some rest.
The next morning was checkout time! Since we were so close to Joey’s parents we decided to drive there and drop off Owen. We had a few more things that we wanted to do with the boys and it was just easier if we didn’t have the stroller {sorry Owen}! We just had to squeeze in one more day of rides and miniature golf!!
After we finished up the day in Rehoboth it was time to head back to my inlaws! That leg of our trip was coming to an end!
We spent a few days relaxing at my inlaws before we packed up the car and headed to Hershey Park! That was an interesting trip. The boys were soooo naughty that night in the hotel that we almost didn’t go to the park the next morning. But we sucked it up and took them! They weren’t on their best behavior but I think that they still had a blast!
Overall, we had an awesome time. Yes there were a lot of moments where the boys were fighting and we were all yelling, but I know that we will look back and only remember all of the fun times and memories that were made that week. Ok I’ll still remember Ben’s breakdown when he didn’t win the Despicable Me minion at that claw game! But I will mainly remember the skee-ball games, the rides, and of course the massive amounts of pizza and ice cream that we consumed! I can’t wait to see what next summer brings for us!
Remember to enter below to win your very own Silly McGilly. Such a cute gift for your little ones!
