LDW

No, no - that's not an airport code...

it's for Labor Day Weekend!  And what a great close to summer (even though the last official day isn't for a few weeks!   We're still enjoying our evening walks with doggies and Ben!)

After a quick Dr. visit Friday (double ear infection is all gone!) and a stop by Mommy's work:

We spent the weekend at the Jersey shore.

And "we" is merely:
8 adults
2 teenage girls
FOUR dogs
and a baby...

In a three-bedroom, one-bath house.

Let's just say, chaos reigned SUPREME.

We spent the days at the beach, sticky with sunblock.

 (the bay side of town)

  And after worrying for about .5 seconds about it, babies napped on sandy towels in beach tents:

And boy did he nap HARD after playing in the sun, sand and sea!

Ben spent afternoons seagulling* an uncle's ice pops:

*Seagulling: a new term we made up for Ben when he's hovering around food, hoping for a handout.  Like the seagulls at the beach, when someone's eating a bag of chips??

We spent nights at cute restaurants with "Crab" and "Crusty" in the name; and on the boardwalk, playing with uncles while they tried to win him crane toys:

 *Uncle apparently got his QT in with Ben this weekend, as I'm now realizing how much he dominates the pictures! lol

(we also spent nights whisper-yelling at barking dogs: "Don't! Wake! the BABY!")

Silence was never sweeter than when SIL and I finally got to our sunrise beach yoga class on Sunday morning...

Later the same day, we went on the bay side of town and rented paddle boards! Which, by the end of the 30 minute rental, we decided had not been a very good idea.  The combination of strong winds and currents made paddling back VERY difficult, that my arms' and obliques' soreness is just now fading, days later!

Overall, a great weekend - and we couldn't wait to get home Monday. 
We never thought we'd call our house Peaceful & Quiet with two dogs, but after the chaos of the weekend, it was exactly that.

 (thanks SIL for the collage!)

**Dean Martin just sang to me, from Pandora, about firelight and mistletoe.

And like that *snap* - my heart started yearning for cable-knits and leather boots!  

::hangs head in shame::

On the local "First Day back to school" - Enjoy the rest of your summer!!

***(obviously I wrote this post last week - so change that "First day back" to "second week back."  =P)***