Parts of the beach and boardwalk were still covered in snow and ice, but it felt so good to get outdoors and feel the sun on our skin.

We climbed up on the jetty and made it almost to the end. The waves were pretty big at the end of the jetty and we didn’t want to get splashed too much because it wasn’t warm enough.

We also collected a ton of gorgeous shells which I will be putting into a bowl that is currently filled with pine cones in our living room. Maybe if we summer-ify the house, the warmth will actually come and stay!

Here’s to hoping that the temperatures keep rising, so next time we can hit the beach without coats!

How’s the weather in your area?

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The 10 hour trip flew by and before we knew it we were in Carolina Beach and enjoying the view from our ocean front condo.

We headed down to the beach to enjoy the water, which was ridiculously warm, and splashed around in the waves while the sun set over the town. We were so excited to get out on the beach the next morning, to explore the town, and get some good eats. Little did we know that at 3:30AM our vacation plans would be turned on their heads and the next three days of vacation would be spent eating saltines.

In the middle of the night Munchkin crawled into bed with us and started throwing up. We thought it was just him, but we had all caught a bug from Tommy’s niece, which made for a miserable couple of days.  The little guy was luckily fine by about noon, and back to his happy self, but Tommy and I felt so weak, that all we could do was lay around and rest. The oceanfront balcony which we were so excited about just the day before made me so angry because we were stuck inside, instead of enjoying the sun and sand, like all the people below us.

Thankfully, we felt well enough the next day to make it out to the beach. Munchkin loved the water and sand, and could probably live in the surf if we would let him. I also fell in love with boogie boarding. I could spend hours out on the boogie board bobbing around the the waves.

Overall, we had a great time in Carolina Beach and I highly recommend the Atlantic Towers as a place to stay. I wish that we had gotten more time to enjoy the area because there were a lot of things we wanted to do, that we didn’t get to. Hopefully, our next vacation will be illness free!

Are you a planner when it comes to vacations? Have you ever gone on vacation and gotten sick?

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Munchkin and I found ways to stay cool and still have fun. You can’t sit cooped up inside on the first day of summer, right?

When I got home from work he changed into our bathing suits and hit the pool. Yes, it’s a baby pool, but fun nonetheless!

I brought out the water guns that my dad had stored away in the garage from when I was a kid and, needless to say, Munchkin was all over them! What little boy wouldn’t love spraying his mom on a hot summer day.

After pool time, we dried off and headed out for dinner. Tommy was in the mood for Greek, so we went to a little place in Astoria. I got a really good falafel and he had a gyro, and we split a spinach pie.

After dinner, Munchkin and I were not ready to go home, so we took a trip to the beach. The beach that is closest to us, isn’t the prettiest or cleanest, but it does the job for an evening walk on the beach.

We took our shoes off and dipped out feet into the cold water, but Munchkin preferred to run away from the water instead.

Enjoy your second day of summer and stay cool!

Did you do anything to celebrate the first day of summer?

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I woke up this morning, the sun was shining, the humidity was down, perfect weather for a beach day? Right? Wrong! As soon as we stepped onto the sand, it was like being in the Sahara in the middle of a sandstorm.  We kept moving our set up closer and closer to shore hoping that the packed, wet sand wouldn’t be kicked up by the winds, but it didn’t help.  We got to play in the sand a little bit and wet our feet in the ice cold water.

Munchkin had a blast even though he was constantly getting sand in his mouth. After about an hour, we decided to pack up and go over the the pool that they have at Jones Beach. 

We got to the pool only to find that there was no water in it.  Talk about disappointing.  We opened up our lawn chairs and sat in the grass in front of the pool for a while deciding what the heck we were going to do.

That is when the mosquitoes came out in full force.  We started getting attacked and had to pack up and move on.  We finally decided to go to the playground and let munchkin run around a bit before heading out. 

On our long walk back to the car, we decided that we were hungry and getting lunch was a must.  We finally decided to get some BBQ and drove over to Long Beach to Swingbelly’s.  It was my first time there and I absolutely loved it. Since it was happy hour and all starters where 2 for 1, we started with fried pickles and BBQ nachos.  I can honestly say I understand Snooki a little better after trying fried pickles.  They were delish! On top of that we both got sandwiches, which, needless to say, we were barely able to eat.

Once our bellies were full, we headed home, only to get stuck in rush hour traffic. We spent the rest of the day just relaxing. Being out in the sun will really take a lot out of a person. 

Hopefully our next beach day will be a little more successful, but I had a great time either way. 

Question: Do you have any beach horror stories?

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