Hello from Ocean City, NJ

When last we checked in, we were awaiting a flight out of Unalaska and hoping we would get to New Jersey without any problems. We had no luck with standby but were confirmed on the 7:30 PM flight last Wednesday, which finally took off at 10:30 PM. We arrived in Anchorage at 1:15 AM. Not fun, but we got out! Overnighted in ANC, flew to SEA in the morning and then on to Newark, arriving at 11:30 PM Thursday. We'd reserved a room for the night, knowing we'd be tired. On Friday, July 1, we went to pick up our rental car (which is another long and amusing story that I will save for a rainy day) and hit the road for Laurel Springs, where Mom lives. Whew! I was so happy to pull into her driveway! Sarah, Miles, Elle and Beck were already there, as were my sister and nephew Eli. Later on Friday, we picked up Susan, Corey, Aidan and Ally in Philadelphia. Poor Bonnie, David and Emery got stranded in Denver due to weather on Thursday and did not get in till midnight Friday. They were some tired travelers.
Saturday we loaded up quite a few cars and caravanned to Ocean City, found our rental houses and got ready for Mom's 80th birthday party the next day. Sunday was busy but so much fun as we celebrated Mom's bday and visited with lots and lots of family and friends. I have a ton of photos but will only post these few right now because my computer is infected and keeps shutting itself down. Ugh. Hopefully I can get it worked on while we are "down south." It feels weird to call NJ "down south" but from Alaska....well....it is!

Mom, her cousin Mike, Rich and my Uncle Bill (Mom's brother) singing "happy birthday." We had a great time visiting with aunts, uncles and cousins along with my siblings and their families. We haven't had this many family members together in many, many years and it was a blast.

Baby Beck is growing like a weed. He's pulling up on furniture and I think he will be walking soon! He is very happy and has the cutest laugh.

Aidan is still the sweetest boy ever. Unfortunately, at 8 years old, he is much more interested in hanging out with his friends and cousins than his Gigi. I am trying not to be too sad about it and glad that he is having fun. This is the first night he's spent at our house with us because he and his best cousin buddy Becca have been staying at her house (my brother Bill's).

Yesterday we got all of my Mom's kids and grandkids together for some family photos. Here's our cute little Emery, who's really been enjoying the beach. She can say "Gigi," which thrills me, of course. We also taught her to say "Wawa" right away--the name of a chain of convenience stores in NJ.

Ally and Elle are the best of friends and can be seen together at just about any moment. They are both as cute as can be and keep us laughing with their antics. They also love the beach and the water and are having the best time!

My son in law David took a bunch of photos for us and Rich also snapped a few at the same time. This is my mom with all of her grandchildren (16) and great-grandchildren (12). Wow! It's an amazing feat to get us all together at the same time!

Amongst all of us (including some cousins), we have 6 houses rented for the week. We've been in and out of each other's places and visiting back and forth, trying to catch up, though it is not always easy with different schedules and lots of babies needing naps and early bedtimes. For the 4th of July, we ended up having a huge cookout at our house and then sat on the beach to watch the fireworks. Very cool! Tonight we strolled the boardwalk, ate junk food for supper and frozen custard for dessert, and took the grandkids to the arcade and amusement park to go on the rides. Now the grandkids are asleep and the kids have gone back out to ride the rides themselves while Gigi and Grandpa babysit.

In case you can't tell, we're having a wonderful time! I will post more photos soon.