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OCEAN DITTY NEW DIRTY
9 CommentsWe are now spending the final part of our trip with my sister Pam at her lovely home in Vineland, New Jersey. She and her husband John live in the middle of a farm surrounded by acres and acres of beautiful fields planted with lettuce, cilantro, corn, cabbage and beefsteak tomatoes; the latter of which New Jersey is famous for. We arrived last Saturday night . Sunday it rained and we sat on her wraparound porch and watched the lighting streak across the sky and listened to the thunder rumble. We get very few thunder and lighting storms in California so this was a novel experience for the kids.
Monday we drove thirty miles south to go to the beach in Ocean City, New Jersey. When we were kids we used to take day trips from our home in suburban Philadelphia to the beach. My parents would pile all five of us kids and a cooler full of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches into the paneled station wagon (which my father had embarrassingly decorated with flower power stickers) for the 90 minute drive to “the shore”, which my sister Pam referred to as “Ocean Ditty New Dirty.” We spent the whole day in the sun by the water’s edge building sand castles, collecting sea shells and searching for sand crabs. The water was usually refreshingly crisp and we could body surf for hours. The highlight of the day was when the Good Humor man would come by with a cooler slung over his shoulder calling out in a very distinctive drawn out voice of a game show announcer, ” Ice… cream… sandwiches….creamsicles…. water ice….fudgie…….wudgies….”
These are the things I wanted to share with my children and they enjoyed them as much as I did, even though they were reluctant to let on because as you know they are teenagers and find everything I say and do embarrassing. OK, so maybe they are a little old to get excited about sand crabs. Still… my memories are now their memories too.
Published on August 14, 2009 · Filed under: BLENDED FAMILIES, LIFE WITH TEENAGERS, THE TIES THAT BOND A FAMILY, VACATIONS; Tagged as: BLENDED FAMILIES, BLENDED FAMILY VACATIONS, TRIPS
9 Responses to “OCEAN DITTY NEW DIRTY”
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Marilyn said on August 17th, 2009 at 3:04 am
Shwanda, Sounds like a wonderful trip and one the kids will always remember. I think every parent wants to recreate their happiest memories from childhood for their own kids.
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Marilyn said on August 17th, 2009 at 3:06 am
oopps! Sorry Carol…..As usual, my typing is faster than my brain!
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Kim said on August 17th, 2009 at 4:45 am
Hi Carol, I am the same way. I look forward to taking my boys on trips to the beach, finding sand crabs, and winning prizes on the boardwalk. I hope you enjoyed your trip.
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Peggy said on August 17th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Carol,
I am so glad you are enjoying your vacation! Memories are so important…so happy you are creating them for your kids!
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Carol said on August 18th, 2009 at 7:39 am
Thanks Peggy. We had a blast. Hey, are you going to Blogher next year?
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Carol said on August 18th, 2009 at 7:43 am
Kim. Love, love, love your blog. I once took a cake decorating class and loved it. We have made our own version of the sleepover cake. So fun!! I will add your blog to my blogroll and do a review. I’ll add it to my new blog http://www.justimaginate.com as well. Stay in touch and continue to enjoy the beach.
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Carol said on August 18th, 2009 at 7:54 am
Thanks Marilyn. Your work is beautiful. I looked at your blog and will feature it in an upcoming post. Thanks for writing about me too.
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I love reliving childhood experiences with my children – so glad you got to share a special moment with them!
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shelley said on August 22nd, 2009 at 8:07 am
Hi Carol,
What wonderful memories! I used to love to go down to the “jersey shore” when i was little… we usually went for day trips with the pb and j sandwiches too, loaded up our station wagon w/6 kids… only once can i remember spending a whole week down there… what great summer memories… glad you had a great time…
shelley
ps and yes, everyone LOVES a maryland crabs! we are famous for them! LOL
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