The flights to Baltimore were great. We laid over in Minneapolis for 4 hours. Minneapolis has a great kids play area in the airport. Howard made an immediate friend and they played for a couple of hours. Hazel crawled around, ate and pooped. She slept from Spokane to Minneapolis and again from Minneapolis to Baltimore - we really lucked out. On the way home we flew from Baltimore to Salt Lake City and then from SLC to Spokane. The BWI to SLC flight was just over 4 hours long - ugh! Hazel slept for 2 hours, then we walked her up and down the aisles, read, etc to keep her happy. Both kids really did AWESOME with as much traveling as we did! We are so lucky!
We had 2 cabins for the 13 of us that went. The cabins were fully furnished. We slept and cooked in the cabins, that was about it. We spent most of our time at the beach, outside playing or checking out the many fun things at and near Ocean City. Here's a few highlights from the trip:
Go-Karting
One of Brian's funnest memories from childhood was go-karting with his cousins in Maryland. Go-karting is an annual event his family does and we were in luck that Ocean City had so many go-karting facilities. Howard told us his favorite part of the trip was go-karting. They bought 2 hour wrist bands and could ride all the stuff they wanted. He was like a kid in a candy store.
Maryland State Fireman's Convention
Firemen everywhere! I was secretly hoping for a firemen calendar shoot happening somewhere, but we didn't see that. Instead, there were all sorts of fire trucks, rescue equipment displays, ambulance and related stuff for show. Howard LOVED checking out all the different pieces of fire equipment. The kids were welcome to crawl in and around all the trucks. They had lots of games and give aways. The Maryland State Patrol even had their helicopter there on display.
The Beach and Boardwalk
Picture Jersey Short... in Maryland. Ocean City is knows for their boardwalk. There's lots of neat local shops and eateries. We enjoyed the arcade (tons of video games) and even visited Ripley's Believe it or Not. We spent a day at the beach. The sun was HOT, so we rented some umbrellas and chairs to hang in the shade. The kids loved the sand and making castles and burying each other. The bigger kids got into the water. Howard was pretty fearful of the huge waves we encountered. Hazel just wanted to eat sand.
Crab Fest
Maryland is known for their blue crab. They are actually blue in color, until you cook them and then they turn orange. Cooked with a little Old Bay seasoning and you are good to go. I'm not a fan of them, but the Maryland gang + Brian had a feast. The rest of us enjoyed looking at the crab before they were boiled. Brian was "smart" and put his hand in the bag of crab before they were cooked and was punched by one of the crab. Tee hee.
Rehobeth Beach, Delaware
We made 2 trips up to Rehobeth Beach, which is known for it's amazing outlet malls. And amazing they were! There were 3 separate malls, one high end, one mid and one lower end stuff. I bought my first ever Coach purse (on super duper clearance), but I LOVE it! We found some great deals on kids clothes, so I stocked up on fall and winter stuff and found a few things for Brian and I too.
Odds and ends
It weather was great. It felt a lot hotter than it might have been because of the intense humidity. There were 2 days that we did not allow outside playing during the day because of the warm temps. The kids soaked up some fun in the indoor pool on these days.
Brian's family is just great. Howard had a blast with his 10 year old 2nd cousin, Levi and Levi's friend, Brandon. The 3 boys played so well together. Hazel was a hit. I think she had more smooches on her fluffy cheeks during the week we were there than any other week of her life. She loved it. And of course, Grammy Carol was so happy to see her grandbabies.
We reserved a cabin for next year in June. We can't wait to go back!
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