Christmastime at the Beach

Our Christmas Beach Vacation with Aaron (aka Uncle Wolfe), Kate, Eamon, Oma and Opa was special and exciting for a lot of reasons. First of all, it was great to be able to spend some extended time with my brother and his family who we don't get to see too often. It is priceless for our kids to get some quality time with their cousin Eamon (who is just three months younger than Lucas) to really get to know him and also really get to know their Aunt and Uncle, all of whom they usually only see a few times a year for two hour stretches. Secondly, when my brother and I were kids we went on vacation to Ocean City every year with our cousins, aunts and uncles and that's how we all got so close. It's exciting to think that our kids will be able to form that bond with each other too. And the fact that it's the same place where we have so many wonderful memories makes it even cooler. Next, it was also exciting to be able to celebrate Eamon's first birthday with him - it was something we wouldn't ordinarily have been able to do because of the distance, so it was fun to be able to share in the excitement of Eamon's first birthday and first cupcake experience! And finally of course it was great for the kids to spend extended time with their Oma and Opa, whom they absolutely adore.

However, as mentioned in the previous blog, the Christmas Beach Vacation did not start off as wonderfully as we'd hoped. Elise had a horrible and fitful first night at the hotel and Marty and I got up the next morning exhausted and frustrated, having gotten no explanation from Elise about what was happening or why she had such a hard time sleeping. After lots of poking, prodding and cuddling we finally got it out of her that her ear hurt. On Christmas Eve morning, she'd actually mentioned that her ear hurt too, but she was also complaining about a million other things because she was in a horribly foul mood so I didn't think much of it at the time. She's never had an ear infection before and I'd always thought that this was the age you started outgrowing them, not getting them for the first time so it didn't occur to me that it could be a real problem.

After a long, grumpy morning, we gave Elise some Motrin and she perked up almost immediately so she had obviously been in pain. Since all the health centers were closed for the holidays, we ventured to the hospital after lunch to get that ear checked out. Turns out it was, in fact, a nasty ear infection (thus explaining her behavior the last few days) and we got some antibiotics (her first ever I think) and some pain medicine and after a bit our little girl was on the mend and finally back to her old self. We could proceed with vacation fun!

And what fun we had! Christmas at the Beach may sound a little chilly (and it was) but there was actually lots of fun stuff to do. The hotel had an indoor pool and an ice skating rink (as well as great people watching, a model train and a really exciting glass elevator in the lobby) and we took advantage of all the amenities. Elise had her first ever ice skating experience, which she absolutely loved. She was a natural on the ice! It didn't take long for her to get the hang of it and become an old pro. It's not anything we would have thought of trying had it not been in the hotel, so I am glad that we had the opportunity to do it. Eamon demonstrated to Lucas how fun the pool is, and while Lucas was very skeptical at first, he eventually came around (a bit) and didn't hate it. Elise turned out to be as much of a water baby as Eamon - she had a blast at the pool and I had to eventually drag her away when I was too cold and pruned to take it any longer. We may have to get a pool membership somewhere next summer!

On the warmer days, we went for a walk on the Boardwalk, Opa and Ellie walked on the beach and collected seashells and we all went to a Festival of Lights extravaganza one night that probably displayed more Christmas lights than any of the kids had ever seen combined. The vacation did not end without incident - Marty woke up one morning feeling terrible enough to take himself to the emergency care center and was diagnosed with strep throat. We were pleased with all the good emergency care in Ocean City considering how much we had to use it!

Most importantly, Elise and Lucas got a chance to bond with their cousin Eamon (Elise mothered him and Lucas mostly bullied him) and they got a chance to get to know their Aunt and Uncle and hang out with Oma and Opa so I'd say the trip was a success. We are already looking forward to doing it again next year!