Our 8 weeks at the beach have come to an end. I am excited to get home and finish up some projects. No really I am. And to sleep in my own bed. And to finish up some projects.
We were in Ocean Grove all summer staying at my mom’s house. It’s the same house I’ve been spending summers in since I was 2-years-old. (But we’ve been coming since I was an infant, hence 39th year and I’m only 38-years-old.) It was a great place to grow up and was the perfect contrast to living in NYC the rest of the year. I am still friends with many of my summer friends, probably more so than my old school friends. The older I got the more time I spent at the beach. By 15 I was coming to Ocean Grove every weekend during the school year. Of course it didn’t hurt that my boyfriend lived there.
The picture above randomly has no cars parked. There are no cars in this picture because it was a Sunday, and when I was a kid you weren’t allowed to have a car in Ocean Grove on Sundays. FYI – that’s the same tree in both pictures. The porch with the green diamond is now the one with the decorative blue balustrade. You can’t see our house in the old picture.
Here’s the bedroom I stay in. There’s really just enough room for a bed and that’s it. When hubby comes on the weekends, he has to leave his bag in the hallway because there’s no place to put it down in the room. Growing up, this was my brother’s room.
And this is the hallway. I can remember when I was finally tall enough that my legs would span the width of the hall, can you imagine how small I must have been? Because then I was able to put my butt/back on one wall, my feet on the other, and “walk” up the wall. Good times. Short legs.
There are lots of activities in Ocean Grove all summer, from morning bible hour for kids, a play, youth groups, junior guards, to surf contests, etc. My kids are probably even more involved than I was as a kid.
Lulu LOVED working at the bazaar selling toys. Nothing was marked so she had to make up prices on the fly. She’s a natural.
When we weren’t selling junk to strangers, we were hanging out at the beach.
Or at swim camp. Just for fun, here’s one of me from back in the day. I was 6 in this picture (middle), my daughter is 7, and my son is 6. Yup, we’re all right handed. Too bad the Ocean Grove pool doesn’t exist anymore because I had to drive 20 minutes to take them to their lessons. I know, it’s a tough life I live.
Smart Jr is 13 this summer and she enjoyed the freedom to wander around all day and night as long as she stayed within Ocean Grove and was home by 10pm. Of course I could text her and tell her to get her butt home at anytime. Here’s me at 13.
We even had a visit from Smart Jr’s oldest friend. They met when they were a few weeks old and look at them now. We are on our way out to dinner in both pics.
We maximized our last day at the beach and didn’t get home until late last night. I have yet to start unloading the cars. Sigh.
We came home to a house with pots full of dead flowers and boxes of tile that have been sitting in front of the garage since May. But don’t worry, I put a sign on them that says, “Don’t take these please.” I put it there when the guys came to pick up donations for the VVA, but I’m too lazy to throw it out I think it’s hysterical.
But back to the beach… let me give you a few more highlights. There was 4th of July.
We painted new t-shirts because last year’s were too small. (Tutorial HERE)
Lulu’s shirt was meticulously painted by Smart Jr’s summer bestie. Here’s a picture of them at the American Authors/ Andy Grammer concert. It was AWESOME!!!
We had a visit from MY childhood best friend and her family. I love that the kids are close in age and get along really well. Now if only we could get together more than twice a year. 
This is the classic spot to take pictures. The porch was torn off and rebuilt a few years back, but same idea. This is me (with the shiner, of course), my brother with the red shirt, and our two cousins.
My kids had a visit from their cousins this summer too, some from as far as Denmark. I’m betting you can figure out which two based on a single accessory. This was a cloudy day in Asbury Park.
And another night in Asbury Park, probably on our way to the beir garden. That’s Ocean Grove across the lake.
We hit up some other towns, and ran into the Scarlet Knight on the boardwalk in Belmar. For those of you not in the know… he’s the mascot for Rutgers – The State University of NJ, where hubby and I both went. That’s our Dunkin Donuts of choice in the background.
We hit of Jenkinson’s Boardwalk on the hottest day of summer, but the kids still had a blast. I’m cheap, so of course we went on wristband day where you can ride as much as you like and not have to worry about tickets.
We ate way too much ice cream.
We got to hang out with my dad too. He works as a docent at the Centennial Cottage in Ocean Grove and my kids love to get the tour.
I’ll leave you with two more porch shots. My brother and me circa 1992-ish.
And my two youngest on crazy clothes day.
I hope you’re having an awesome summer too. Now we have another 3 weeks to chill at home before school starts. I mean to finish up some projects before school starts.
Be sure to check out more posts about our family life below!
Looks like you had a really nice time! I’m curious about how you got the crazy looking black eye when you were little. I got hit on the head by our family dog and had a boxer-style goose egg like your’s. No one believed me when I said the dog did it. I really enjoyed reading this and seeing your pictures. We’d drive down to the shore and go to the boardwalks all the time growing up. Seaside Heights was our favorite spot, but Keansburg was closer so my cousins and my sisters and I would beg our parents to take us when we’d all get together for holidays and birthdays. This brought back a lot of memories for this former Yankee girl. Thanks!
I love that you’re Jersey at heart! The black eye came from falling off the swingset we had in the backyard. It was on top of concrete. I fell of the swing and didn’t have a chance. The boy across the street fell off the monkey bars once and broke his arm. Ah, the 80’s, a simpler time! I haven’t been to Seaside in at least 20 years! And I’ve never been to Keansburg, crazy!
I loved your post. what great pictures of the kids in carts and then all grown up! Great memories.
Thanks Sandy!