Ocean City: The Highlights.

Traveling with family is always an adventure, especially if you mix a couple of generations. Case in point me, my dad, step-mom, two young sisters (3 and 5), a set of married grandparents, and a widowed grandmother.

For starters let's just start with the food, cause well why not...Grandma Joyce is a semi-vegetarian who doesn't drink during meals because it makes her vomit...she will eat fish and shrimp. However, the fish she eats tends to lack flavor because she cooks it until it is the consistency of beef jerky. It is the family joke that the last time she was allowed to cook the Thanksgiving turkey it was nothing short of the Griswold Family Turkey. Picky Eater Numero Uno.

The little sisters could survive on a diet of "chicken nuggets and french fries". They will eat these "chicken nuggets" from the following, and only the following, establishments: McDonald's, Popeyes, KFC...they will not except fried chicken that has been peeled off of the bone, it was tried, and quickly rejected. French Fries are preferred to come from McDonald's, but they will at least lick the salt of the fries from the other two restaurants. Their drink of choice, lemonade, preferably pink.--- They are a bit high maintainence.

My dad and I will eat anything spicy that's not pork.
Cassandra and her mom aren't picky eaters either.

Now second matter on hand is getting 8 people- 3 senior citizens, 2 juveniles, and 3 active adults- to move at the same speed toward the same objective......let's just say if it was announced that we were leaving for dinner it 5 we generally left at 6....hauling kids in car seats, constant bathroom breaks, my grandma and her hair, not wanting to leave in the middle of Ali G.....

Third, My Grandma Joyce's Hair...it requires it's own paragraph. This just goes to show that you can't teach and old dog new tricks..to quote my grandmother...she must wash then roll her hair; this is followed by sitting under the hair dryer for 2 hours, followed by styling, followed by many mirror checks and restyles before she will be seen in public. Now on the days she does not wash the hair, there is still rolling of the hair required- rolled at night before bed, rolled after the 1.5 hour power walk, rolled before shower....you think I'm exaggerating, but it is a fact....I offered to blow dry the hair and use a curling iron to which she replied "well I guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks."

My grandpa is the strong silent type- he mostly watched Tiger Woods and other golf related things, went on power walks with my grandma, and just waited to be directed to whatever "Best Seafood Buffet in the OC" that we were going to that night....Although, I will say that he did give me an awesome compliment on the outfit that I wore to Jalen's 3rd, 5th b-day party, "I like those shoes, really pointy, but I like them...If I had a camera with me I take a snapshot, you look sharp, very nice."....awesome compliment from the man of few words....He also was very impressed with the running that I continued to do on vacation despite being sick and having some odd back problems, but that's another story....

We played around on the beach, I body surfed- possibly the cause of the now very sore back and inability to get a full night's sleep-, I bought a pretty white skirt (I'm into white clothes right now, who knows... I have no rational explanation for most of my behavior), I ate a lot of salt water taffy, went for runs on the boardwalk, and a t e a l o t o f c r a b s! ....it is Maryland!

The best part was the conversation which is better told in person but just know that every single member of my family is a sarcastic shit which makes for a good time..for instance, my grandma said to me "How can you like sushi, I just thought people ate it because it was popular you actually like it..?" "Yeah grandma I like it. I don't know why; why do you like dry meat with no flavor?...no one knows, you just do."....take that times 1 million and that was the beach house.

Anyway fun-times with the family, many more stories, but tired of typing.

Jalen had 3- 5th birthday parties- bowling, backyard pool party, waterpark/amusement park.

Jasmine had a birthday party because "daddy it's not fair that Jalen get's a birthday party and I don't"...so we just whipped a quick party up for her- threw a few candles on her piece of cake, sang happy birthday, she was happy!

yup.