Something New Week 4 plus More

Hello lovely bloggers!

I am back from vacation and my almost two week long blogging hiatus. I had written most of this post last Sunday, hoping to publish it Monday, but this week was just one of those weeks where time slipped away from me. I know today isn't Friday, but since I missed week four of the blogging challenge I thought I'd recap my vacation this way.  Let me tell you this vacation was definitely filled with new and exciting things. Before we get started, I just want to remind you to check out the lovely ladies who are also participating in the Challenge:

Miss ALK, Forever Convinced, Gina Alyse, and elle-oh-v-ee.

Also, don't forget to look at Week One, Week Two, and Week Three.

Okay so first, I'll tell you about the new things I did last week!

Something New #1

 Monday morning when I came home from my morning bike ride tDn greeted me with, "you have less than a half hour to eat, put your bathing suit on, and apply your sun screen because we're going kayaking".  I had never been before, but have always wanted to try it.  The two of us were in one kayak and his two cousins were in the other one.  I was so excited! Once we got to the bay I started to freak out a little because let's face it kayaks are much tinier than the big boats that usually travel in the bay.  After about the first ten minutes I calmed down and started to get the hang of it.  We rowed for about thirty minutes and then stopped at a private beach to take some pictures, grab a quick drink of water, and re-apply sunscreen. 

 Once we were finished our ten minute break, we got back into the kayaks and started paddling again.  We went under a huge bridge and the next thing I knew, tDn's cousin JM was telling us to be careful because we are about to enter the ocean.  OCEAN?! I love the beach but I hate the ocean. I don't hate the ocean I just hate being in it. Usually I just sit on the beach and occasionally dip my feet in the water.  I never go swimming, it literally terrifies me.  Anyways, once I heard this news I started to freak out a little because ocean waves are MUCH bigger than bay waves.  

Well, come to find out ocean kayaking really isn't that bad! I actually LOVED it! We ended up Kayaking in OCNJ starting on Bay and 3rd Street and ending up on the Beach and 15th Street.  It was a long ride, I think like two and a half hours.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that Monday was the hottest day of the week last week.  I wore shorts over top of my bathing suit, and I got a pretty nice shorts tan line going now, great.  When we came in land, we had to ride the waves in (on the kayak) until we reached our families on the beach. 

Where we go to the beach there is a pier, and we almost crashed into it, a little terrifying. 

After this long trip I was hot and hungry, good thing tDn's mom had sandwiches waiting for us.  This was the first adventure of the trip for me.

Wednesday we took  the kayaks out again, but this time we went for a shorter adventure and stayed in the bay the entire time. 

We ended up going for an hour and a half ride across the bay to an island and then back.

 Not as exciting as Monday, but it was just as fun!  

Kayaking was a great workout and an awesome experience.  I definitely recommend trying it if you have never done it.

Something New #2

Wednesday We spent the day on the beach.  We were there from about 11-4.  One of tDn's cousins had called a jet ski place earlier in the day to find out if we could get a good deal if we went later in the day.  Well, it turns out we could, happy hour special (minus the drinking)! We went to this tiny little place where we paid, watched a safety video, and then were directed to the life jackets and dock where the jet skis were located.  His cousin GM and I decided that we would ride together. 

 Since GM is only 16 and she was really nervous, we decided that I would drive.   Like I said earlier, the bay and ocean freak me out...so I was nervous of falling off the jet ski.  Once we got started, though, my nerves calmed down and we were fine.  We got to ride for about thirty minutes.  It was such an adrenaline rush and so much fun!  In case you were wondering, I didn't fall off, and I would definitely go again if I had the opportunity.  

Unfortunately, we left all of our phones and cameras in the place where we paid, so we don't have any pictures of us on the jet skis only the pictures afterwards.

---------------

The rest of vacation: 

 I think the easiest way to describe to you what else happened last week is just through pictures.

When I wasn't trying something new last week, I spent a lot of time on the beach

.. and just hanging out.  

I got a decent amount of reading done, and I also was able to cross some things off my Summer bucket list, at the end of the week.  

 One night we rode the giant Ferris wheel in Ocean City, New Jersey.

We played mini golf a few times, one of my favorite things to do at the beach.  I have a bad habit of playing golf as if it were field hockey, but somehow I managed to come in second every game we played as a large group.

One night we went to dinner, all twelve of us, in Atlantic City. 

 It was a lot of fun to get dressed up and go somewhere different. 

While at Harrah's we walked around and looked at all of the shops.  In one of the more upscale stores they had the cutest quotes about shoes.  I just couldn't resist taking pictures to share with all of you.

Friday night was our last night of vacation, so we all went up to the boardwalk to do some last minute shopping.  tDn and I matched without even planning it.

Overall vacation was great, but now it is back to reality.  Time to get ready for school and make some more money working.

My apologies for this super long post, but I had no idea how else so share my experiences with you any other way.

Xoxo

-mQs-