We went to Wildwood Crest NJ, which is the same shore town I used to go to when I was a kid for two to three weeks every summer. We stayed in a hotel/condo conversion two blocks from my dad's uncle's house, which was the house I stayed in when I was a kid. I couldn't help but point out landmarks and memories to Lauren and the kids.
"Look, there is Sunset Lake where we would go fishing and crabbing every year."
"Do you see that Aqua colored water tower? That was what I would look for to let me know I was close to the uncle's house."
"We used to pool hop there and there and there. And that is the place I lost my big toe nail in 82. It was either John or Pat that opened the door right across my bare foot and it tore the nail right off."
Overall we had a good time and I know that Maxfield and Wyatt had a blast.
At one point during the week Lauren questioned my selection of a certain breakfast item. The item in question was Entenmann's chocolate covered donuts. I bought like 3 boxes of them. There is something about the ocean side salt air that makes me crave chocolate donuts. That and the fact that I remembered that we always had donuts around when we were kids at the shore. Entenmann's Donuts and Cheez-Its remind me of the beach.
Lauren joked that maybe I was trying to re-live my childhood. I laughed it off and told her I just wanted the kids to have a good time and remember the shore as a great place.
When we got back home I was looking through the gazillion photos we took and some of them looked very familiar. So familiar that I went into the attic and dug out an old scrapbook.
Maybe Lauren was somewhat right about me trying to re-live my childhood. Or maybe I was just trying to give my kids a taste of the gift of the childhood I had.
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26 comments:
Love all these pics. The last two are so similar that it's hard to believe you didn't plan to re-create it.
Thanks dude. Now I am crying!
Isn't that best, watching your kids experiance the exact same things you once enjoyed? Thanks for a peek back in time.
Donuts and the beach...yep. That's how it was when I was kid and that's how my kids see it too!
LOVE the pics! Now I want to beg my mom to hand over her photo albums so I can scour through them and do my own comparisons!
I absolutely loved this post AND the pictures. Amazing... and how much you all look like each other! Even though dad has the 'burns going on :o) Thanks for sharing that!
That picture of you in the striped shirt standing on the beach is Jackson in a year!
Love the pics!!
"The Circle of Life"...how true! Love the pics, the old and the new. Glad you had a great time. A little nostalgia is not a bad thing. MMMMMMMMMM! Chocolate Donuts!!!!!! Love you momo9
I think that is Lauren as a little girl in the background of that last picture.
There is something so incredibly blissful about these photos in their mirror-like quality. There's certainly no denying the common DNA strands running through you all. Talk about mirrors!
Were you wearing a toupee at age 2?
I always wondered what happenned to the martian guy from the flintstones. Apparently he took off his green helmet, he wears sailor shirts and hangs out on the beach.
Great story , Brilliant Pics !!
Absolutely super post! The best parents do give their children the best of their childhood. E
This is indeed a lovely post. It's a good thing your wife loves you, because those boys sure look like you! (And you sure look like your dad!)
That is crazy. Especially the last two.
Love the photos. And donuts.
Eery. (did I spell that right?)
I too lost a toe nail on my big toe due to my sister opening a door over it, except it was in 78 and at a Burger King in MN, not at the Jersey shore.
And eery is in reference to the pics (way cool), not the toe thing.
Good post and photos.
Great photos! You've brought todays first tears to my eyes. It looks like you had a great family vacation!!
Cool photo comparison! Nothing wrong with reliving the childhood a bit. I do it too.
Donuts must be a universal beach thing. When I used to take my son to laguna beach'fl we always ended our day with fresh made donuts from Thomas's. It's still our favorite place and he's 23 now.
You're doin' a great daddy job!
cheri
tears flowing...that is the sweetest thing I have ever seen.
I am a stalker...and love your blog.
Lovely post. The boys and little Bill are so cute and your dad was a handsome dog!
That is the sweetest! What a cool way to connect the generations.
Great photos! Check out these tips for your next vacation. http://www.diyfather.com/pre-school?page=1
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