Madelynn Turns Two...

In Atlantic City!

Jeffrey asked Mads what she would like to do for her birthday and she said, "Water?" Ok, so she probably meant she was thirsty and would like a little water in her sippy cup, or maybe she really wanted to see water for her birthday. Who knows? No matter her true desire, we interpreted "water" to mean beach, and we chose the closest one. Less than an hour after Madelynn's request for water, I had the hotel booked and the directions placed on the counter under the car keys. We were headed for Jersey the next morning.

Since the sole purpose of the trip was to get Babe to a beach, we made that our first stop.

Although Mads has been to Florida a couple times, this was her first time at a beach with real waves (the Gulf is like a big, waveless bathtub. The Atlantic is like... the ocean). The beach was by far her most favorite part of the trip, and we left the boardwalk pretty much once an hour so she could trot in the sand.

Sliding in at a close second for the best attraction in AC was the water and light show. Madelynn squealed the whole way through it.

Italian ice on the boardwalk:

The Ripley's Believe it or Not museum, which turned out to be much more entertaining for Jeff and I. Madelynn could have skipped this one.

Sugar, a HUGE candy store with a ginormous elephant made out of Jelly Beans.

(She did NOT eat that whole lollipop. She dropped it on the boardwalk and all the edges shattered off.)

We had Madelynn's birthday dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, which was probably my favorite part of the trip. The restaurant looked like a real rainforest inside, with moving, life-size animals and fog. Every half hour, the lights would go out and there would be a thunderstorm in the restaurant. Fabulous.

We had a great time, an easy drive and got tons of exercise. Happy Birthday, Chipmunk!