Joe, Grace, and I got away this past weekend.

The Golden Inn in Avalon, New Jersey hosted us (along with Sarah, Kelly, Mariana, Valerie, Theresa, and Elizabeth and their families) for some quiet, quality time together.

Grace was a little confused by the swanky breakfasts without my dad. Both mornings, she said, Hey! Where’s Pappy? Pappy coming to breakfast? And we had to call him on the phone so that he could explain that he wasn’t coming because we were away on a trip.

The Golden Inn’s breakfast buffet is pretty terrific, so if you are ever in the area, you should partake.

Go early, though. I heard that there was a long wait for breakfast at some points during the morning.

We had intended to spend a lot of time on the beach, but we weren’t able to on Saturday.

The sun was warm enough, but the wind was gusting up to 40 miles per hour. That is a hard enough wind to exfoliate your face when you stand on the beach.

My cheeks are still red. I don’t have the sense to come in out of the wind.

I get caught up in sea shell hunting. I have no excuse.

Fortunately, the wind died down, and we were able to spend hours on the beach on Sunday.

Grace doesn’t remember going to the beach last year. She has seen enough tv shows about the beach to understand the concept, but she didn’t remember having been there herself.

Her first order of business was sea shells, followed quickly by building a sand castle. The castle ended up being more like a stadium.

Or something.

We lost our first spot to a bunch of dog owners. Grace is still very afraid of dogs, so we gave up the spot and went looking for a more peaceful area.

By this time, we’d met up with Mariana and her daughters. Her older daughter and Gracie hit it off, and they played together for the rest of our time on the beach.

Grace is still talking about her new friend.

After being outside for so long, we needed to come in and get warm. We spent some time lounging in our hotel room.

Cape May County, New Jersey has a terrific little zoo that you can visit free. (It is free, but they will hand you a donation bucket on your way into the zoo parking lot.)

We saw all kinds of animals. Our favorites:

The red fox – Grace asks me every single day if I think we’ll see a fox today. We saw a fox at the zoo.

The lion – He happened to be standing right in front of us as we approached his exhibit. I have never been so close to a lion. Never.

I think I could have reached out and pet these cheetahs. We were even closer than we were to the lion!

Joe’s favorite was the bald eagle exhibit. There were also monkey mommas everywhere, carrying their monkey babies on their bellies. Adorable.

The Cape May County Zoo was one of the highlights of our trip, no doubt.

We found some fun and interesting places to eat, including J. Otton’s, a tiny place we found on the way back from the zoo.

The weekend concluded with a Cabbage Patch party, and Grace chose herself a brand new baby.

Grace’s baby’s name is Katie Joanne (according to her birth certificate), and they have been inseparable since they met.

Grace is a perfect momma, giving Katie baths,

making sure she’s safe in the car,

and even reading books to her at every opportunity.

Before we left, the Golden Inn’s chef taught us how to properly frost cupcakes. That was a really fun way to end our weekend.

I would never have thought to go to the beach in November, but we had a wonderful time. Maybe we’ll even go back next year.

Happily shared at A Thousand Words Thursday, PhotoStory Friday, Friday’s Foto Finish Fiesta, and Give Me Your Best Shot

The Golden Inn Avalon provided us with a free room for two nights. We also received a free Cabbage Patch doll from Jakks Pacific.