Beach retreat 2010!!

PEF has (in my unbiased opinion) the very best way of kicking off the school year -- a three-day retreat at Ocean City, NJ!!  We of course go every year, it being David's job and all.  :)  But this was the first time in years that I was able to attend the whole retreat -- the beauty of being part-time means that I only had to take one day's vacation.  And it was definitely worth taking that one day off, to reconnect with PEFers... and to introduce Joshua to the wonders of the beach!

So we all met up for breakfast bright and early on Thursday morning.  At least, the students all thought it was super early -- we had been up for hours, as normal, since our cute little alarm clock almost never goes off later than 6am.  ;)  Joshua was on his best behavior, though, and had fun being held by new people -- no real stranger anxiety yet!






Then it was off to Ocean City!  We stayed at the Ark Retreat Center again, this great old house just a few blocks from the beach.  The first scheduled activity?  Hand-addressing flyers to be delivered to every single incoming freshman.  Gotta love the abundant supply of free labor...  I, of course, was too busy watching Joshua and taking photos to help out...  :)




And then, to the beach!!  I was a wee bit nervous about sun protection for our little guy, so perhaps I went just a bit overboard... But how stinking cute is he in his little sun suit and floppy hat??








OK, I've got to tighten this up and include fewer photos for the rest of this recap...  :)  Thursday night, we had the traditional walk on the boardwalk and Ferris wheel ride.  I had Joshua in the front carrier, and we felt he was perhaps too young to go on the Ferris wheel himself... Maybe next year!




And just a few more photos of the typical PEFer's fun in the sun...




The retreat was SUCH a fun time!!  What a wonderful way to get revved up for another school year.  Joshua is very much looking forward to spending more time with all of you guys!