Down-de Ooshun, Hon! The promise of nice weather and a last-minute vacancy provided the perfect opportunity for a long weekend getaway, and Zoe's first visit to the family compound in Ocean City, or "down-de ooshun" if you've been practicing your Bawlmerese. From her first steps following Jesse onto the sand, she was hooked. Another beach baby!Zoe insisted on having her breakfast served al fresco every morning. Even the presence of numerous dogs out for an early-morning beach walk didn't seem to phase her...not when you're having chocolate milk and oatmeal in paradise.

The combination of Passover and Zoe's limited diet proved to be a challenge. Bread and oatmeal are two of the staples of her diet; would she enjoy matzah (if we presented it to her as a gigantic cracker, one of her other staples)? She rejected it earlier in the week at her first seder, refusing to even take a bite.

Out of respect for the holiday, we brought two boxes of matzah along for the weekend. This time Zoe actually took a bite before concluding "I don't like that." We tried feeding it to the seagulls, but they wouldn't get near it, either. I myself had two bites and thought to myself "Hey, this brand is really good," without realizing that I was actually eating the cardboard box.

We think that even He would understand our need to also have bread available during Passover to accomodate Zoe. A Fractured Prune donut, however, might be a different matter entirely.

The weather on the beach was warmer than we anticipated when we packed, so Saturday found us at the Wal-Mart buying Zoe her first bathing suit. She took instantly to the beach, running on the sand and helping to bury Jesse's legs. Mama taught her how to wash the sand off her hands using the tail end of an incoming wave; she lost her balance in the process of leaning over and took a tumble into the chilly Atlantic surf. But even after this minor slip and the repetitive dunking at the mikvah a few weeks ago, she still seems to love the concept of getting in the water to bathe or swim.

Zoe and Jesse had a blast and kept each other laughing all weekend. They are really starting to click and enjoying each other's company, constantly asking where the other is when they're apart, looking out for (and squealing on) one another.

Zoe's at an age where we can take her to an arcade and she'll jump onto the various machines to watch the demo, thinking she's actually playing them. Jesse caught on to this ploy about two years ago, so in exchange for his silence in not telling his sister that she really wasn't operating the machines, he was rewarded with $10 in quarters.

We probably won't be back to "The (Real) O.C." until later this summer, but three days was just the break we needed for now. And now we're back to the daily grind...

  ¶ 5:43 AM