Tobin's 16th birthday celebration

     We took Tobin and 8 of his friends to Ocean City for his 16th birthday!  Yes, he is turning 16 and no, I can't believe it!  I don't even know how it happened.  Yesterday, I was giving him a pacifier and today, a 16th birthday!  Even though we were doing this great BIG thing, I still felt like it wasn't a big birthday celebration!  The only birthday-e thing we did was have a cake at dinner.  The boys did sing Happy Birthday with their own unique version, but that was it.  But the whole time was definitely a celebration and being with friends.  We rented a 12 passenger van so that ALL of the boys could ride together.  This was definitely one of the successes of the trip.  I think they all liked it.
      The plan which we loosely followed was to get down there around lunch time, hang out at the beach until the crab feast at dinner and then to let the boys have their own time together until about midnight on the boardwalk.  I definitely realized the boys have a mind of their own and when they want something, they go after it.  They could hardly wait to get to the beach and the boardwalk.  Then they could hardly wait to get to the next thing.  I felt bad that the weather wasn't great for the nighttime boardwalk; it was rainy and windy.  The boys shivered through it. 
     On Thursday, the boys woke up and went out to the beach.  Then they came back, packed, and headed out to Hooters!  After Hooters it was time to get some of the boys back for a baseball game.

Some of the things that happened with the boys that we know about:

1.  On the way in to OC, Andy said, "I have some good news and some bad news.  Which do you want first?"  Jake said the bad news so Andy said, "The bad news is that you aren't seniors.  The good news is that it IS senior week so there will be all kinds of girls that you won't know how to talk to on the boardwalk and at the beach."

2.  Jake then said, "I've got some good news and some bad news.  The bad news is that we are only here for one night.  The good news (imagine Jake saying this) is that we are here for ONE, SOLID night!"

3.  On the boardwalk that night, they were talking to a bunch of girls and one of them said, "I know it's senior week.  You guys aren't here with a mom, are you?  Because earlier on the beach today, I saw a mom with you guys."  We're still laughing at that one!

4.  Tobin and friend Jonny got their ear pierced!!  So funny.  The guy kept joking with Tobin that he was going to pierce the other ear.

5.  These guys ate about 4 1/2 dozen crabs, along with all you can eat awesome fried chicken and french fries!