Polar Bear Plunge - 1/1/12

Happy New Year!  For the majority of my & Joe's relationship we have rung in the new year on the beach.  This may sound strange since we live in New Jersey not Florida but there are a ton of crazy people that think it's a great idea to start the new year with a cold swim.  I am not one of them but Joe is.  It's the same every year...Joe wakes up at 8ish am still hung over from partying the night before and hops into Sean's waiting truck for the drive over to Robert's.  They spend the next 2 hours drinking beer and doing shots of whiskey to prepare their bodies for the plunge.

I usually arrive sometime between ten and eleven, meet the boys in the street out in front of the bar that has been shut down by the police because there are TONS of people wandering around.  This year Nicole & Jack came with me to check out the festivities.

Jack was super excited to be at the beach.  We were a little concerned about him getting lost in crowds but once we hit the sand he was totally content to hang by the truck and play in the sand.

Soon an announcer comes on and lets everyone know it's time to get wet.  This is wear things get interesting for me.  There are a lot of people running in and out of the water and a bunch of people trying to take pictures and/or help dry them off, this makes it difficult to get pictures of my people.  Especially when the tide is high, like it was this year.

My crazy boyfriend and Sean decided one time wasn't enough.  They totally needed to go for a second dip.  Luckily there were less people around this time so it was easier to find them and photograph just them.

After everyone dries off we usually head out for a carb heavy breakfast to soak up the alcohol and then Joe takes a long afternoon nap.  All in all not a bad way to welcome a new year.

How did you ring in 2012?