End of Summer, 2009

Yeah, Yeah, I know, I was gonna try and update the blog on a more regular basis. Oh well, best intentions and all. I have to admit, with Facebook and the advent of updating everyone in 140 characters or less (albeit, Facebook allows a few more than 140 characters), it's hard to come up with something more substantial for the blog.

I've not given up on it yet. Maybe as the days get shorter and cooler, I'll have more to say.

In any case, here's an update! A little send off to Summer 09! Brock and Leda and I (and Duff) headed down to Avalon this past weekend to have on last beach hurrah...or as Leda has taken to calling, our goodbye to Beach World until next year. It also happened to be our 11th wedding anniversary, so we made a celebration out of it.

We headed down on Friday after Leda's school let out and got down to the house and out to the beach by about 3:30ish. The day was a bit overcast, with the sun peaking through more often than not, a little on the cool side, but still shorts and maybe a sweat shirt for the beach. But not my girl. No, my child went swimming. In the ocean! No fear and no feeling of cold in that kid! Actually, the water was still a bit warm - actually felt good...not cold enough to keep Leda from wading in as far as I would let her go (and then some - she pushes the boundaries on a regular basis!)



There weren't a lot of people on the beach. There was a couple with their two little children surf fishing next to the tidal pool. We started to walk in the tidal pool when I noticed some type of fish, until I got a closer look and realized they were sharks! Okay, so they weren't BIG sharks...just little sand sharks, maybe 15 or so inches long and all a sand shark might do to you is, well, nothing! Then we saw two, then three...then come to find that the couple that is fishing, well, they are catching the sand sharks and throwing them in the pool to play with. There were like 10 sharks swimming in this pool! They kept trying to beach themselves toward the incoming tide, so when he could, Brock would grab one and walk him the few feet across the sand to the incoming tide. It was neat playing with them, but sad that they were so intent to get back into the ocean that they would try to beach themselves. Thank goodness the tide was coming in!





On Saturday morning we lounged around for awhile, then got dressed and headed down to the Wetlands Institute for the Wings and Water weekend. We've never been to the institute, and of course we had to go on their biggest weekend of the year. Well, maybe not the biggest, but they had a big ta-do all over the island this weekend. Great thing was the tickets we paid for got us two days of lots of things we could do. We got to see the Peabody Ducks march (kinda like watching the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, once you seen it, you can say you've seen it and you are done!), we got to see the turtles they were going to be releasing into the wild that day (in fact, we kinda helped!), we got to play with turtles and starfish and horseshoe crabs and snakes and geckos and all kinds of fun stuff at the institute.





After a little lunch and a marshy walk to watch the release of the turtles, we headed back down to the beach for a little fun - on our way down, we saw a wild turkey! Then back to the house for showers and then off to an awesome anniversary dinner at Blackfish Stone Harbor. Blackfish was awesome. Food was great, service was great, company was awesome! Leda fell asleep about half through dinner, but it was a good night. We headed home, put the baby to bed, watched a few movies and then caught a good nights sleep before our last day at the beach.

Sunday was another gorgeous day. I was moving a little slower on Sunday as I had a bit too much fun the night before! But we did get down to the beach - all of us, Duff included! We met a family on the beach who were trying to help a large horseshoe crab back into the ocean (as it was still alive) and we chatted with them a bit while Leda swam in the ocean. As we walked we found lots of fun shells and Leda and Duff chased the seagulls. Toward the end of our walk, we got to see dolphins playing in the surf! It was an awesome walk.



We headed back to shower and headed off to Avalon Community Center for the Wings and Water art show and had a little lunch before taking in the beautiful paintings, carvings and photography. Then, back to the beach for some more swimming and beach combing. We saw more dolphins and played with hermit crabs we found in the tidal pools. It was a beautiful day. We hated to see it go.





We said our goodbyes to the beach, cleaned up the house and headed home from Beach World. It was a beautiful weekend and we soaked up as much Vitamin D as we could to get us through the winter. We are already looking forward to going back to the shore next year!

Click here to see all the photos from our weekend!

Leda Envokes Grandma

So, I'm filling up the bathtub for Leda's bath and she and I are having a discussion about how much water we will be filling said bathtub with - Leda believes it should be filled almost to the top, leaving an inch or two from the edge of the tub. Whereas I, being the conservator of water that I am, have told her that we won't be filling it that high!

Leda looks at me, and in all seriousness says to me, "Remember what Grandma says, always do what you want to do!" I asked Leda when Grandma told her this little gem of advice and she told me it was when we were visiting her in May. Leda seems to think that this statement means she can do whatever she wants to do and if she wants to have the bathtub filled to the top, well, Grandma said so!

So, what did I tell Leda, as I turned off the water at the point at which I wanted it filled? "Guess what? Grandma isn't here...and Mommy trumps Grandma!"

Sorry Mom! ;-)

4 Going on 15

I know that when she actually is 15, I'm going to be wishing for these days when she 'acts' like a teenager. I know. I know.

But when you say something to your 4 year old daughter and she turns to her babysitter (who actually is 15) and rolls her eyes and shakes her head with teenager attitude as if to say, "geez, is my mother ever so uncool? Like duh!" I just shudder with fear of what she really will be at 15! And how uncool I will end up being! And dudes, I can be pretty darn cool...really! Oh, shut up!

Shore was a Beauty!

What an excellent week we had last week as we spent the whole week down the Jersey Shore with our friends the Durham's (Jennifer, John and Paige) and Jennifer's brother, Steve (AKA Uncle Beek), and the family dogs, Duff, Max and Ruby!

Vacation started nice and early on Saturday morning, finalized the packing of the car and all three humans and one dog loaded up and off we went in hopes to make it down to Avalon by about 9 am to do the grocery shopping and get to the house by 10 am. We didn't do too bad, we made it to the house by 10:30 am. We got our unpacking done and putting the groceries away and by the time we were done, the Durham's arrived. We got them unpacked, the tent up in the backyard (where Uncle Beek got to sleep so he could be unmolested by the three dogs in the living room!) and after a quick bite for lunch (and off to Kohler's to put in our donut order for Sunday morning), we were off to the beach! Wow, we NEVER get to the beach on Saturday!

The beach was beautiful. And the water was WARM! I swear it only got warmer throughout the week. It was glorious! And Leda, man, is she her mother's daughter...walked right into that ocean and let the waves knock her around, but got herself right back up and walked right back in. I swear she was body surfing before we headed back to the house on that first day!



And basically, except for a few deviations, that was our week! We had great weather...when it rained, it rained at night and though it was hot, the breeze felt good and the water was so nice! We made it to the beach most every day (except 2, I think!)

On Sunday, after picking up our lot of Kohler's donuts for the week (Yum!) Uncle Beek, John and Paige and Leda and I walked across the street and went to Church. Now, it's been quite some time since I had been in a Catholic Church for a Sunday service but John and Paige were going and Leda wanted to go with Paige. I figured what the heck, right...We got seated and Leda looked all around, checked out all the stain glass windows, the missals, the people coming in and as soon as the processional started, she leaned over to me and said, "Mommy, I don't like Church, it's boring!" Oh, boy, was this going well! Well, we somehow made it through the mass and Leda even said hello and shook the hand of the Priest as we left the building. And I wasn't struck down by the hand of God! It was a good morning all in all!

Later that night, after a bike ride, a trip down to the beach again, a great seafood dinner, we were treated to an awesome thunderstorm...nature's fireworks. The sunset that occured during the storm that seemed to pass just to our south, but showed some awesome lightening strikes was beautiful...like the sky was on fire. And yes, I got pictures!





On Monday, Paige came down with a stomach bug which kept her and Jennifer in bed and back at the house for the day. Brock and I took Leda down to the beach and John joined us for a few minutes while Uncle Beek took a bike ride to Cape May and back (he's nuts! ;-) By Tuesday, Paige was feeling better, so we headed out for a boat ride out into the ocean. It was a sunny and hot day, but it felt nice on the boat. The ocean was an experience! We'd been out there once before, but only for a brief ride up and back when Leda was but a baby. This time, the guys were going to attempt a little fishing and we were thinking about having a little lunch out there!

As we motored down the coast, just off the beaches of Avalon, we noticed schools of fish jumping out of the water, making it look as if it were boiling. We were wondering what was making them do that when all of a sudden, just off the boat toward the shoreline, we saw them...a pod of dolphins! There must have been 6 or 7 or maybe even 8 of them, swimming around out there! It was just so awesome! And, heck yes, I got pictures!

Click on this one and then click on All Sizes and select Large or Original...you can see the dolphin's faces!




After the dolphins swam off, the boat was turned off and the guys got to fishing. The kids were down in the cabin watching videos and I was about to break open my book when Leda came up and announced she wasn't feeling well. Oh boy, we thought that now she had come down with what Paige had had the day before. And not in a great place either! She said she was hungry, and that was probably why her tummy hurt, so Jennifer got her some applesauce and she seemed better. It was about that time that we see the dolphins again, a little closer, but off the bow of the boat out toward the ocean. And yes, we got more pictures (Jennifer was on the bow of the boat and got these, as she was closer!)



Better yet, I got video! Not the best, but it's still video! (and ignore the yelling a screaming...we were all a little amazed by the whole thing!)

Not a few minutes after that, Leda came back up on deck and announced she really didn't feel well. Lucky for us we had a bucket, and after a few false alarms, she let go...turns out our little sailor gets a little seasick when out on the rolling ocean! Poor thing. She ended up falling asleep in my arms while I tried to fight the seasick feeling myself. The boys, after failing to catch anything, decided to pack it in and motor back into the bay. After we made it back into the bay, there were some munchies pulled out and the kid, who had slept for about a half hour, woke up and had a few chips...yep, thank goodness it wasn't the stomach bug, just seasickness, but she got over it quick!

After we made it back to the house, had a late lunch, we headed back down to the beach for some fun in the sun and sand and surf! It was another beautiful beach day.

Wednesday was a little overcast. There were threats of storms, so we decided, after a late big breakfast to head off to Wildwood and walk the boardwalk and ride the rides for the afternoon before heading home for a late dinner. Boy did we have fun. Leda rode a bunch of rides, the penultimate being the Log Flume (twice!) and the Ferris Wheel (while her mother will ride the log flume without much issue, she was firmly planted on the boardwalk during the ride on the Ferris Wheel!) There was game playing in the arcade and some french fries were eaten and some boardwalk games were played! We visited all three amusement piers (there were a lot of 'barking dogs' that night!) and Uncle Beek was the bravest of us all and rode two Xtreme bungee type rides! (yep, told you he was nuts! ;-)





It threatened to rain all day, but, despite a few rain drops here and there, it was another good day. Hot, but good. Thursday was another beauty, when the wind was back off the ocean (meaning no biting flies!) and so we made it down the beach again! Leda and I came back a little early because she got sand in the eye (it was a bit windy on the beach!) and later that evening, Clamfest 2009 commenced...the boys bought 75 little neck and larger clams for appetizer and Uncle Beek made linguine in clam sauce for dinner. Leda joined the boys in the devouring of the little clams (she likes those best!) and we have video to prove that you are never too young to love eating clams!

Friday was another beach day, our last in fact. We spent a good portion of the day on the beach and in the surf. Even Jennifer made it out into the warm water! Wow! Uncle Beek went for another bike ride (shorter this time, probably due to getting a nail in the tire and having to have the bike repaired!) and didn't join us on the beach, but we think he tired himself out the day before when he spent like 4 hours in the water boogie boarding! Yes, 4 hours, non-stop!!!! Again, nuts! But we love him! ;-)







Saturday we packed up the cars, cleaned the house and headed home. And somehow took a different way home and missed all the going home traffic! Yes, we will be taking that route home again! We had a blast at the beach again this year, due to the great weather, but mostly due to the wonderful vacation companions we have! Even Ruby the crazy-chew-everything-wake-me-up-every-morning dog! ;-) Can't wait until next year!!

Click here to view pictures from the week!

This Is Not The End!

It's been over a month since my last post! I've never gone so long! Since facebook came along, I've ignored updating the blog. I'd actually thought about closing it up, but not really sure I want to do that just yet.

I'm working on a post about our week down the Jersey Shore last week. Complete with pictures! I'll post that later today or tomorrow. After that, I think I will start posting a little more, maybe twice a week....see if I can get back that blogging vibe!

Snippets of Life

Life is going good around here. So good, I just can't find the time to post to my blog! So here's some snippets of our life lately.

Weekend before last we headed up to Grandpa and Nana Yates' house for the weekend. We saw Nana Pam, Grandpa, Nana Rose, Aunt Stacy and Uncle Todd! And Miss Stephanie stopped by for a chat and Missy did too! We swam and played and had lots of fun. Leda told me "I love you, even when you're cranky." It was a great weekend.

Drawing with Grandpa:


We went and saw fireworks and a band play music in downtown Phoenixville for First Friday/Independence Day. It was lots of fun and the fireworks were awesome, even if some buildings were in the way. I mean, how can fireworks not be good while the band plays "Free Bird" (very well, I might add) behind you! It was great.

We spent 4th of July with the Aunt Jennifer, Uncle John, Aunt Karen, Uncle Chris and Paige at the Durhams. Lots of swimming and good food and good friends. And a fine home fireworks show by us and the neighbors!

Tonight, Leda got out of bed and asked me what I was doing up, when was I going to bed. I asked her why and she said, "Because it's past your bedtime." How do they grow up so fast?

This weekend Brock will race in the 24 hours of LeMons in CT. Leda and I are going to go, but luckily, we booked a hotel with a pool, in case a little one gets bored being at the race track! For her sake, as there could be more trips to race tracks in her future, I hope she doesn't get too bored!

Hopefully I'll post more in July than I did in June! I may have to start doing Tour de France updates! That's what I'm spending the next several weeks drooling over! Go Lance and Team Astana!

Oh, and my Garden, it's just blooming away...my glads...

Blame it on the Rain

I know, no posting = bad blogger. But it's been raining here for 40 days and 40 nights most of the month and we've seen the sun so rarely I believe that I am suffering Seasonal Affective Disorder in JUNE!

Besides that, we really haven't done anything fun since I last posted, except for this past Saturday night when we went to the Jimmy Buffett concert! That was a blast and a half! Leda stayed the night with Paige so Brock and I had the evening to ourselves, didn't have to worry about getting home to relieve the babysitter, so we even stopped on the way home for a beer. At a bar. A real beer in a real bar. Exciting stuff!

The weather people keep telling us that the weather pattern will be changing soon. Which means we will go from REALLY WET to REALLY HOT and feeling WET (humid). Well, at least everything is green (of course, most of it is moss and mildew!) so things look pretty!

My garden has exploded, so I apparently planted well for monsoon season. I'm thinking, when I have a good weekend (i.e., not raining!) I might be moving some things around. We'll see about that. I definitely have ideas of how I will plant things next year! I'm quite happy with how things are growing. I will have to start coming up with more recipes that use tarragon though, because I have a TON of it!

We are going to head on up to visit with Brock's parents this weekend so I expect I'll have some fun things to post next week. Until then, I will refrain from giving my review of Real Housewives of NJ (Oh.My.Goodness, what a mess!)