At the dock of the Bay

Last Monday morning, the girls wanted to ride their bikes, so we decided to check out the new trail our town opened that follows the bay. We didn't even make it half a mile, but we found something pretty exciting. Check it out.





Horseshoe Crabs!
It's mating season, and the funny thing is that we went out looking for them last year at Sandy Hook. We waded for over an hour in search of them, but only found one or two. This year, we hit the jackpot. At the end of the marina is a small cove that is a prime spot for crab mating. There were hundreds! The female crabs come almost out of the water to lay their eggs, and the male follows to fertilize the eggs. The females lay about 90000 eggs per season, and you can spot them in the pics because they're three times the size of the males. It was facinating to watch. That's the female in the middle.




The girls also had a grand time picking up shells cracked by the seagulls and throwing them into the water.

That's the males hooking on the females.


After much reluctance, we tore ourselves from the wonders of nature and walked back through the marina.

Is it just me, or do you really need a sign to tell you this?


We happened upon the town's Memoria Day Parade

More fun in the sun

B's tomato project. It reminds me of the Land ride at Epcot.

Just things

Abri can pedal her own bike

Gear for playing in the BIG sprinkler

When you can't hear Abri,she's definitely up to something. She dragged both chairs to the closet, opened the door and got things like nail polish and bubbles off the shelf.

Pool party in the den while B works on the kitchen.

Abri in a nutshell

Mother's Day

I had the most wonderful Mother's Day weekend. We went to Atlantic City. We sometimes get special offers through our timeshare, and this was an unbelievably good one at $74 for the whole week down there. Of course, we just went Friday through Sunday, but it was a great time nonetheless.

On Friday, we drove down after B got off work, so there wasn't much time for anything else. But, on Saturday, we were on the move.

We started with heading 15 minutes south of AC to Margate, NJ. New Jersey is dotted with all sorts of beach towns, all with their own personality and boardwalks. Margate is no exception, and the ambassador to the town is Lucy the Elephant. I had seen Lucy years ago on the history channel, and she's been on my list to visit since we've been here. Be sure to click on her link, she's fascinating, and a definite "TO DO" when visiting Jersey. Where else can you climb inside an elephant?


The girls absolutely loved Lucy, but it was time to move on. Just a few miles south was Ocean City, NJ. We were just going to drive down there and maybe do lunch on the boardwalk, but we spotted the boardwalk bikes as we drove in, and once again, I'd always wanted to do that, so we did. What fun. The girls rode up front while B and I pedaled. I imagine it wouldn't be as much fun during the heavy crowds of summer, but we had a ball, and there's pictures to prove it.


Next stop, White House Sub Shop in Atlantic City. It's a dive famous for its subs and the people who have eaten them. B dropped me off at the door of this cash only establishment in what I would call a shady part of AC. It's the type of place my dad would like. It's only 20 feet wide, and jam packed with people. I went with the White House Special, and ordered the Whole Sub rather than a 1/2 because B and I were sharing. He had a good laugh when I walked out with a 29 inch sub. It was delicious, and we had lunch for 2 days. All for $14, not bad.

Our tummies were sufficiently full, so we went over the bridge (you can see from the balcony of our room in our pics) to Brigantine, NJ to visit the Marine Mammal Stranding Center. It's a small operation, but the girls were able to see a few seals currently undergoing treatment to be released back in the water.

It was now time to live up to our promise of the pool, so back to the resort we went. To say the girls love to swim is an understatement.
That night, we went back out towards the casinos for an early dinner and then headed to the boardwalk for what was planned as a short stroll before the shuttle would take us back for the night. It was a nice night, what can I say, we kept walking and walking and walking. We had long missed the shuttle that only left on the hour, and decided to try to beat the weather by walking on the boardwalk all the way to the resort. It was a beautiful night, but you could see the clouds brewing out over the Atlantic. We ran a little, walked a little, and ran some more. The rain was coming, and we almost made it unscathed. This is amazing because I wasn't in shoes designed to run, but rather in cute sandals with a small heel. I survived though, but next time I'll plan ahead.

On Sunday, B was a little anxious to head back home to work on the house. We found a cute little local joint just south of AC and had a lovely breakfast. On our way back to pack our bags, we drove past the Absecon Lighthouse, and it had just opened for the day. We pulled in, and guess what, mom's climbed free for the day. Fun, fun, fun! It's the highest lighthouse in NJ, and we made it to the top of 228 steps with 2 little ones in tow. Once at the top, you're treated to a 360 degree view of Atlantic City, the Atlantic Ocean and all in between. It was beautiful, but quite windy. Overnight a front with 30+ mph winds had visited. While up there, we also saw Donald Trump's private helicopter fly by.


By this time, it was lunch again, so back to the resort we went. B and I shared our sub on the balcony while the girls dined on PB&J. We then had one more quick dip and headed home.

Not much home improvement happened that weekend, but I'm not regretting it. We had a ball.

Be sure to check out all the pictures on our picture website.

Shazam

Ahhhh...It's finally coming together. The sod was delivered yesterday afternoon, and B worked until 11:15 last night to finish. GREAT JOB!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame...

Weeks ago, B informed me to that we were going to a Yankees Game. 1st thought, OK I'll go, but there was no heel clicking going on. We had gone last year, and while it was fun, it wasn't the greatest time of my life. B promised this time would be different. For starters, it was in the new stadium; we had to check it out right? Secondly, we had seats on the third base line, and it included some sort of suite with food and beverage. OK, I'm in. Besides, it was a business thing, and I'm not often included in on those, so why not.

B made arrangements for the girls to stay with Uncle Dan & Uncle Richie in Hoboken and off we went. The subway ride is always crowded going there, and since we ride from the southern tip of Manhattan to the NE side, it's a pretty long and crowded ride.

The new stadium is right across the street from the old one. We didn't have enough time to tour around the outside, and it was raining, so we went in searching for our seats in the Legends Club, whatever that is.

We soon found out, it was more than we bargained for. We missed going through our own private entrance. That was OK though because we were able to see the normal view of the stadium, which is nice. But, our section was so much cooler. We walked through a restaurant (all included in our ticket), down to another bar/buffet area (again, all included) and out to our seats which were towel dried when we arrived, and then we were handed a menu from which we could order any and everything we wanted all night long. Yeah! My kind of baseball game. A nice waiter would come over, take our order and then appear with all our desires from lobster rolls to zucchini fries topped with Gorgonzola cheese to goat cheese pizza. This is definitely the way to go! And, yes, they did have the usual hot dogs, Cracker Jacks and peanuts. Jerry Springer was also sitting down by us. That tells you how cool we were.
VIP check in


Our original seats



Our waiter


The Menu




We watched from our seats until it started to rain hard, then B and I went to another private lounge and waited it out. We then ventured into the other indoor restaurant and hooked up with part of our party there. On the way back to our seats, the guys decided to walk behind home plate, and due to the rain, most everyone had gone indoors and didn't come back. So, we mosied our way down 3 rows from the field and stayed there for the remainder of the game. After all, we had the special bracelet, so no one was kicking us out.
Our new seats behind home plate

Fly Ball-note the guy in blue shirt, you'll need him in a minute


Derrick Jeter

Us on the Jumbo Tron. Look for the guy in the blue sweatshirt just left of the plate and above the McDonald's symbol. We're 2 rows behind him. The girl in the white coat and hat was with us. She's next to me & B is on my other side. Click on the picture to enlarge.


What an exciting time it was to behind the plate. We could reach out and touch the players through the net, although I'm pretty sure the security wouldn't have looked too kindly on that. And, the best part, we made it on TV and the JUMBO TRON! Oh, and the Yankees won in the bottom of the ninth. Exciting!!! Loved it- although it felt a little un-American to be doing baseball that way.
Yankees WIN!


Subway ride back.