June in a Nutshell

1st off, where in the world did it go?

June 5-10, our friends the Berrys, flew in from Empire, NV to visit. They are officially the first non family members to grace us with their presence, oh wait, Chris did come stay the night a few months ago, but that doesn't count b/c he was here on business. So, fear not Berrys, you still hold the title!

Just a little background, we met James & Adrian while living in Utah. James works for USG, and Adrian and Lise' & Sydney are only 3 weeks apart. Abri & Mason are 3 months apart. They now live in the "middle of nowhere" plant in Nevada, so this is bring the country mouse to the big city" territory.

Back to our visit. They flew in laaaaaattttttteeeeee on Friday night; arrived at 1am to be exact, so we gave them the first day off and spent it exposing them to Sandy Hook, the beach, the park, etc. That night, we just bbq'd at the house.



On Sunday, we took the Statan Island Ferry over to Manhattan. Once there, we hopped on the double decker tour bus. We figured it was the best way to keep all the kids in one place while learning a few things to boot. We could not have asked for a prettier day, and by early afternoon, the Daddies and the kids headed home while Adrian and I went to see Guys & Dolls on Broadway. You can't come to NYC and not do Broadway. It's an addiction of mine, and I'll eat canned beets for a week to go. This one didn't let me down. We were lucky enough to have seen Oliver Platt & Lauren Graham and a few other big names in the show. Check it out by clicking on the link. We ended the night by walking the streets of New York, eating world famous cheesecake and visiting Times Square. If only we had more time.







We started off Monday with Dunkin Dohnuts. The middle of no where had nothing of the sort, so there were many happy smiles in this house. It was a work day for B, so he took James with him for the majority of the day. Adrian and I took the kids to the splash park. What fun. They would have stayed all day if I'd let them.




Tuesday was our final day to cram in all things New Jersey, and the start of our month of rain. Lucky for us, the storms appeared early, and afterwards, it was just overcast and drizzle. One of Sydney's request was to see a lighthouse. We had shown her one the first day we went out to Sandy Hook, but we did one better. We took her down the street to the Twin Lights and climbed to the top. There you are rewarded with grand views of Sandy Hook and NYC.

We followed that with a trip a little further south to Point Pleasant where there is an official NJ Boardwalk complete with Aquarium and amusement park built with little ones in mind.











The day ended at Bobby's Burger Palace (Bobby Flay). B's favorite buger joint by far.

We were sad to see them leave, but we packed in as much excitement that was humanly possible.

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!