Mental note to self.

For future reference- No more picnics on the beach.



The sand is everywhere- there is no getting away from it no matter how hard your try.




And a tuna sandwich is not a appetizing at all.


Next time we eat on the boardwalk.

Kite Flying Adventure

On Our List, we specifically added flying a kite, with the beach in mind. We got the kite up, and unfortunately, it wasn't a constant wind and so it wouldn't stay up in the air long & nearly took out a couple of our beach neighbors (a common occurrence with this trip, remember the impaling umbrella??)

So it wasn't what I had in mind, but we came, we flew, and now we cross it off the list.

Never thought I'd see the day...

Lilly has always had an aversion to water.

To this day she still will scream and pitch a fit at bath time. It's better than before, however, it's an issue we have had since the day she was born.

I'm adamant that the kids all know how to swim- and for the past 3 or 4 summers we have been trying to push her out of her comfort zone when it comes to water and it hasn't been easy.

She is getting better. Last year, she started venturing off the pool steps and into the water where she can stand.

Earlier in June, we were at the pool and when she refused to go into the deep end where she couldn't touch down by her self, I put her on my back Swam to the deep end.

I let go of her and made her swim back to me. She was petrified and flailing in the water, but she started to swim all on her own.

By the end of the day she started jumping in and going under water trying to see if she could touch the bottom. She would have never attempted that on her own if I didn't give her that push away from me and make her do it.

I wondered how she would do with the ocean and the sand. She didn't really grasp the concept of the ocean- making remarks like:

"Daddy can go in the deep end of the ocean because he's tall"

She did better than I thought she would. She got one mouth full of salt water and from that point on she stayed in the shallow waters.








At the end of our time on the beach, you could tell she had enough. The walk back to the boardwalk was the worst part for her. Even though she had her flip flops on the sand was burning her feet and about half way back she refused to walk anymore and stood there crying.

I had visions of our whole time on the beach being like that last walk to the boardwalk. And thankfully it was more fun than temper tantrums.

What a difference 5 years makes!

This was probably the last time we rent a Surrey.




They were great when the kids were little, but now that they are older, it got harder use.

I don't know why?

Maybe you can see the difference?

2005:


2010:


2005:


2010:


2005:


2010:


2005:


2010:

Our beach Adventures...

There is never a dull moment in our lives.

Not even when we try and chill out & relax on the beach on a hot summer's day.



We came back from our beach vacation with the following:

* Sunburn. Some worse than others. (Jim) Others not so bad (Me).

* Sand. Really, I think we brought have the beach home with us!

* One less beach umbrella. Which really shouldn't surprise us. We got 2 at five below and within 2 minutes the one broke and the wind carried it down the beach . And then there was me, having visions of the rogue pole impaling some innocent kid as he built his sandcastle, who was running after it.... Not a pretty site I'm sure!

* 3 kids who had the time of their lives frolicking in the water, collecting sea shells, burying them selves in the sand, flying a kite, riding a surrey, & Hanging out together.

* A camera with a battery that just couldn't keep up with me and died right before we headed to dinner. (Of course it would have helped if I would have charged it before hand, but that's neither here nor there)

* The ability to improvise when the going gets tough and to make lemonade out of lemons.

* Way too much candy from It'Sugar in Atlantic City.

* Over 100 pictures of the fun that we had, despite all the troubles we had.

* 2 Umbrellas, a necklace, & a snowglobe- paid for by the kids with their allowance money.

* Another awesome dining experience at The Rain Forest Cafe.

And when the day was over & done, it was worth it. We really did have fun amidst the chaos. Next time we may do things different, but for now, I choose to remember the fun and not the craziness.

A beach flash back

It was June 28, 2005.


Jim's birthday.





He wanted to go to the beach and so that's what we did. The anticipation of swimming in the ocean was almost too much for the kids. They were so excited.


SOunds lovely right?

In reality, not so much.

It was cold- low 70's at best. The water was freezing. THey got their feet in and that was about it.



And then the wind picked up. And started pelting the kids with sand. Lilly spent most of the 20 minutes we held out sitting with me covering in a beach towel shivvering.


And so we left the beach hit the board walk and stopped for dinner at the Rainforrest cafe. And we haven't been back since.

Caleb and Lilly remember nothing of this trip.

Abby remembers very little.

And this year they begged us to go to the beach.

So to the beach we will go. And hopefully, this trip will be fun enough that we won't wait another 5 years to go again.

The Count down is on...

I can almost feel the sand under my feet...



List Master on my ipod is becoming one of my favorite & most used apps.

Seriously, it has taken my list making addiction to the next level.

I now have a beach packing list that will be saved for future beach trips. Inside, I copied my picnic lunch list (made back in May when we picnic'd in Hershey) therefore saving me from having to make a new list.

It's heaven really.

First grilling of the season...

Due to the condition of our backyard & our procrastination- we have not used our grill for a long, long time. Not at all last summer and very little the summer before that.



Yesterday, Jim cleaned it up and fixed what had to be fixed and we grilled Hamburgers and zucchini.



I have come to the conclusion that grilling is the BEST way to eat zucchini. Hands down. I just cut them up, brushed on some olive oil and a little salt and threw them on the grill. It was so good. I put it as a topping on my burger instead of the normal lettuce and tomato.

The kids weren't as impressed- but they insist they don't like zucchini and refused to try it. They just don't know what they are missing.

Ramona, Ramona, Ramona...

Did you know that this fall they are coming out with a Ramona movie?



Lilly's right at the Romana age group and so we've been getting her books at the library this summer so she can read them (or to be more specific, the one she has currently is a book on cd and she's being read to, but I digress...)



So the other day, Lilly comes down with this picture:


Which is her version of Ramona based off of this Book she is currently reading:


Not bad at all.

I love how she mimicked the nose. Very very cute.

Birthday Fun

So yesterday, Jim and I ditched the kids and went out on a date. Something we don't do often enough really.
While they were busy playing rummikub with their grandparents, we were getting our hibachi on at Benihana's.

Just an FYI: if you join Benihana's Chef Table they will send you an email coupon for a free meal up to $30.00.

Jim and I used my birthday coupon and we got chicken and shrimp hibachi for two and the bill came out to $18.02. Not bad at all


The only this is that next time, when we are on a kidless date, I think we will ask for a table with no kids. We shared a table with a highly annoying, mannerless, whiney, lady who just wouldn't shut up the entire meal. Seriously, I heard her son's entire health history and then some in one meal. Now that I think about it, it wasn't the kids that bothered us so much as this lady, so perhaps we should ask to be sat at a table without crazy ladies instead.

So go sign up for your free meal!

Mario Love

Look at what my Mom made Jim for his birthday.



This has been a surprise brewing for about 6 months now and it was so hard for me to keep my mouth shut. He loves it as much as I thought he might.

My mom is awesome. I wish I could crochet like that.

Procrastination at it's finest...

Jim and I are Procrastinators.

It's horrible- especially if it's something that is neither of us want to do. Like this stupid wall. We just looked at the back yard and got overwhelmed and put it off for another day. I can trace it back to this blog post: June 21, 2008: http://jlshunk.blogspot.com/2008/06/our-bad.html (which I must say was a very fun day trip) but we never picked it up again and here we are July 2010- 3 years later...

Our procrastination streak is finally over!

The wall is up! It's not finished but the hard part (i.e. starting) is over. We've got momentum now. We've got a wall!

Day One:
Jim, his dad & his brother came over on Sat. They dug the trench- which included pulling out a 70lb buried boulder we didn't know was there!

I must admit, while they were doing this, I was in my nice comfy air conditioned office working, but I got emails from Abby with wall progress updates. You know, important stuff like: "Uncle Josh just said his hole was bigger than Pop-Pop's" and other That's what she said moments. (that's my girl! hehehe)

By the end of the day they got up two layers- which was a whole lot more work than I think any of us thought it would be.


Day Two:
The 4th of July
This time, it was just Jim and his dad. They really took it easy and just worked on getting the rest of the wall built. The other two layers seemed easy enough, but with projects like these, nothing is easy.

So we made our 4th trip to The Home Depot and got some more tools and by the end of the day we had the wall.


Day Three:
Today
My mom and Dad are coming in to help. They have no idea what to expect because what they are doing completely depended on what had already been done.

The game plan? Round 5 at the Home Depot. Put on the toppers. Back fill as much as we can & then trim the giant tree so we can get some light back there & attempt to regrow the ivy- sans weeds this time around.

Last one, I promise

And now, the grand finale of our Amish Trip Pictures:

Lest you think I wasn't really there

Photographic Evidence I was actually on the Amish trip.



Me & The Birthday Boy

Photo by Abby

So there we were, experiencing something new and exciting

The Buggy Driver pointed out a colt that was about 5-6 weeks old, hanging out by the fence- close enough for us to pet



Lilly was entranced. She fell in love with the baby.



And I was almost getting teary eyed- Getting to baby animals is not something we often and I know that they will remember this forever.



And then this happened.



I didn't even notice it at the time, I was too busy with the hallmark commercial in playing out in my head. I don't think he even was meaning to pick the horses nose. But now, we have this photo saved for prosperity and now my hallmark commercial has a new ending- with laughter instead of tears.