Vacation Day #9 - first there were six

We were at the Guyer Street beach today with Todd, Galindo and Ken looking after us. Where are the artsy guards this week?!

The water was warmer today so our feet were not numb when we went in the ocean. I forgot to mention yesterday that Duncan still has his allergy to cold and came out of the 62 degree water in hives. Today at 67 degrees, he was fine. Good to have this data for future reference. Also good that we have benedryl on hand.

There were soooo many Cliffords today at the beach, it was amazing. It started out with our little group of six - Mike, me, Meg, Stephen, Stef and Duncan. Katie is staying with her Aunt Patty up in Bay Head so we only see her at the beach.Then more kept arriving with chairs and blankets. And more and more. I think there were about 25-30 of us in our "circle."

One cousin got buried in the sand!

There were more people to play football today.

We hung out at the house and ordered in for dinner and then everyone found a comfortable spot to sit until we could figure out what to do with the rest of the evening.

The adults and legal-aged kids ended up at the Crabs Claw (where else?!). Steffi and Duncan found their way to Salty's for ice cream. Other kids were at the Bay house playing monopoly. A rather quiet evening before the big party tomorrow night.

Having a splashing time, wish you were here!

Vacation Day #8 - Kids first day on the beach

Rebekah, Roger and Chris warned us that the water would be substantially cooler today than previous days. It had been hovering around 70, which is quite bearable in the hot humid weather here. But 62?! Where did this come from and was it for real? It was really 62. You could tell immediately when your feet went numb while trying to enter the ocean. Seriously brrrrrrrrr! You can see it was a bright blue sky day and the air was plenty warm so the water temperature did not keep us out. Very strong currents in the water would take you from one end of the designated swimming area to the other end before you know it. We saw one young lady "rescued" at the next beach down because she had drifted out of the swimming area too far.

Brian and Charlie came to our New Brunswick beach today to hang out with us and show off their tans that were one day ahead of our kids. This was our set up today. That's the princess Stefanie under her own umbrella.

The boys threw the football around for awhile. Sometimes one of them would even catch it!

It looks like Duncan is going to take out this little old lady!

At the end of the day Duncan wanted to send a message to overhead passers-by - "ET Phone Home!"

I left the beach too soon to miss the big sand football game that happened around 7 p.m. By the amount of sand on them and stories, it sounded like they all had fun.

Brian bbq'd chicken and ribs for us at the bay house. Mike's parents, Anne and many of the girl cousins had gone up to see Julianne perform as the lead in Bye Bye Birdie up in Connecticut so they weren't there. It was a beautiful evening and we just sat outside and ate and listened to Clifford stories until we ran out of beer around midnight. Good thing all we have to do today is sit and read on the beach!

Oh here's a funny picture that made me laugh the first night. Mike and I had been using a glass for our toothbrushes. Each child added theirs. They are all either blue or green and look pretty much alike!!

Having a great time, wish you were here!

Vacation Day #7 - Sandblasted

Today we walked along the bay. There were lots of sailboats out. A little foreshadowing of what the day was going to be like on the ocean side.







My fascination with lifeguard chairs continues. This one, on a bay beach, has cute waves drawn on it and we stopped and complimented the lifeguard-artist on her creativity. By her reaction I don't think anyone has ever said anything one way or another to her.





"Our" beach today was at Guyer Street closer to where the cousins would be sitting. Guards Todd and Ken were all factswith their board today.

It was soooooo windy on the beach today. Usually the wind doesn't pick up until 5 p.m. but today it blew all day long. Every once in a while it would feel like someone opened the refrigerator door and the breeze would be rather cool. Then it would shift to an open oven and go back to warm.

The kids arrived around 7 and of course brought the pouring rain from New York city with them. We hung out at the house until it stopped and then ran over to Mike's parents to say hi and then out to the Crabs Claw for dinner. It was karaoke night there and absolutely packed. Back at the house the kids settled in around the table and we talked and laughed about silly things.

Duncan is going to have to watch his head when he comes down the stairs!

With only one bathroom there may sometimes be a line to brush your teeth!

Vacation Day #6 - Already?!

The week is flying by. The days are filled with morning walks, leisurely breakfasts & internet checking, and reading on the beach. Our evening routine is to walk back to the house around 6 and sit in the backyard with a beer and read some more. Showers (always in the outdoor shower for Mike and sometimes for me) and then out to dinner around 8. We think this is all about to change as the invasion of kids begins. Actually began Tuesday evening, with Katie's arrival. The other four, Meg, Stephen, Stefanie and Duncan will be on the train here sometime Wednesday afternoon.

Feed the guards! the board said today.

Mike spent (too) much of the day on his phone...

Brian, Anne, Charlie and Beth arrived from Chicago and we all met at Patty's house for dinner to celebrate Brian's birthday. Brian managed to avoid being in either of these pictures.

That Bailey and his ball! Of course we fished it out for him. He has us all wrapped around his paws.

Still having fun!! WUWH!

Popsicle Stick Riddles

Ice cream trucks are everywhere at the beach. A different one shows up about every 10 minutes and it is hard to ignore the catchy tunes they play to get your attention. Every time I hear one I am reminded of when I was little and the Good Humor truck would drive up our street. My Mother would tell me that it was just a man selling bread and that all the children running up had been sent out by their mothers to buy a fresh loaf. It was always the case that my Mother would have just been to the grocery so we never needed a loaf of bread from the man. This went on for a while, but eventually I caught on to her trick. My sister was in on it too. Just know - you two - that I have not forgotten!!

Yesterday Mike and I got Creamsicles. The sticks have silly riddles on them. Here they are:

1. Why wasn't the mouse a tattle-tale?

2. What was the trick that the loaf of bread taught the dog?











1. answer : it didn't want to be a rat!
2. answer: a heel

Vacation Day #5 - A little rain mid day

Bek and Chris were our guards today and the water was back up to 68 degrees. It is interesting how some guards are really artistic with their chalkboards and others are strictly business. It might be interesting to walk the beach one day and photograph all the chair-boards.

Mike is just like a little kid - so excited to get to the beach every day and determined to stay until 6 or 7 in the evening.

After we had been sitting and reading for a while we noticed that the sky started to look like this

Uh oh.

It started to rain so we left the beach and went to Mia's for a $2 slice of pizza. By the time we were done the clouds had cleared out and we resumed our beaching.

Here are some Lavallette picture souvenirs for you. Here is the sign for our street. Each street has a different scene. Some are more worn than others.

And the entrance to "our" beach. Not all streets have these covered sitting areas but New Brunswick does.

And the lifeboat nearest us is a pretty blue

Kids arrive tomorrow but we won't see most of them until Wednesday. Can't wait!

WUWH too.

Vacation Day #4 - Hot Enough to Swim

Two Justins and a Troy were watching over our beach today. The water temperature was a "refreshing" 66, but we still braved it because we were allowed to. No yellow flags! Mike said he has never seen the beach as crowded as it was on Sunday. Ever. We figure this is good for the local economy here to have so many visitors in town. Lavallette is not a 'day beach' so all of these people must be staying in town.

It's time to prepare you, Steffi and Duncan, for your accommodations here. Here is the front of the house. The Boys Room is at the front upstairs and the Girls Room is at the back. Up the stairs you will go...(this is what it will look like at the top of the stairs)

To the right is the Girls Room. There are two beds with trundles under each one.

And to the left is the Boys Room. Better hope you guys don't snore!

Now onto our books for the day. Mike is still reading "K Blows Top" by Peter Carlson, his ex-brother-in-law and is just about 50 pages from finishing. We'll save the review for tomorrow. I am reading "Man Walks Into a Room" by Nicole Krauss. It is a great book and I am 30 pages from the end so you will have to wait for my review tomorrow (or later today if I can sneak a blog in).

Having fun, WUWH!

Vacation Day #3 - sunny and warm

Friday was a bit cool for me on the beach. I covered up with a towel for a good while. And walking on the boardwalk was chilly so I wore a sweatshirt. This morning Mike and I got up and walked the length of the boardwalk here in Lavallette, picked up some coffee & breakfast at the Dunkin Donuts and by the time we got back to the house we were sweating. It will be hot today. Maybe they will allow us in the ocean?? There were lots of surfers in while we were walking. There is this one house along the boardwalk that is a menagerie of animals. I had to take pictures

The yellow flags were still out today so it was knee deep "swimming" for anyone who went in. Mike did and declared it "refreshing!" Sounds like a code word for "cold!" to me. We'll see.

This evening we went over to Mike's sister Patty's house on the bay in Bay Head. Their house is right on the water and had the clouds not been there we would have had a beautiful view of the sunset.

I got a dog fix while there. This is Bailey. He is 7 and only 85 pounds under all that fur. He is staring at a tennis ball hidden by the step and wants someone to throw it for him.

Book today for me was The Dangerous Book for Dogs by Rex and Sparky. A must read for dog lovers. It explains from the dogs perspectively why they behave the way they do. My favorite chapters were: Begging-A Primer, How to Escape Humiliating Costumes, How to Pick a Pill Out of Peanut Butter, What's Edible, Building a Bed Out of Your Owners Laundry and Training a New Human. All the chapters were good actually.

Looks like another warm day! WUWH!