Summer Lovin'

I'm so glad we joined a pool this summer.  We've gone a bunch of times and always have a great time!
 

We've had a few rainy days mixed in here and there, but we make them most of them.  Adam loves to snuggle while we watch movies (and hold my hand:).

We took a trip to the library to see the "Bug Man" do a presentation.  Adam was thrilled to hold a real, live Madagascar hissing cockroach.  EW.

Last week we took a trip to North Wildwood. Mike's friend, Crab, and his son, Lee, were along for the trip too. We enjoyed spending time with them.

I remember when the boys were really little, and even just a couple years ago, they could never really hang out on the beach for more than an hour or two.  They would get bored or tired or they didn't like the sand or waves.  Now that they are getting older they really enjoy the beach.

We had to practically pull Adam out of the ocean.  The bigger the wave, the better for this guy.

He would boogie board ALL DAY LONG if we let him. 

He was so exhausted after playing in the ocean that Mike had to carry him back to our condo.  That's love.

We stayed in North Wildwood and it was very clean, safe, quiet, and surprisingly not too crowded.  We were a few blocks from the board walk so we ventured there one night.  This was the longest boardwalk I have ever been to.  HUGE.  It went on for what seemed like miles and miles. 

Every year when we visit the beach the boys want to go to the boardwalk and every year we take them.  And every year Mike and I complain about how much we do NOT like boardwalks.  It's just not our thing.  We try to enjoy it for our boys, but it ends up making us cranky for all sorts of reasons.  But we did it, and the boys got to waste spend some money playing games and winning  junk toys.

The day after we got back from vacation we took the boys to race go karts and play mini golf in Hershey.  We had a lot of fun together!

We usually lay low on the 4th of July.  Owen is now able to stay up late enough to watch fire works, but unless Adam takes an afternoon nap (which he doesn't do very often anymore) he is in bed by 7:30 most nights.  So on the 4th we had my parents and Mike's mom over for a little cookout and to celebrate Nana Way's birthday.  Later that night we set off some fireworks with Aggie and Uncle Phil who were staying at our neighbor's house while they are away.  Owen got to join in the fun while Adam was sound asleep for the night. 

We got an idea to make a silly picture and send it to our neighbors who are on vacation in Europe.  No words.  Just no words.


And this should probably be a completely separate post, but since I already downloaded all our pictures onto this post I am going to keep going...

On July 9th Mike and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary.  I think the last time we went away for more than 1 night together was when Adam was just a baby and I was in Katie and Joel's wedding in Hilton Head.  We knew it was important that we go away for more than 1 night.  Mike talked about going to Germany, but there is no way I'm ready to leave the boys for that long and that far... yet.  Then we talked about going to New England- I have never been, but really want to go some time.  Eventually we decided to stay relatively close to home and go to Cape May, New Jersey.  Neither of us had ever been there and our friends highly recommended it.  Well I'm so glad they did because we absolutely loved it. 

We actually drove to Lewes, DE first to visit my aunt and uncle and see their new beautiful house.  We also got a see Paige and the girls too!  We miss them all so much.

After our visit we drove to the Lewes-Cape May ferry.  We drove my mini van onto the ferry and it took us to Cape May.  It was really easy and so much fun. 

It took a little over an hour to get to Cape May.  They serve food and drinks on the ferry and they had a little petting zoo.  I got to hold a sea urchin. 

Cape May is beautiful.

Mike and I love history and old homes and many of the homes in Cape May were built in the 1800s.  The detailed wood work on the Victorian homes is incredible. Oh, and Cape May doesn't have a boardwalk.  BONUS!

There are strict guidelines about the homes.  They must be repainted every 4 years.

If someone tears down a Victorian home, they must rebuild another Victorian home in its place.

The flowers and landscaping are unbelievable.

When these Victorian homes were first built they cost $2000 and came with 3 servants.  The average income at the time was $150 per year so $2000 was a lot of money.  

We took our bikes along and spent a lot of time riding around looking at the different homes. 

See the metal oval under the window of this house?

Back in the 1800s that plaque meant you had fire insurance.  If your home caught on fire and the fire fighters came, they would first look for that plaque.  If you had it, they would put out your fire.  If you didn't, they would watch it burn to the ground. 

I learned so much about the history of Cape May during our horse and buggy ride through town. 





I think this is my favorite house in the area...

The Mainstay Inn is one of the oldest homes on Cape May.  Many presidents stayed here.  The windows were so large because it was built during Prohibition.

If people were drinking inside and there was a police raid, they would open the windows and walk out onto the lawn.  The police could not arrest anyone that was not inside the house during a raid. 

We rode our bikes to the lighthouse. 

I think my very favorite part of our trip was sitting on the beach together.  We love being at the beach with our boys and have a lot of fun with them, but it's not really relaxing.  We are usually watching them or playing with them and we don't really get to just sit and relax.  Well we sat on lounge chairs under our umbrella reading our books for 7 straight hours.  Pure bliss.  Just what we needed. 

We had a great time together.  I'm a lucky girl to be married to such a wonderful guy.  He really is my best friend and I'm so glad I have him by my side.   I look forward to many, many more happy years together.

And I know the boys were spoiled by their grandparents and aunt and uncle while we were away.  I don't think they missed us much at all.

Saying Goodbye

Last January when a furry, sweet, hungry cat showed up at our door I had no idea what a blessing she would be.  I tried hard to find her owner and when no one seemed to know who she belonged to, I tried to find someone that would take her.  Eventually we all fell in love with her.  Mike named her Chong before we knew she was a "she" and since we already have a "Cheech".  In hind sight, the name really didn't fit her (or our family!).  I'll be sure to name the next pet :)

Chong loved to follow the boys every where they went.  She was the only cat I know that would run after a ball when you threw it.  She didn't mind at all when the boys would run around with swords or drive their little vehicles close to her.  She LOVED our boys and our neighbor boys too.  When Mike did yard work she was right there with him.  She proudly caught mice, moles and birds.  She was awesome. 

The best part was she gave us kittens.  It was an experience our boys (and Mike and I) will never forget.  Did I really want to deal with kittens?  No.  But the joy they brought us was more than I could imagine. 
Watching the kittens grow, learn and discover new things and play and play and play. 
All 4 of us would sit at our kitchen counter that overlooks our yard and laugh while we watched them all play together.  The boys dreaded the day we would give the kittens away.  But we all knew that a home was a better life for them than living outside, especially near a busy road. 

About 3 weeks ago we said "goodbye" to the kittens.  The gray one, named "Sophie", went to a friend from work.  And the black and orange one went to a friend that I worked with at E-town many years ago.  We've already gone to visit the black and orange kitten (named Niko and Bella).  They are inseparable.  I'm so glad they get to be together.  Both of my friends send frequent pictures of the kittens and we LOVE seeing them happy at their new homes.  We all still miss them a lot, but we know being inside a loving home is a much better life. 

About a week after the kittens left the boys and I were sitting at the kitchen counter making a birthday card for our neighbor.  I looked out the window and saw a dog with Chong in its mouth.  A stray pit bull came into our yard and went into the spring house where Chong spent a lot of time.  It ate Chong's food and then attacked her.  It was very traumatic to see.  Chong looked like a chew toy in the dog's mouth and the worst part is... the boys saw it happen.  Mike tried to get the dog, but it ran off.  We called the police, but they weren't able to get it. 

Chong lived, but wasn't doing well.  It was Saturday evening so vet offices were closed.  My mom drove with me about 45 minutes away in the pouring rain to an emergency pet clinic.  The vet thought Chong looked good for what she had been through.  She got an antibiotic shot, a shot for the pain, and she had 4 "little" puncture wounds that the vet cleaned out.  She sent us home and gave us hope that Chong would be OK.  When we got home and I got her out of her cat carrier she started walking backwards.  She didn't seem OK.  We made her comfortable and hoped for the best.  The next morning when I went to check on her she was no longer living.  I think she had a lot of internal damage and bleeding.  We were all very upset.  We miss her so much.  The only positive thing I can think of is at least it wasn't one of the kids walking in on the dog in the spring house.  I really believe the dog would have attacked one of them.   The next few days were awful because we didn't know where the dog was or if it was coming back.  The boys were not allowed outside without one of us watching.  Poor Adam is still really struggling.  He was my kid that really didn't worry about much and now he has a lot of anxiety.  He won't walk upstairs by himself because is is "scared of a dog or bear up there".  He won't leave my side when we are at home and it gets frustrating, but I feel so sorry for him at the same time. 

We buried Chong by the creek because she loved to go down and get a drink of fresh spring water.  I caught a glimpse of this a few days after we buried her...

Even though we only knew her for about 6 months, she brought us SO many wonderful memories!