Here are some pictures of the kids down at the beach this summer. With Jean and I both working this summer, the kids spent a lot of time with their Aunt Kate, who took some wonderful pictures of them.
If anyone’s looking for a photographer, Kate’s always available. Click here to get in touch with her to schedule your shoot.
After close to four summers of looking to buy a beach house down in Ocean City, my Mom finally pulled the trigger on a house this weekend. She was close to buying a different house and decided to check out a few other options before closing the deal.
She went house hunting with the group on Friday (Jean, Jake, Abby, Brett, and Kate) and they looked at a few other single houses on the island. The last one they looked at is the one that got everyone excited. It’s a classic upside down beach house with the bedrooms on the ground floor and then the kitchen/family room/seating area on the top floor.
I got down to the beach Friday night right after they viewed it and the whole crew was bubbling with excitement. I don’t recall I’ve seen my Mom that pumped up over something and she had her offer in to buy first thing Saturday morning.
I’m guessing I won’t be seeing much of my wife and kids during the summer from now on. I’m thinking they may be there non-stop.
I think the purple looks a little overwhelming, but Mom and Jean both told me it just fits in the house. If it gets old, you can always slap some new paint over the walls. Regardless, it should be a fun time going down to Grandmom’s beach house from now on.
This weekend brought an end to our summer at the beach with my Mom’s rental time up this weekend. The only bummer to the end of the beach is all the stuff that needs to make the trek home.
I left work on Friday night and headed straight down to the beach to help pack up the house and haul stuff home. I got down around 7 pm Friday night and I was out the door by 9 anm Saturday morning with the Pilot loaded with all things beach related. I brought Jake home with me because we had our first set of tickets to watch the Philadelphia Union while Jean, Brett, and Abby stayed down for one last day on the beach with the Haffey’s, who moved into their rental for the week.
I wasn’t sure what to expect going down to the game, but I was optimistic that things were done nicely. I guess I was let down a bit. The stadium is built directly under the Commodore Barry Bridge, which looks a little weird to have the bridge towering right above you. It is a fantastic little park and I think the team did a really nice job on PPL Park. It’s right on top of the field and I think it has a nice atmosphere.
The downside to the park is the location in Chester. When the park was first pitched, it was done as part of an urban development in the heart of Chester which was supposed to include a large townhouse community plus a bunch of shops and restaurants surrounding the park. It was touted as a destination to go and take in the game. By the time the first spade went into the ground, the credit market had tightened and the stadium was the only thing that found financing.
The area around the stadium is pretty dreadful. It has the industrial feel because it’s under the bridge. It’s in a pretty run down part of town along the waterfront and it just gives off a depressing vibe. We paid $20 to park in an abandoned lot adjacent to the field that was unpaved and crappy. You pay less to park in Philly to park for a Phils/Flyers/Eagles game but I wasn’t feeling overly adventurous parking in the heart of Chester.
We had a fun time down at the game. Our seats are in the section right next to the supporters group, nicknamed the Sons of Ben, which is cool because they are the heart beat of the stadium.
The Union took a lead early in the game before giving up the tying goal midway through the second half. The goal was terrible, and once things settled down a bit Jake turned to me and said, “Jeez Dad, even you could have stopped that one.”
The game ended in a 1-1 draw but it was a great afternoon out in the sun with Jake. Jake’s buddy from Sacred Heart (Steven Pinone) even commented that he saw Jake on TV during the coverage of the game, and Jake hadn’t even told him we were going. That’s not a bad little perk, huh? Too bad only about 25 people actually watched the game.
Our next set of tickets are for August 14th, so I’m looking forward to that one.
After the game we headed home and caught a bite to eat in the pub at Wegman’s. I don’t know what to think of the place. It’s the second time I’ve stopped there to eat, but I’m not sure I would head back there again. The menu is somewhat limited and the food is just OK. I know everyone raves about Wegmans, but for some reason it just doesn’t seem to do it for me.
Friday night, we had dinner with Jean’s marathon running buddies, Pam and Jennifer. We ate at Jennifer’s house, and it was the first time the girls got to meet Jennifer’s new husband Jack. They just tied the knot over Memorial Day weekend, and it was a nice way for everyone to get acquainted.
Jean was a crazy woman trying to get to dinner. She went to the beach (Ocean City) Thursday afternoon following work because she missed the boys. She left Abby home with me because Abby had lax practice Thursday night and a tournament on the weekend.
Jean spent Thursday night on the boardwalk with the boys and then spent some time Friday morning/afternoon on the beach with them. Around 3:00 in the afternoon, she hopped back into the car to head home for dinner. She ended up getting home around 6, grabbed a quick shower and we jumped in the car and headed to dinner.
Dinner was fantastic. Jennifer and Jack grilled up some steaks and chicken, which went well with the dish of vodka penne pasta. We ate well and enjoying a laid back time over a couple of glasses of wine. It was good company and I thinking everyone was a little surprised at how late it ended running.
We got home a little after eleven, but my crazy wife was back out the door by 6:30 Saturday morning to hang with the boys in OCNJ. That’s a ton of driving to make one dinner.
We celebrated Independence Day the same way we have the past few years with a clam bake for dinner. It’s a nice tradition we’ve had over the past six or seven summers (funny how quickly you lose track).
Usually the 4th of July starts off for us with the South Ocean City Bike Parade, in which the kids meet over at our Lady of Good Counsel on 40th Street and ride down to the playground on 52nd Street. This year, the parade was pushed to the 5th because the 4th fell on Sunday. Shockingly, the church expects to use their parking lot for parishioners on the day of worship. Who knew?
We spent the afternoon hanging on the beach before heading back for a nice dinner of clams (we went with 500), lobster tails (we went with 10), some fresh sweet corn, and some Coronas. Of course we had some chicken tenders for those little ones that aren’t up for seafood. Dinner guests included my five, my sister Erin and her clan of five, my sister Kate, my niece Emily, and my Mom. It was actually one of our smaller groups.
We capped the night off with some dessert and then the group headed down to the beach to catch some fireworks. Being the party-pooper I am, I decided to catch them from the deck. It’s not as sandy up there.
Sunday morning we woke up bright and early to make the trip to see Kate and Aaron. The kids were whupped from their day in the sun on Saturday and we struggled to get them out of bed and into the car. We had a big day planned with the girls hanging on the beach while the boys went out on Aaron’s fishing boat.
We got there around 11 am and proceeded to go our separate ways. Aaron had been out since 5:30 in the morning and had gotten a full day of fishing in before we even got there. He met us at the dock and we hopped right on board.
Once we got out to sea, there were some mixed reactions. Jake hopped right up, grabbed a rod, and started fishing. Brett on the other hand was very apprehensive, he was struggling with moving around on the boat and focused on sitting down and checking things out. I wasn’t sure if he was sea sick or not, but as time went on he got more and more comfortable. By the end of the trip, he was bouncing around all over the boat.
On the other hand, I got greener and greener the longer we were parked. I’ve been out in the ocean before with no problems, but at the time I was on much bigger boats. The longer we stayed out there, the worse I felt. Luckily I was able to keep from puking, but needless to say I didn’t enjoy myself too much. The fishing wasn’t too great; Jake ended up with our only catch of the day, a fluke that was about 1/2″ short of being a keeper.
Once we got back to shore, we had a nice evening hanging out at Kate and Aaron’s house. Kate made a nice little dinner and it was great spending some time with family. Jake may have been a bit bored because he didn’t have anyone to hang out with, but everyone else seemed to really enjoy themselves.
We were supposed to leave first thing Monday morning so we could get home to handle our chores (which we had neglected the entire weekend) but after looking at the weather we decided to stay the rest of the day. We went out to breakfast and poor little Haley ended up getting sick to her stomach, so Kate took her home.
Aaron ended up taking Brett, Hannah, Abby, and Jake out on the boat for a little more fishing and Jean and I ended up going to the beach by ourselves. Talk about a great break for us. We had a nice peaceful four hour window all to ourselves.
The kids had a good time fishing with Aaron, although Abby ended up going through the same thing as I did dealing with sea sickness. Next time we’ll both be better prepared to go on the boat (we’ll make sure we’ve got some Dramamine).
