The Beaches of Cape May County

We're home from another spectacular week at the shore. I really like our summer vacation schedule of a week at the shore with Rob's family and a week in the Poconos with my family. And not just because we stay for free both places...
This year the weather was perfect at the beach. The first three days we were there it was HOT HOT HOT. However the water was COLD COLD COLD. It was something like 64 degrees, which didn't matter at all to the 7-year-olds, but did matter quite a bit to the 51-year-old who had to be in the water with them.
This is the first of two posts about the shore vacation. This one focuses on our two favorite beaches: Stone Harbor and Reed's Beach. Actually it's probably just me who likes Reed's Beach since you can't really swim there, but you can walk out on the rock jetty and watch the sunset which (for me, but not the 7-year-olds) totally trumps digging sand out of your bathing suit for an hour after you've come home from the beach.
So, here are the pictures. This is Rob and the girls on the beach. I'm pretty sure Rob was forcing them to get out of the water in this picture. We tell them to go down to the shoreline to rinse off some sand and then we see them dancing around in the water again. LAST year, they were afraid of the waves and wouldn't let go of our hands. THIS year, we are the superfluous parents who are pretty much there to drive them to the beach and purchase ice cream for them.

See what I mean ... no fear. They couldn't get enough of the waves. The VERY COLD WAVES.

I'm not sure if Lizzie is reacting to the water, practicing Jazz Hands, or doing some sort of re-enactment from the Karate Kid. Whatever, it's cute, although I'm probably biased.

Here she is again, just splashed over by a swell. I didn't get any pictures of it (because I was a little nervous having my camera in the water already) but both of them were diving into the waves and then swimming underwater before they came up, only to dive into another way. Worrying about them was my aerobic exercise for the week:

Hannah dancing around in the waves. She's wearing a sunblock shirt to protect her from the sun's rays, even though she already has a deep, dark, tropical tan. She thought the shirt made her look like a real beach girl:

Lizzie being chased by a wave:

Lizzie just about caught by that same wave:

Both girls enjoying the water. Next year we may try boogie boards. But first I have to go to the doctor and get a full cardiac workup:

This pretty much summed up the beach for Lizzie. She loved every minute of it: This is Hannah, conducting the waves to break before they get to her:

Things in the sand were fun, too. Here's the obligatory picture of a child buried in the sand:

And then it was on to Reed's Beach. The light in the early evening is great for pictures. Here's one of Hannah. Hannah's growing out her bangs, so I try to braid her hair most days to keep it out of her eyes. At the beach it gets wet, so when we take it out at night, it's all curly and she LOVES IT:

Here's Lizzie on the jetty. Yes, Mom, she does need a haircut. ;)

Hannah picking her way between seaweed, sand and dead horseshoe crabs. She stubbed her toe right after I took this picture and nearly bled all over my car.

Here's my yearly sunset photo of children playing on the rocks at Reed's Beach. I swear that someday I will buy one of the ticky tacky run-down buildings that are there (and still cost about a million each) and I will sit on the deck and watch the sun set every single night.

At the end of the day...

There's nothing like having a new best friend to lean on and watch a DVD at the end of a day filled with Zoo Camp, the Library and the Beach. Grandma Connie caught Hannah watching a movie at the end of the day with her new best buddy, Trevor. Sad to say the vacation is ending and we'll be home tomorrow. Look for more pictures over the weekend!

Hi from Zoo Camp

Hi from Zoo Camp, where it is 101 degrees in the shade ... luckily we are finding our way to the beach, too. You'll see those pictures later...

Simple Woman's Daybook

For June 24

Outside my window... The remnants of a summer thunder shower that washed the crazy humidity from the air.

I am thinking... how lucky we are to have made so many good friends in the area. It takes me an extra 10 or 15 minutes to drop the girls off at Vacation Bible School just from saying hello to friends.

I am thankful ... that Hannah and Elizabeth finished 1st grade as more mature, learned kids. And that they still manage to drive me crazy once in awhile -- to remind me that I'm thankful when they are NOT that way. :)

From the kitchen... Sausage, onion and peppers are prepped and ready to throw in the skillet in about an hour.

I am wearing... light green polo shirt, grey capris, hair in ponytail. Pretty much the standard summer issue around here.

I am creating... a story about Boz Scaggs. I just finished it, actually. We've been quite creative around these parts lately. Not only have I written a couple dozen stories since the beginning of the month, the girls illustrated a book I wrote for their teachers. This year's book is "The Very Bored Princesses Solve a Mystery."

I am going ... to stick to my eating plan with gusto! Now that my physical therapist has me up and exercising (what happened to the massage and heat is beyond me.... but I'm trying!) so it seems like a good idea to eat better, too. That's why the sausage and peppers described above is made with TURKEY sausage.

I am reading... nothing right this second. I just finished "The Apothecary's Daughter" which was pretty good and "A Reliable Wife," which was excellent. I've got a couple other books downloaded to my Kindle (sorry T.A.) but haven't picked which one to start on yet. Hours at the pool give me lots of time to read!

I am hoping... that the thunderstorms are over for the day and the girls can go to the pool after dinner.

I am hearing... Toy Story 2 very faintly. I'm happy for the rain because Hannah and Liz are completely overwrought with Vacation Bible School in the morning and then swimming all afternoon. They both burst into tears when they got into the car after VBS this morning so I am happy to have a low-key afternoon.

Around the house... if I'm being honest (which I always try to be even at great personal sacrifice...) there are several disaster areas that need to be cleaned. We need to practice putting the clean clothes away OR install drawers on the dining room table upon which three loads of clean, folded laundry now sits!

One of my favorite things... our neighborhood pool. We are loving the new relationships with our neighbors and the members (including Rob) worked really hard to get the pool looking good this year. We've BBQ'd down there a few times and packed dinner to eat there, too. It's not crowded at all, but usually during the time we're down there (which is just about every day for many hours!) someone else wanders down to chat.

A few plans for the week ahead... .lots going on. There's the Vacation Bible School picnic, a pool party, ZOO CAMP and probably some swimming in the ocean and eating of ice cream.

A picture I am sharing... Hannah is such a girly-girl. Here she's doing Lizzie's nails. Lizzie loves to play with her sister, so she allows the painting and hair styling (kind of like Rob), but honestly, she is NOT a girly-girl and does this only to be nice to her sister. I love it when they are nice to each other this way, so I couldn't resist taking a picture for those times (MOST OF THE TIME) when they are sniping at each other:
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First, Last, Before, After

Today was a big day in the life of the Raz Report. Hannah and Lizzie finished first grade today and were both CRYING because they would miss school SO MUCH. I explained to them that I intended to do school work every single day and they amended their tears to mean they'd miss their TEACHERS.
I remained unmoved.
Report cards came today and while in general they did well, there are areas that need work (and by areas, I mean math and by math I mean they cannot subtract any number that isn't on a clock, which Hannah discovered early on this year, could be used to count backwards thus saving the trouble of actually LEARNING the concept of subtraction...) So the summer homeschooling will begin on Monday.
However, before they left for school they were all smiles. Cash was all smiles, too, because he was clueless about what was happening to him today.

Here's a picture of our happy dog at about 8 a.m. See his fluffy face? His curly hair. His basically obscured eyes?

And here he is at about 2:30 this afternoon. Yes, it's true, Cash got his first haircut. He also turned 7 months old today. He's been a little crazy since he came home from the groomer. I think he's not used to the haircut -- or being able to see. But look at that handsome face:

Here he is with Hannah and Lizzie soon after we got home from the groomer (half-day at school). They have NOT stopped squealing with delight, although Lizzie thought maybe we brought home the wrong dog because he looked so different and upon reflection she stopped squealing and said she missed the "old Cash." But Lizzie is the child who, when she got her haircut last year thought I'd brought home the wrong child... ;) seriously, she thought she looked so different she cried and cried until I promised that her hair would go back, which, as you can see, it did:

And here is Mr. Cash in all his groomed glory. You can't smell him, but he smells like cherries. He may be just a shadow of his former (hairy) self, but in my (humble but totally correct) opinion, every bit as cute.

We opted for a basic puppy cut, with a shaved face and paws. The girls asked if he could have a poofy poodle tail and I couldn't resist, so here it is. Cash isn't quite sure what that thing at the end of his tail is and he keeps trying to eat it. (Have I mentioned that he's not exactly a credit to his Einstein-like breed?):

I knew it was time to get Cash a haircut when Lizzie made me take this picture the other day. If your MALE dog can wear a tiara, it's probably time to get his hair cut. Lizzie tried to put the tiara on him again today and his hair is too short. I think he's pretty happy about that.

Dance Recital, 2010

Today was Hannah and Lizzie's dance recital, for their first year in "real" ballet. Last year they were in pre-ballet, which involved a lot of dress-up and freeze-dancing. This year, they had to work hard to put together a program with actual ballet steps.
At least that was the plan.
I think they did really well, although I am their mother. If you want to see a video of the dress rehearsal, skip to the end of this blog entry. If you can make the video larger, I suggest you do that, otherwise it looks like tiny people dancing. I did try to get some close-ups of the girls, but for some reason I got the camera on them when they weren't doing anything (intentionally -- the dance was done with two groups.)
Anyway, we managed to get through the day with only minor drama. Just as we were about to leave, Hannah got a hole in her tights, so I had to find the extra pair and get her undressed and dressed. I tried spraying the small hole with hairspray, but that only made it bigger.
Luckily I DID find the spare pair and we managed to get to the theater only about 5 minutes late.
Here's Lizzie backstage. Their outfits look like pianos and they wore bows in their hair.

Here's Hannah warming up. Oh, this picture reminds me that we've been spending a lot of time at the pool, so the girls are already pretty tan. That's not make-up. Although Hannah DID enjoy the amount of makeup she did get to wear ... and the amount of gel and hairspray it took to keep her hair in place:

Lizzie with Julie (who dance with them last year) and Devynne: Hannah (looking waaaaay too grown up) and Bridget:

Right after the show with their flowers. The girls got lots of flowers including chocolate roses from Aunt Tina and lollipop roses from their teacher Miss Bridget. We gave Miss Bridget a jewelry tree in the shape of a ballerina. The tree held a small bag and we tucked some special charms into the bag. The girls really loved their ballet teacher this year:

At home the girls showed off their dance again to Aunt Terry, Shelby and Aunt Tina. Aunt B also came to the recital, but she needed to get home after it was over. The rest of us came back here for ice cream cake (oreo!) and lemonade:

Notice the sneakers Lizzie is wearing :)

I did take pictures of Aunt Terry, but she blinked in every single one of them, so you'll have to be happy with Beanie and Shelby. Thanks for coming ladies ... it meant a lot to Hannah and Lizzie (and their nervous mom!!):

And without further ado, here's the video. I taped the dress rehearsal, and it was pretty much the same as today's performance. Hannah is to the right of center (as you are looking at it) and Lizzie is to the left of center. They are one group, and the other three girls are the other group. I'm especially proud of Lizzie's dance moves as she tries so hard to be precise. And Hannah does a great courtesy at the end. She's always one to finish strong!!! Enjoy!!

Blues and Pool

I know what you're saying. You're saying what could POSSIBLY be keeping Tracy from posting cute pictures of her children. Well let me tell you that things have been hoppin' round these parts ... but to help ease the pain of the past two weeks without pictures, I'm posting TWO SETS of pictures in one blog. AND, on Sunday I'll be posting a video of the girls' dance demonstration.
We begin with pictures from our Memorial Day Pool Party. You can tell it's Memorial Day by all the men standing around a smoky grill. Rob got in and handled the grilling responsibility so the burgers and dogs were delicious. The party was held at our little neighborhood pool, which got a facelift over the past month or so:

Hannah and Lizzie enjoying the water. Last year the water stayed pretty much at around 47 degrees (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little) but this year it seems to have warmed up. Possibly due to many of the holes being plugged up (meaning that the well water doesn't have to be added every day) OR because it's been about 90 degrees for six days in a row (and that is NOT an exaggeration!)

More pool fun. I bought those dolphins at the end of last summer for something like five bucks. I keep expecting them to break but so far, so good. Last summer the girls wanted to sleep with them, too, but this summer they are okay with leaving them in the car:

Hannah getting some sun:

Lizzie having fun in the water. They managed to maintain most of their swimming skills from last summer, although I may sign them up for a few lessons at the end of July:

Hannah is reading with Sarah, a 13-year-old neighbor who also happens to be our babysitter. Hannah will do anything to act like the big girls, even if that means she has to read while her sister is jumping in and out of the water:

We've spent a lot of time at the pool, but did take some time away from it to go to the Blues Barbeque, sponsored by Rob's Lion's Club. Here's a picture of Rob putting the girls to work. THis picture is slightly inaccurate as it looks like Hannah's doing the work, which she didn't. Lizzie worked hard enough that some customer gave her a $2 tip.

Shelby and her friend Charlene enjoyed the sunny afternoon, too:

This is what Hannah preferred to do, instead of handing out water and Gatorade:

Uncle Dude made the trip to Elverson for the BBQ, too. Lizzie took this picture and she likes to get nice and close:

Here's my nephew Casey and his girlfriend Cat: And Lizzie taking a bit of a break from the beverage stand:

Oh yeah, there was music at the BBQ, too. Here's VooDoo Deville. My brother in law (also a Lion) plays bass. He tried to hide behind the guitar player and saxophonist, but I got him in a picture:

A good time was had by all, especially Hannah who got to dance with big people, and the Lions, who made a ton of money. We're already looking forward to next year!