2009 August Long Beach Island

Click here to view these pictures larger

The Swimsuit Issue

We just had a taste of what all the fuss is about out here. Most people out here take at least a week and head to the beach. We went for a weekend to Long Beach Island, NJ and found out we need to take a full week next year. We've been talking about it for years with Ann & Steve Philpott to take the kids to the beach. Steve's parents have a house there so they make the trek a couple of times each summer. Poppy and Mom-Mom opened their house to us to use as a base point. They had also just added an upstairs with 5 twin beds. Just enough for our two oldest to sleep over with Will and Cole. Will and Dylan are two weeks old and we met the Philpotts back when the boys started daycare together. Cole is a few months older than Chloe. They all get along very well. Steph, Addie and I holed up in a motel not too far down the road. The kids didn't even go see it until the last day there. Chloe came over to help pack and mentioned that she was really glad she got to stay with Will and Cole because our motel didn't even have room service. I guess she gets used to staying in Marriotts too.

We drove up on Saturday morning. Big Mistake, Huge. Ann & Steve forgot to mention the Saturday morning traffic might be bad. We basically went Saturday instead of Friday night because we wanted to save a bit on the hotel cost. We weren't getting the employee discount there. The trip itself should take about 4 hours. We got 13 miles away from our destination according to the GPS and came to a standstill. Now, I'm a pretty laid back guy and don't get rattled easily. I also travel very well and don't get antsy about being in the car for long periods of time - I leave that to SWMBO and Dylan. I tell you what though, we went 3 miles over the next hour. I was a little tired because we hosted Happy Hour the night before and I didn't get to bed very early and then got up early to get on the road. Needless to say I was a little punchy to begin with and I hate not moving and sitting in traffic so I was on a roll. I'm not sure the family had seen me like that before. I was talking with other cars (well really the people in the cars, I wasn't that out of it - yet) singing songs and making jokes. I really needed to get out of the car, hit the beach and have a cold beverage. So six hours after we left home for a four hour drive, a four hour drive (think Gilligan's Island) we made it to the beach. It was everything we needed. Surf, sun and a beer. Next time we'll splurge for an extra night in the motel. It took Ann and Steve only 3.5 hours to drive up on Friday...

After some body surfing, wave battling and playing wave masters (a game Steph and Dylan made up) we packed up and headed to the Philpott home to get cleaned up and eat dinner. Poppy is a bit of a cook himself and made some ribs, burgers and dogs. After a few hours of chatting on the back patio Steph and I headed to the motel for some much needed rest. We had checked in and set up the pack-n-play earlier so all we did was put Addie down and plop into bed.
Next day was more fun at the beach, but with toys! Steph made a run to the local surf shop (read expensive place) and picked up a skim board and a body board. The body board was essential to those of us who like to body surf but don't like getting chests and stomachs scraped up in the sand when riding the wave all the way in. The body board gives you a better ride and reduces the sand scrapes to the legs. The skim board on the other hand is like trying to slide on ice. The idea is to wait for the wave to come in and when there is about 1/2 inch of water start jogging, toss the board down, jump on and surf/skim the wave into the water. It's best done on a flatter area of sand for beginners. Needless to say we were beginners and we didn't have a flat area. After numerous falls and heavy laughter from the peanut gallery watching I did master the skim -for about 3 feet and I didn't fall. I determined after seeing other and more proficient kids doing that on bigger boards, that Steph just got me the wrong size skimboard. Maybe next year I'll go bigger.
That night after getting cleaned up we had one of the most delicious meals I've had in a long time. Poppy went fishing that morning and caught a couple flounder so we had that in a white wine and caper sauce along with some Shrimp Diablo - shrimp in a spicy sauce and bread for dipping. Incredible.
Monday was our last day there so after breakfast we tried to squeeze in as much beach time as possible. We headed out just before dinner so we could grab some seafood on the way out. We headed out to a souvenir shop that also sold Chamelia charms. Steph was getting a crab charm as a reminder of our trip to Tilghman Island and the beach. Poppy gave us a couple of places to stop. Charm shopping went off without a problem but food was not working for us. every seafood place we stopped was jam packed so after trying 4 places with an hour wait we went to a Joe-Pops surf bar and grill. We didn't think it would be that bad but it was basically a nightclub that served dinner. The kids loved it and thought it was cool. For Steph and I, it just wasn't what we wanted for our final dinner on the island. We tried to put on a happy face for the kids because we decided that they liked it and it was building memories for them. We didn't want our food snobbiness to sour that memory.
Thanks to the Philpott clan for hosting and letting us hang out for the weekend.

I'm a runner?

No "S", there I was. I thought I was gonna die.
Not really but I was having a hard time breathing. I ran my first race since I was in 8th grade. OK I wasn't really running to win. I was running to finish and at some points just to get to the finish line. I cought a cold the week before the run and was hacking things up all week. Let me provide some background. I am running and training for a 1/2 marathon again. I have learned that stretching is good when you get old and apparently I'm getting old. The knees, muscles and ligaments are all doing well so far. We were planning a trip to see my sister and family outside Chicago in Hampshire, IL. She flew to DC to pick up the two oldest kids and kept them for a week. Then Steph, Addie and I flew there to bring them home. We made it a little vacation as Mom and Dad drove in from KC and Grandma Reeve and Aunt Diane made the trip over for a while on Sunday. It also happened to be the Coon Creek Country Days the same weekend. I forgot how much I enjoyed small town festivals. Beer tent, nightly band(s), midway games, carnival rides and even a parade and fireworks. The girls had a fun day out sponsored by Grandma to the American Girl store in downtown Chicago. They took the train in and had a good Chic Day. Most important (to me) was the 10k. Kristin mentioned when we were first planning this that I could run in their little 10k since I was training for the 1/2 Marathon. I almost dismissed it but then thought better and saw that it fit right on my training schedule. I was supposed to be running 6 miles that weekend anyway. Why not?

Since Dana (Lenz) Hartwigsen lives about 20 miles away from my sister I invited her to join me. She said she would register and even chastized me to make sure I wouldn't back out on her. Come to find out when I went to pick up my number the day before the race it was SHE who didn't even sign up. A quick call resolved the issue. In true Dana form she was running behind and didn't get to sign up. She was planning to do it the morning of the run though and assured me she would be there. A true friend she was and showed up at 6:50am to my sister's house ready to run. One of the highlights of the run, besides making it through, was at the end of mile 5. My nephew Andrew was at the final water station handing out cups of water. I was thankful to get the water and see him on the run. Keep up the good work Andrew. In true female form Dana didn't stop talking until we went to church after the run. We were sweaty and still in our shorts but showed up anyway to see the kids do their Vacation Bible School program. Kristin/Supermom had all the kids in VBS all week. We got a few strange looks by the regular Sunday crowd but at least we were there. I don't recommend running a 10k and then sitting in a cold church. Dana and I were freezing. At one point we had the baby blankets over us to keep from shivering so much. next time I'll at least change my t-shirt before going somewhere after a race unless I can sit outside.

The next big event was the festival parade. All of Kristin's kids were in or on a float - Andrew for football, Scott and Matthew for Cub Scouts and Lauren for cheerleading. Dylan and Chloe thought it was almost as good as Halloween. They didn't have to walk and people just threw candy at them. Dylan's highlight was getting a carrott and a potato from one of the floats. He was so excited and it was the first thing he ate when we got back to the house and peeled it for him.

So while I may have run in my first race since 8th grade I still don't consider myself a runner. Maybe I eventually will. Right now it's something to do to keep in shape and I have a goal to train for, nothing more. It's not a part of me and I don't miss it if I can't get out for a couple of days. I feel I have potential to be considered a runner because if I only get out once during the week I do find myself looking forward to the next run. It's some 'Me' time and a stress reliever but maybe that's all being a runner is.