Some night time reading
The big day is coming Monday.
We are all trying to get prepared.
So is Dylan…
Dylan’s latest night time reading
Guess who has to take our Princess to school?
I might need a Kleenex….
Stay tuned…
OUR LIFE IN 3D
The Home of Daddy's Day Dare! ~ I am just trying to stay above water
Archive for the month “August, 2013”
Déjà vu all over again…
So we had an event filled Saturday. We made more progress on our move in. We gained a new member of the family. I finally have a male to bond with!
Sunday we were looking forward to one of our very special grand-families coming for a visit; some good people we don’t see often enough. However, one of them got bit by a bug, the summer flu bug, so they had to postpone.
Having a greyhound in the house again, combined with my Sunday opening up, I had the opportunity to do one of my favorite things, take the dog for a walk on the beach. This is the serenity of a beach walk while being in the presence of a celebrity!
Celebrity? Yes, in my experience passer-by’ers just seem to gravitate to a greyhound. I don’t know if it is because they are possibly rare in public, their sleek athletic frame, or the good nature that they carry with them. But lots of beachcombers love to meet the greyhound, especially all the kids.
This afternoon, with the family in tow and a new greyhound at our side, it was no different. Just as soon as we cleared the path from the dunes a young girl came over and asked if she could pet Chum (the fan favorite name in the poll).
She was a young girl, maybe early teens, from Colorado on her first trip to the beach. She was looking for shells in the soft sand.
Upon her request Chum walked right up to her and then stood right in front of her to get petted, like he had practiced this so many times before. Just like my earlier greyhound, he stood right there, fairly expressionless as if this was all part of the expectations of being a greyhound.
What is he? Royalty or something?
When we were done Chum got a good look at the wide open beach for the very first time.
(WARNING PG13: Now for all you women with weak constitutions or get a bit squeamish, you better look away from the next two paragraphs. Viewer discretion advised)
Now Chum may be cat tested, and passed. And he may be kid tested and passed. But our new family member has NEVER been seagull tested!
He saw his first gull about 50 yards away when we turned and headed towards that the surf and the grey was gone. He was all hound! He nearly pulled my shoulder out of its unsuspecting socket. I think if a bird were the decoy on the track Good ol’ Chum would have been a winner!
But a regal attitude and a chaser of birds was not the only thing my first and second greyhounds had in common.
As soon as we all made it down the water I finally had the chance to relive my beach walks. We walked maybe 10 yards when the first couple walked up to us and asked if he was a greyhound and if they could pet him.
I told them yes and yes…and the autograph signings would occur at our chairs at the end of our walk.
OK, sometimes I do embellish a story a bit. But before they left the pretty blonde said how “Chum was the best looking greyhound she had ever seen”.
OMG! This is going straight to his head! The very first people we meet!
We restarted our walk and Chum, knowing how to play the game by now, went out of his way to walk up to people walking in the other direction, expecting to get a good petting or rub behind the ears.
What he found was that not everyone is interested in petting a dog at the beach. What I found is that Chum needs some more training on walking on a leash.
Chum has already been taught how to tie knots!
And just like his predecessor, Chum walked with like a heat seeking missile up the beach on our walk. But when it was time to turn around and return he just froze.
“What do you mean walk? I’m tired” he said. “I’m hungry”. “Carry me?”
Like he instinctively knew, or the spirit of Cloud had told him, this wonderful walk is over when we get back to the start.
Other similarities with Cloud was his fear of the ocean at first. I imagine he had never been to such a large body of water before. After all, Alabama doesn’t have a beach. (Just kidding SSM!).
He stood paw-deep on the bath water we call an ocean and when a baby wave rolled in and snuck up on him from behind, he literally leaped off the ground. All fours!
Poor Chumley.
“Which one did that? You, the short one, you look guilty…”
But it was a great day. King Neptune was gracious with the water temp, tides, and breeze. Like old times we found a whole sand dollar right away lying just beneath surf in the clear water. Literally, the whole afternoon was déjà vu all over again!
I gave the sand dollar to the nice young lass from Colorado on our way off the beach for being so sweet to our boy.
On the way home I took Mr. Regal and the kids to another favorite hang out, The Dog and the Duck restaurant, where they entertain dogs as patrons at their tables outside.
I asked Dylan if, by their name, do they also entertain pet ducks as well, confirming my roll as “silly daddy”. Literally. That’s what she called me.
Epilogue: Saturday and Sunday I mentioned how the day had its ‘spooky’ moments or the ‘spirit of Cloud’ was around. Saturday night as I was downloading the pictures I had taken from my phone that day, something strange happened.
When you download pictures or docs does your computer automatically go to the most recent folder or document that you use to store photos? If you have kids you probably have 100’s of said folders like we do.
I went to download the pictures of our first day with Chum and the folder that popped up to drop them in was the one we had of Cloudy. Weird, huh?
No one had been in that folder since maybe the post I did on him many months ago. Yet there he was, on a day for our new pet, Cloud pops up to not let us forget him.
It looks like we have a mystery on our hands!
Keep an eye out for our special “WEEKEND EDITION in 3D“, the weekend before our first day of school.
Please share any insights or funny stories to help me us get through next week.
And have the best weekend ever!
Shadow following me around
So how was your weekend? Get a chance to relax? Some R&R? Did you get a chance to cross some things off your To-do list?
We had a good weekend. We had a chance to empty some more boxes from our move, almost clearing out the master bedroom.
We organized the garage a bit more, placing some bins in the storage shelves we created in trying to make room for a car inside it.
Dylan had a wonderful new bed and dresser delivered from her Grandmother. This was a big deal as it has been on our move-in list since we, ah, moved in.
working on the Princess bedroom
We then had to go out and buy a mattress for the new bed then and had some dinner.
We also drove six hours to pick up the newest member of our family!
Yes, we now have a cute, well-mannered, friendly 2 year old male…
..greyhound.
And that was just Saturday!
Yes we got up at 5:30am to drive to a greyhound foster home to pick up a new pet for the girls.
We looked at several choices at the Greyhound Crossroads website before deciding on Chum, or Chumley as he was known on the track.
He kinda resembles a Doberman but is as gentle as can be
He has the deep dark brown eyes made famous by greyhounds
Yes, he might have been known by that name at the Alabama Race course, had he ever actually raced. I hear he had no interest in racing.
The bell went off. The rabbit took off. And Chumley found it more interesting to stay in gate. In effect, he never raced a single race. I like to call it “undefeated” at the track!
Did I tell you the girls really like Chum?
Yes, at first we walked into the foster home to find 3 greyhounds and two adorable ( I can’t believe I am saying this) little Chihuahua puppies. They each could fit in the the palm of your hand.
Right away I knew my plan to ‘rescue’ a greyhound was in trouble!
Right away Skylar wanted one of those two Chihuahuas. They were just her size! I tried to explain they were not the ones we were looking at. I don’t know if I ever told you she can throw quite a fit when she is faced with disappointment!
The foster parents put the little wiener dogs to bed and it was on!
We got home and the girls warmed up to Chum. They say he is ‘softer than Cloudy, our previous greyhound.
Cloud was pretty soft too. In fact the two have an awful lot in common. So much so it was spooky! But more on that later.
Chum, or Chumley, tried to settle into his new abode.
Like I said he is a gentle dog and just really tries to stick close to you. He stands right in front of you, goes where you go, stands where you stand. A better name for him might be Shadow!
When we let him out for the first time to relieve himself, he instinctively headed to the furthermost corner of our backyard to do Number Two. What’s not to like? He’s not only housebroken but backyard trained as well!
The only reservation I have about our Chum is his name. I heard ‘Chumley’ and thought of Sponge Bob for some reason.
Looking at his profile pic I thought the name ‘Diablo’ might be better suited for him. What do you think?
Could you help me pick a name for our new greyhound?
So you know, getting a new greyhound was all part of the master ‘moving plan’. We were to A) move then B) put up a fence C) get a new greyhound for our girls and then D) get a pool for the girls. So we are staying on course. We were actually ready and waiting for our new friend.
The question may be, is our new friend ready and willing for our 3 and 5 year old little girls?
Post Card from Ocean City, NJ or how I spent my summer vacation
We are recovering from a long trip back from New Jersey this week. We drove almost 12 hours, half of which seemed to be in the rain on the way home. Its been a jet lag and vacation withdrawal kinda week.
So in between unpacking and work I have been trying to put together some pics and videos from our trip for family and friends.
I think I told you earlier how Ocean City, New Jersey was a favorite vacation spot of mine when I was a wee kid. I loved it. It had so many fun, new things that I couldn’t do at home.
So naturally we looked forward to our kids having as good of a time for a vacation as we did. I think this is a great spot for kids and young families. Ocean City is a great family resort. It claims to be the “Greatest Family Resort”
It does seem to cover all the bases when it comes to having fun for a kid. Here is a glimpse why:
Kohr’s Bros frozen custard is reason enough for a visit
(the BEST hot caramel popcorn in the world!)
I actually have to order more Johnson’s Popcorn for my wife as I gave our last tub we brought home to our pet sitter this week…she wasn’t very happy about that decision…
“Sandy Monster”
a popular T Shirt on the boards
Like I said, we had a great time with so many great things to see and do…and TASTE! So I put together Top 10 Reasons this is one of our favorite family resorts. Or, otherwise a glimpse at how we spent our time on vacation week. These are the things we enjoy in Ocean City. Maybe, hopefully you’ll see it too.
OUR TOP TEN REASONS WE VISIT OCEAN CITY, NJ
1. The Boardwalk.
Most of the fun for a kid, Dad or even a Senior revolves around the 2.5 mile long boardwalk. Their literally is something for everyone here and probably lost of it. Its a mecca for fun in OC and every trip is planned around trips to, as well as what to do on the boardwalk. Here are a few images:
What?????
Some elaborate Mini-golf courses
2. Rides of the Boardwalk.
There are two amusement piers on the boardwalk. Most of the rides are geared towards the little adventurer than the teenaged one but there is something for everyone. I think we went through over $250 in TICKETS for these rides in one week. Ouch! But it is all about the kids. Here is few examples of the fun:
3. People You might meet on the Boardwalk.
I am not talking celebrities here. More like mascots. There is even a mascot parade every week. But what fun for a kid and some photo taking ops; if they’re not too scared.
I think you saw Skylar with Mr. Fries at the beginning of the week. Some of the other party mascots include….
We met Andy the Android
…Andy the Android from Verizon. Actually we had to take this one since my wife works for Verizon.
There was also the Kohr’s Bros. Custard monkey. I’m sure he has a name. Whether he did or not the kids sure loved him. Really, Kohr’s Bros. is the only name you need tot remember!
Kohr’s Brothers mascot
We also saw the sailor from one of the miniature golf courses on the boards. But whoever it was the kids sure loved their chance to meet a kid celebrity.
4. Miniature Golf.
There is a miniature golf course for everybody on the boards with at least 10 courses up there. There are courses of all type from the standard pool table bounce-off-the-boarders type of putt-putt to elaborate mazes for holes in ones. With so much competition many go to great length expense to lure you in.
You might have seen Jaws on Skylar’s video on Monday. Here are a few more we visited…
Give credit to the family resort… how many places start the day with our national anthem in front of a putt-putt course? And talking parrots pitching Dairy Queen?
5. Food of the boardwalk.
Many agree, all the various food stands and restaurants are the prime reason for visiting OC’s boardwalk. This isn’t the best food of the boardwalk, or Ocean City. These places of some of the BEST vacation / snack / junk food anywhere. They are practically their own food groups here, in that you should try to get a helping of each one DAILY. And many try!
So here are our Top 5 places to eat / things to try / must haves / Reasons to visit Ocean City and its boardwalk. We actually talk about each one of these places on the way up. Really! We are that nerdy!
Top 5 at 5
...that’s “Hot, Fresh, Made-To-Order” donuts at Brown’s They are so good!
Now, how many of your kids would love that food in the video? How many of YOU would enjoy it? Its your vacation, right? Calories don’t count!
But, if they did, or if you are worried about fitting in your suit the next day, Ocean City has a way to help you out….
6. Vacation Ways for Exercise and / or Transportation on the Boardwalk
Every morning a ritual occurs on the boardwalk. We look forward to riding bikes on the boardwalk as a way to explore it quickly, wake up, stretch our legs and set the plan for the day. Runners (lots of) show what they got on the boards in the morning too. Others find their favorite ways to stretch and get some exercise with other modes of transportation.
Because what kind a of resort has you feeling guilty or wishing you could try those donuts? Get up and work it off. You have until noon….
I guess some lucky people don’t have to work that hard.
7. Live Entertainment on the Boardwalk.
First Ocean City has its own Music Pier the sticks out towards the ocean from the boardwalk that dates back to 1928. Each year there plays, big bands, and other forms of entertainment lined up for the summer.
The last time we were in town there was a skit on one of our childhood Saturday morning cartoons, Schoolhouse Rock. Have I told you how nerdy we are?
But anything could happen! One overcast night last week, while we were sampling the pizza, fudge and frozen custard we kept on running into live bands plugged in. Again, it was really a kick for young and old kids! A little something for everyone!
8. Protected Beaches.
The audacity of Ocean City to want to charge you to use their beach, a gift of nature. Yes, each visitor pays about $10 a week for the privilege to use Ocean City ‘s beaches. What?
Yes, everyone on the beach needs to be displaying a beach tag saying they paid their beach toll that day.
You know what? It works.
Ocean City’s beaches and dunes are some of the best maintained I’ve seen anywhere. They look like right out of a book. They have a beach service their that includes at least 4 life guards per beach, including life guard stands, life boats, jet skies, and yes , whistles. ( i hate to get a whistled at….by life guards. parents of any age can feel safe knowing their is that much help and resources around.
And that $10 or $15 fee, well lets just say that just helps to keep America’s Family Resort for families
The ultimate validation, last fall’s Hurricane Sandy ripped death and destruction in every direction of Ocean City, NJ. Its eye hit a few mile north in Atlantic City. Yet, this town is running like a clock this summer. And I have to think in part due to a well established and maintained dune system. Sure most of the dunes ended up on main streets a block or two inland. But that boardwalk was preserved. Most of the houses were preserved. A way of life was preserved…
And the waves are for real…
9. Beach bunnies.
No, I am not talking about curvy beach bunnies…
I wish I was but I’m not…
I am talking about those adorable little bunnies that now call some of the protected sand dunes home. They blend right in at first but then the more you look the more you see.
I think any other resort claiming to be America’s favorite would have to be very creative to top Easter Bunnies at their resort.
“Happy Easter Bunny day!“, right Skylar?
“Happy Easter Bunny Day!”
They only seem to come out at dusk, avoiding the hot summer sun. Let other beaches have their mostly nude beach bunnies. OCNJ has Easter bunnies! Well done!
10. Kids just have fun here!
Yes, kids, kids of all ages can have fun in Ocean City, New Jersey. If our Top 10 reads like a checklist, how much of this sounds like fun. its fun for kids, families and even seniors due the wholesome atmosphere that is there brand.
And there are lots more things to see and do in Ocean City too. These are just some of the things we like. There is downtown shopping. Water sports in the bay as well as Atlantic City only being a bridge away to the north.
If anyone reading this has been to OCNJ and would like to add their favorite activities to our list please feel free to add them in the Comment section.
In the end it really is a great family resort; for the whole family. Although when asked which she liked better, Ocean City or the Jamaican resort where they furnish a nanny for the day, she still preferred Jamaica. And, yes, they did have bunnies the kids could feed there as well.
We may just alternate back and forth…and throw in a Disney adventure as well.
America’s Greatest Family Resort!
**Keep your toes in the sand, the breeze in your hair, and the sun to your back. Life’s a Beach**
Promotional consideration was given too but not reimbursed by the following:
DYLANism: Pure Art
Dylan was drawing one day on vacation. Now she has gotten pretty good at ‘coloring’. She stays in the lines well. She usually uses the appropriate color. She doesn’t just scribble so much.
Drawing can be another matter though since she will usually color. Still, she can usually be good at drawing recognizable figures or scenes, even if it is stick figures or the like.
So Aunt Sue leaned in to see what Dylan was drawing this time. Surprised and disappointed Sue asks, “ Dylan what are you drawing? I can’t recognize anything.”
Dylan responds, “You’ll see.”
Impatient for the final product Sue asks, “Well I don’t see anything. I can’t recognize anything you are attempting to draw here. What is it?”
Calmly, without pausing or looking up Dylan responds, “Its Abstract (art).”
What a piece of work!
“Can’t you see that?”
Join My Community
-
CHARLESTON HISTORIC TOURS AND TRANSPORTATION
Rates and bookings are just a poke away
OUR LIFE IN 3D 