ASBURY PARK - Beach Day 2020

Sadly this is probably the first and last day this summer I will get to the beach...the coronavirus is so frustrating.  I am glad I was able to head over to Asbury Park Beach with sue and give Saralynn a fun outing (she played in the ocean or digging holes for 10 hours straight with Katie!).   

Mills Reservation Hike

Man oh man - this hike kicked my butt! Some of it had to do with length (it was about 2 1/4 miles), some had to do with the humidity (it was H-O-T), and some had to do with that fact that i was seriously OUT OF SHAPE!   I thought my little walks in the nearby park put me in better shape.  Oh heck NOPE!   I was {this} close to passing out.  My sister had to dump a 1/2 bottle water over my head and shirt and then luckily Neil had a power bar to give me a boost of energy.  Carrying me out of there was NOT an option. 

These were taken around the midpoint of the hike - pretty much the only time we were really out in the open.

10 1/4 years old...and she GREW!

Due to COVID19, i postponed her annual checkup, which is usually around her birthday in May (and makes it convenient to get camp forms completed).  Today we finally had her checkup.  All good (even checked her for diabetes due to mass increase in drinking water).  Also due to so much sleeping - she grew 1.5 inches in the last 3 months! She’s now 69.5 lbs and a smidge over 4’8” tall! 

Pool is FINALLY ready!

So the pool was delivered in May and we initially set it up on July 4th BUT then we found out that the 2” difference btwn the front and back of the pool made the pool capsize.  So we emptied it, dug a hole and filled it with sand to be level but then the pool top ring had holes (we found 5).  Patch those and then the hoses to the filter were chewed through by rabbits or chipmunks. SIGH!   Finally today the pool is patched, filled, and fun to relax in.  We still can’t splash like crazy cuz it’s still a little unlevel and with crazy splashing the front side will capsize.  Yep, it happened but this time we only lost 6” of water.  I’m happy chilling with my girl in our outdoor ‘bathtub’!

https://youtu.be/5u870hXiZqk

The Moww Moww Song

Sung by Michelle to Ronnie

https://youtu.be/BD7vntATXmA

Mermaids in the pool

first time taking off the masks around Sherri - we went swimming in her next door neighbor's pool (her neighbor was down the shore for the weekend).  Couldn't have asked for a nicer day - it was 90 & super sunny.  The water was beautiful!  No pics of Sherri or myself swimming but trust me - we were also in the pool sitting on noodles ALL DAY LONG!

and look at the goodie bag we got to bring home (actually we split it - I took home 4 rainbow, 1 B&W, 1 s'mores and 1 maple bacon).  I can't believe my sister drove down to the shore just to pick these up for us.  They're SO. DAMN. GOOD......1/2 a rainbow and 1/2 of the B&W didn't even make it into the front door!

Backyard Pool

with COVID19 my town pool club did not open this summer (and even if it did, I'm not sure if I would be comfortable joining). Due to safety concerns SL's day camp also did not open this summer.  Figuring what to do - I bought a cheap inflatable pool.  Last year it was probably $50 at Walmart.  This year all inflatables were sold out by May at all stores...so I paid $250 for a 15' x 36" Summer Waves pool via eBay.  Then paid another $35 for a 15' solar cover (and another $50 in uptake such as chemicals).  It all was ready to go in my patio room as of the last week of May, but it just sat. And sat.  Finally on July 4th I said "LETS DO IT ALREADY" so we began setting it up. 

First hurdle - the backyard isn't 100% flat.  It's on a slight incline. Finally after spending 4 hours filling it up approx. 2' we realized it was leaning too much to one side so would capsize. If we continued, it would be a disaster so we admitted to ourselves that we would have to drain, level out (possibly move it over a few feet) and start over.... On top of that, the Second hurdle - small leak in the plug.  This we will duct tape once we begin the refilling process. 

Hike to Great Patterson Falls

recently saw a bunch of pictures of the waterfalls that looked amazing so had to check it out (it's only 10 min from my home).  Well - it is really nice...but it's also just a waterfall smack dab in the heart of the city of Patterson.  No trails to hike - just a bridge to walk over and flat area to snap some pics.

after 10 min we were done and headed back into CG to hike around the reservoir - but there were police activity that nixed that plan so we decided to give the Hilltop area behind my house a go.  I've been there a bit with SL...but only a little bit.  Today we hiked for a good 2.5 hours!  Very surprised how big of an area it is - and it was a lot of fun.  We'll def be back

Sprinkler Summer Fun

First time this summer we played around in the backyard with the sprinkler.   For the first 20 min we were in our clothes.  Finally we both changed into our bathing suits 

https://youtu.be/-v0l5pILePU

Randy made us a pretty awesome snack (the chocolate rounds are leftover chanukkah gelt!!!)

First / Last Day of 4th Grade

First Day: 09/04/2019........Last Day: 06/16/2020

4th Grade Graduation

Due to the coronavirus, the end of year 4th grade clapout had to be done in the car (with masks on)...off  to middle school the fall! 

https://youtu.be/yztykwz38tY

https://youtu.be/NXFH44d866s