Coming Soon

I have just spent the last two weeks on-the-go, in Texas visiting family and have pretty much been without my computer the whole time. I have been quickly checking email and Facebook with my phone, but have not had the time to get the laptop out. We head out in the morning, on our trek back to New Jersey and when we get back and get settled in, I have plenty to talk about.

In the last two weeks, we have gone on little outings, attended a fabulous family reunion, visited with family and friends and taken loads of pictures! My son has: acquired three hermit crabs (much to my horror), neglected three hermit crabs, buried three hermit crabs and was deemed proficient enough in golf cart driving to drive my sister-in-law's golf cart all around the property by himself. And, by the way, that didn't end well. There is a story there. There are also photos.

See you soon.

Deep in the Heart (Corner) of Texas

The kids are in Texas with family and DJ and I are back in New Jersey, kid-free and not entirely sure what to do with ourselves. We are currently camping at the Jersey shore in our pop-up camper. It sure is quiet, and peaceful without the kids to contend with.

Last night, we spoke to Noah and Zoe on the phone. So far, everything seems fine, I have not heard of anyone crying for home, but Zoe does make it a point to mention during every conversation, "I want to stay with you guys." I keep reminding her that we will be there in a few weeks, and she lets it go.

Noah, on the other hand, has slipped right into life in the Lone Star State. Or perhaps not so much.

It becomes more and more apparent to us as the years go by that Noah is a Jersey boy through and through. Yesterday, he told his MeMaw he wanted some "water ice". She looked blankly at him and after some confusion and clarification, she took him to a sno cone stand. It was here that Noah gave the man working there a lesson in water ice and how it was made. And then proceeded to inform him that he had no idea why the product this man was pedaling was called a "sno cone" because it did not resemble snow in the least. He asked the man had he ever seen real snow and assured him it was nothing like this shaved ice he was placing in a paper cone for Noah.

What is "water ice" you ask? First you must learn to pronounce it properly- /wooder ice/. Now that you have the proper pronunciation down, you can educate yourself here and here. It is a regional name (Philadelphia area which includes South Jersey) for Italian Ice. It is like a slush or a sno cone, but smoother and with more liquid. Whereas with a slush or sno cone, you tend to suck all the juice out, leaving ice, this doesn't happen with a water ice.

So, if you are in the great state of Texas and you run into a small, scrawny boy, about 4' tall looking lost and confused and demanding his "wooder ice", please tell him his mother says hello.

And that she's eating a Rita's water ice as you speak.

Strasburg Railroad

Okay, so I lied.

On day two of our trip to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, we visited both the Strasburg Railroad and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. I said I was going to include both in my post today, but I just have too many pictures and not enough self-control to pick only a few.

So, today will be the Strasburg Railroad only.

The Strasburg Railroad was founded in 1832 for passenger and freight transportation but it's main purpose soon became as a freight interchange with the Pennsylvania Railroad. By the mid-1950's it's usefulness was coming to an end and in 1957 track destruction caused by a series of storms brought the railroad to a halt.

With the owners unwilling to invest in repair of the tracks, it looked as though the Strasburg Railroad was going to slip quietly into a place in history. While petitions for abandoment were being considered, two fans of the railroad, Henry Long and Donald Hallock formed a group to try and save it.

After repairing the four mile track, the owners of the railroad began acquiring locomotives and passenger cars from all across North America. The railroad was opened to visitors in 1958 as a tourist railroad and has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Lancaster. (www.strasburgrailroad.com/about-the-railroad)

Upon arrival at the station, we were not disappointed. We encountered the engine just hooking up to the passenger cars and getting ready for it's first trip out of the day. It was like stepping back in time to the steam engine era and I felt all that was missing was my parasol and steamer trunk.

The kids were delighted! We soon learned that instead of the usual, " Choo Chooooooo, chugga chugga chugga" that most kids say, Zoë says, "Choo Choooooo traintraintraintrain- traintraintraintrain." This never got old, throughout the entire trip.

One can buy the standard coach car tickets for $14 for adults & children 12 and up, $7 for children 3-11 and children under 3 are free. A ride in the first class parlour car will cost you $20 per person regardless of age. You can also choose to ride in the restored dining car with lunch served to you for $16 and $9 for adults and children 12 and over and children 3-11 respectively and $2 for children under 3 plus the cost of your meal.

We chose to ride in the open air cars with a beautiful panoramic view unobstructed by windows for my picture-taking needs. This upgrade also cost $16, $9 and $2 for twelve and over, 3-11 years and under 3 respectively.

We got on the first train of the day and although not vacant, it was not crowded at all either. There was plenty of room to choose your seats. I did notice as we pulled back into the station after our ride that there were considerably more people waiting to take the next train. We purchased our tickets there at the station with ease, but I am told weekends are very crowded and it is recommended you purchase your tickets in advance.

One last thing- several times a year, Strasburg Railroad hosts Thomas the Tank Engine- a life-size engine painted to look like Thomas to comes to pull their train. This is a very popular event and advanced ticket purchase is highly recommended if not necessary.

Now for the rest of the photos:

The inside of the open-air car. You can look through the doors two cars up and see the nose of the engine.

An old engine we passed on the way out of the station:

Our conductor taking tickets:

Amish farms:I used my zoom lens for a closer look at the the Amish farm:

Amish farmhouse:


More Amish farms:

Our engine unhooked from the train and then went around us to hook up to the other end and pull us back to the station:
He's almost there and then he can switch tracks and hook up:
All hooked up and ready to go back:
Amish farming caught on film:Building a barn:

The inside of the coach car- I can stare at this picture all day- BEAUTIFUL!
Our engine:
While taking pictures of Zoë, I caught a Mennonite family in the background boarding our train:
Another picture of the Mennonite family in the background:Details of our engine:

Dutch Wonderland- Lancaster County (Vacation Part 1)

Finally, I am going to tell you about my vacation and mini vacation. There are loads of pictures, so I am going to spread them out over several different posts.

While in Lancaster County, we spent one day at the amusement park Dutch Wonderland. It is an amusement park specifically for small children and my family had a blast. Even in summer months, the weekdays are relatively crowd-free making it for an awesome day filled with riding almost everything in the park (save a few we didn't want to ride) seeing the diving show twice and Noah riding the roller coaster over and over again.

In the middle of the day, the park became a little more crowded, but that only amounted to us having to stand in line for the log ride for fifteen minutes. Seriously. Fifteen minutes was the longest we had to wait to ride anything.

Now, the pictures aren't great, because there was no way I was taking my Canon to the park. There is a small water park encased in the bigger park and I didn't want to ruin my camera. Little did I know that we would only spend twenty minutes in the water park because upon entering, BOTH of my kids freaked out and cried until we left! Nevertheless, I didn't bring my camera and therefore these pictures were taken with the camera on my husband's cell phone.

First:

And because I couldn't resist: ( I had them switch) Where the two diving shows took place. I don't know why he didn't get a picture of the actual show. One was A Dragon's Tale and the other was The Frog Prince.

The park mascots are a dragon, a prince and princess that walk around for pictures. I don't remember the dragon's name, but Zoë didn't like him.
The little monorail:
The view of the entrance to the park from the monorail:
Zoë riding the pandas:
Noah and I on the little roller coaster. We are in the third car, you can't really see us very well. Noah later fell in love with the big roller coaster and his daddy rode it with him over and over. Since Zoe was too small for that ride, she and I rode the park train numerous times.

Views from the skyride:

Zoë on the skyride:

Riding the little boats:
There boat ride took us under that waterfall (it doesn't get you wet) and there is a big nest under there with a supposed dragon egg in it. Ha!
This had nothing to do with Dutch Wonderland, but we saw it on our travels and it made me giggle every time we passed it. So, of course, I made my husband pull over so I could get a picture. It is located in Paradise, Pennsylvania... which the realization of progressed my giggles to full-on guffaws:

As I mentioned, the park was really a great day for us. The weather was perfect- in the low 80's with low humidity and a breeze. The park isn't very big which is perfect for small children and the rides are all geared toward younger kids. I highly recommend it if you are in the area with your young children.

Tomorrow: Strasburg Railroad and Museum

Pop Goes Vacation

We arrived at our destination without incident and set up the pop-up at which point Zoe asked, "This my house now?"

Yesterday evening was nice, but VERY humid. I checked the weather channel and the humidity was 100%. There was condensation dripping off the canvas of the trailer and the sheets were sticking to us. DJ took the bed with Noah and I slept with Zoe. She didn't really want to go to sleep at first, but I pointed out to her how you could look up and out the screens and see all the stars.

"Two stars?", she asked in wonder.

And I watched as my little girl craned her neck backwards with her mouth hanging open in awe and a huge smile on her face as I sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star to her and shortly after she fell asleep.

The sun was up early ( and so were the seagulls) and I could not sleep any longer at 5:45, so I got up, got dressed and left my sleeping family inside to go outside and sit and read a book. For awhile there seemed to be no one else out and then one by one, people started walking by with their pets and headed to the showers/restrooms. I had almost two hours of solitude before the kids were up.

We piled in the minivan to head somewhere for breakfast ( real excuse: to dry out with some good ole a/c) and had absurdly priced pancakes at a local joint. By the time we left breakfast, the rain had started.

It rained ALL DAY LONG! And finally let up to a little sprinkle just in time to report for my concert. By the time we were done performing, it had stopped and we thought we were out of the woods.

A recent check of the radar shows some rain in Delaware moving over this way. And on my way to get a shower, I spotted lightning.

The positive side is it is supposed to be gorgeous tomorrow with only a 10% chance of rain.

The sun'll come out tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there'll be sun....

... or a cranky, hot Jennifer with enormous hair.

We Interrupt this Blog For...

...my vacation. We are currently on vacation in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I will be back sometime on Friday. I hope to post a blog this weekend. See ya soon!

"I'm Bored!"

We don't get much family time on the weekends anymore because DJ works every Saturday from seven a.m. until seven p.m. His days off are Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and once school is out ( June 25) we will be able to spend more time together as a family. But, until then, we have Sundays.

This past Sunday, we took the kids to the boardwalk. The majority of the time, Noah was whining about being bored and my favorite line, " There's nothing to DO here!" Really? REALLY? Because you are surrounded by fudge, candy and ice cream shops, arcades, a fun house, a little carnival, places to eat and, oh yes, there's the sand and the WATER.

I grew up on the beach too. But the beach I grew up on consisted of sand and water. That was it. There literally was nothing to do there but play in the sand and water. There weren't even restaurants except one little hamburger shack you passed driving in on the peninsula.

So, Mister Noah, fruit of my loins, the next time you complain about being bored, look around you:





I know, son, life is rough. I don't see anything to do either.

The Young Girls and the Sea

Before we left Cape May on Sunday, we drove down to the lighthouse and walked around on the beach. There was a bridal party there taking pictures. It was a beautiful day and I was thinking the pictures would probably be beautiful, but was hoping the wedding had already taken place as the bride was getting sand all over her dress! After a few minutes, the bride and her bridal party decided to take a walk in the surf for some pictures. Now, this isn't like Texas where you simply walk out on packed sand to the surf. The sand was very deep and soft and there was an actual shelf where the waves were breaking against the shore. You had to climb down the shelf which was about two feet high to get to the surf.

I watched with amusement and happened to have my camera because I was taking pictures of the lighthouse and the kids. I didn't have my zoom lens, so I've had to crop the photos in order to zoom in on them, but I thought the progression of shots was somewhat amusing and thought I'd share. (click each individual picture to enlarge it and get a better view)

I'm sure this was a beautiful shot:

But, umm, don't they say to NEVER turn your back on the sea??

Is it wrong that this was what I was waiting for and I was delighted to get this picture??

That's gonna be SOME drycleaning bill... sand and salt water on silk!