Friends

About 7 years ago, I discovered I had something in common with all of these women... we were all pregnant and due the same month! I never thought I'd stay in touch (almost daily) with these friends (there are many more not in this picture). The "East Coast" crew planned this gathering in conjunction with Lisa's trip to her parents house in NJ. The girls were nice enough to go even farther north into "the other Jersey" where I live, so spend the day. We had a blast! It was like meeting up with a bunch of sisters I haven't seen in a while. Hugs, kisses, instant comfort - no awkward weather conversations here! From left: Me, Lisa, Alice, Laura and Amy. We missed Faith and Chanie due to sick kids, and Julie K. due to.... hmmm. I don't think she ever said ;o) Kendra from Maine arrived after Lisa and Amy left - she discovered the "joys" of good ole NY/NJ traffic jams near the Tappanzee Bridge and didn't arrive until 3:30.

And... here are our boys! From left - Dylan, Aiden, Sam, Thomas, Will. They all played REALLY well together! It was so much fun to watch them interact and their different personalities.
Something Mom's don't always get to do... hang out by the pool !
The kids eating hot dogs and burgers for lunch.
And instant buddies - Emma and Morgan.
And... more instant friends ;o) Julian and Morgan.
The only thing that would have made this day better would have been having more of my group of friends around... I think we are trying for a mid-country get together next year. I know I would have a blast...

Happy Birthday.... to me!

Yup, it's here. The long awaited, much dreaded 40th. Quite a few people wished me a happy birthday (a good friend even sang to me when I called her.... Josie, you are the best). Overall it was very nice. Pretty pj's from the kids, much wanted bike shorts from Mike (my derrière will thank him after my next bike ride). An awesome ankle bracelet and 2 necklaces from my sister (you really need to sell your work!). What did I do for myself? I went out last week and got a tattoo. Not how many people would celebrate it, but I've had it printed out for a while, and decided I really wanted to do it to celebrate. I'm happy with it. Part of the design caught the reflection of the flash because I have ointment on it. But you can get a good idea from the picture (taken by my 8 year old photographer, if you were wondering).

And the best part about being 40? The fact that I got my sad 30-something body into shape. This year I am officially a size 8 (wowzers) and ran a 5-k. While I haven't competed in my triathlon YET, it's not far away. And I've adopted the most cliche saying we have at work.... "it is what it is". I couldn't agree more.

Tuesday Ten

If I had a million dollars
(If I had a million dollars)
Well, I'd buy you a green dress
(But not a real green dress, that's cruel)
Barenakedladies

This Tuesday's Ten? Ten Things I would buy if I hit the lottery and won a million dollars:

1. A farm. Complete with a barn and ponies. And lots of room for Mr. Dyl to go ride his quad.

2. A Jeep. Nope, haven't given that one up ;o)

3. A shore house. I've fallen back in love with the ocean. The only problem is that I would have to hire a caretaker to come in and feed all the animals at the farm. But hey, I won a million dollars. I should be able to afford one of those, right?

4. A boat. Just to have EXTRA fun at the shore house.

5. A new pair of boobs. Like the Jeep, it's a nice thought.

6. A maid. Seriously, who wants to scrub toilets and clean doggy nose prints from the front door for the rest of their life? not me.

7. A new husband. Just kidding. This is really a test to see if Mike reads my blog. Usually he doesn't. ;o)

8. Something fun for my family. A convertible for my Dad. A nice pickup truck for my little bro. A trip to a fun spa in Arizona for me, my sister and my Mom.

9. A new quad for Morgan and Dylan. Thanks Mike, for letting Dyl sit on a "bigger" quad. It was orange just like Mike's. And he hasn't forgotten about it. If I had a million dollars, he'd have it (and a GREAT place to ride it too).

10. I suppose I should do something philanthropic with the rest of my money. Like save the whales, or the bog turtles, or spotted tree frogs. I think maybe I could adopt a rest area on the NJ Turnpike and they could re-name it after me. not. I'd settle for some kind or organization that uses REAL athletes in photo shoots. You know, the kind of girls that have real muscles. Not some stick figure with stick arms holding a 2 pound weight the wrong way on a treadmill in gym clothes. Something for girls to really aim for. If that doesn't work, I could always save the Japanese painted ferns, or something like that.

Life is Good

My running buddy gets VERY excited when I lace up my sneakers in the morning. Even at 5am. What a motivator. We had a great run this morning - 3.5 miles at almost my race pace. Life is Good.

More pictures from Assateague Island

It was awesome to see the ponies in their natural setting. Wandering from the marsh by the bay to the beach. They headed to the beach when it was 92 - smart ponies know about ocean sea breezes! Morgan called this bunch the triplets - until a 4th painted horse came along. We called them the quadlets, but Morgan didn't quite understand the quad part, and kept reverting to "fourlets".




This was the male that was with the triplets. They are so used to people that you can get up close for photos.

My little one with serious thrill issues. When the picture is larger, you can see an EAR to EAR grin on this kid. He's truly in his glory. And this wasn't even on the rough day. We had a very difficult time getting him out of the ocean on the rough day!
While not the best picture of Morgan, it's cute of Dylan with all of his missing teeth.

Assateague Island, Maryland

Just back in from our week vacation at Assateague Island, Maryland. We expected the worst of the State Park campground (someone had described it as a parking lot) and were pleasantly surprised at how clean it was, definitely more spacious than we thought, and how friendly everyone was. We had great beach weather (Sun - Thur. was in the 90's and sunny). Most of the beach photos are on the 35mm, so once I get the pix developed and uploaded, we'll have more action shots. Some highlights of our trip:

• Dylan swam with a sand shark. Okay, that sounds too nonchalant. He was swimming with 2 older boys just past where the waves were breaking, and I looked to the left of them and saw a VERY dark shadow. I focused in and walked closer to the waves, and realized it was a shark when I saw a fin as the wave was breaking!!! I pulled the boys out and they were done for the afternoon. We talked to some regulars later that day, and they explained that sand sharks are not uncommon for the area. They also explained they are not aggressive to humans. Phew.
• It was wonderful to wake up, look out the trailer window and see horses in your site. They got THAT close. It was also funny to see them rip through screen tents to get food people left out on the table.
  
• Morgan got pinched on the hand by a crab while doing a "crab walk" in the bay. Of course, it wasn't funny to her at the time.
  
• The deer in the campground are tame and come up to you looking for handouts. While feeding the wildlife is prohibited, I can tell you that the deer ate an apple out of Morgan's hand. The deer also felt like Diesel's fur. ;o)
• A good time was had by all at the boardwalk.
• We got chased off the boardwalk at 9pm by lightning and rain. We just put the kids to bed around 10pm when the winds started in earnest. We made it unscathed through a whopper of a t-storm, with near 40mph wind gusts. That really rocked the trailer, and flattened quite a few inferior tents.

In random order, a few pix from the digital camera.

Mike and Dylan waiting for a ride to start. Dylan has serious thrill issues, he LOVES roller coasters (and giant waves).

Mr. Dyl at the wheel of a bumper car
Future woman driver - fixing her hair for a photo while driving ;o)
Me and the kids at the bay
Hugs. I really should get a picture of when they fight too.
A horse wandering through our campsite.