Happy Father’s Day!
Father’s Day was low-key and pleasant. We were still missing the shore, and not up for much. The cards from Lori, Kate and Nathan were great. See the kids cards below.
Nathan and I took out the R/C plane he bought the night before at Target. The fields at Charity Gardens are convenient for such fun, but the winds were too strong to really make it work.
I took the kids into Lancaster for the open house of the new Marriott and Convention Center. Very cool! The views from the rooms are wonderful. The Rendezvous Lounge is unlike anything else in town. The name taken from the legendary basement restaurant at Watt & Shand. I hope it’s a big success!!
Before heading for home we stopped in at the newly relocated Fractured Prune on the corner of Queen and Walnut. Fresh hot doughnuts with the toppings of your choice. Oh man, it’s probably good I don’t work downtown anymore, I’d be hitting this place way too often!
We’re Back! How Depressing!!!
Physically we returned from Stone Harbor on Saturday afternoon. Mentally we are still there. The womenfolk taking it worse of course. Kate had several bouts of tears for a day or 2 since returning. While the weather was down right awful at times…we struggled to hit 70 most days…and only had 2 legitimate beach-worthy days, we still had a LOT of fun.
This was the first time we had vacationed with and shared a house with other families. The Greenlys, Hartmans and Marks and their 2 kids each and babystitter Hanna Lyon made for a full house! Lori’s cousin Chris and wife Angie made it extremely affordable to rent their 6 bedroom place, just a block or so from the ocean!
Lori had me up early on the first morning for an interval run on the beach. Glad she did. I ran all but 2 days, and biked 4 of those days, and even got a little hoop in too at the neighborhood park just up the street. Lori was joking that I was either eating, sleeping or exercising. Dead on. Despite all the excercise, I still put on 4 pounds. Lots of Bud Light with lime and cocktails too. Endless bags of squishy soft Twizzlers were irresistable, as were the Costco cookies and a dozen bags of salty treats.
I hardly saw Kate & Nathan all week. The boys were glued to Xbox or Playstation or whatever it was while inside, and lost in the waves or sand when we did make it to the beach. The girls clung together and enjoyed caring for the little ones, which was fine with us parents! It seems when we just vacation as individual families, we are nothing but activity directors for the kids, trying to keep them stimulated and un-bored. With playmates, we are all but free of that responsibility, it is WONDERFUL!!!
We did escape to OCNJ for just one night, and only to ride rides! We love OC, but if we can do what we just did each year, I don’t know how often we’ll get back there. We ate in all but one night. Ordered out a few, cooked in a few, and saved a ton of money by doing so. Though the 2.50 for a 7 pound bag of ice is a KILLER!
I don’t know what kind of gnats/bugs they have there, but they are merciless! We had Springer’s ice cream just about every night! Lori going for “Bumpy Road” each time, I opted for Pistachio, Egg Nog or Teaberry.
It was fitting that we left in a downpour, but only after a huge breakfast at Uncle Bill’s (Avalon location). Again, it is tough to be back…oh well.
Cast Off!!!
Kate got her cast off this week. The 3 weeks went pretty fast. In the video she casually sips a cup of coffee while the nurse saws of the cast and then pries it loose with a crab picker. I saved you the pleasure of having to watch Kate sniff the cast and her arm, then sharing the smell with me and Nathan!
Lancaster Orthopedic’s office in Ephrata was an absolute treat to visit both times we were there. We barely had time to get that precious java when Kate was called back each time. The nurse and doctor were both prompt, informative, sympathetic, friendly and efficient. Ditto for the office staff, organized, professional, warm and helpful. Not that we want to go back, but we know we’ll be in good hands, AND we won’t have to give up a full day just for a doctor’s visit! Wish I could say that for all our medical needs!
Too Tired To Blog!
The Weekend was capped off by 7 hours of girls soccer. We wrapped up a successful and fun U-10 season with the LAGS fest at E. Pete Elementary School. Warm and windy. Did I mention windy? Lots of sitting around waiting is quite tiring, especially it’s so freakin’ windy! I was so drained Sunday night I didn’t want to do a darn thing. I was able to muster the energy to scarf down plenty of Little Nikki’s cheesesteak stromboli and a Dairy Queen Sunday however!
I didn’t plan on coaching this season, but as always, it’s fun and I’m glad I did. We were 5-2 in the regular season, then got skunked in the tournament…the price you pay for a good record, is playing equally good or better teams in the season ending bash.
Sunday morning we feasted at Dave’s Diner. It’s my brother-in-laws place in Adamstown. I had the home fries mixed with 2 eggs, onions, sausage, gravy, peppers and I don’t even know what else. Side of bacon, of course, and yep, Diet Coke. Huge meal. Super tasty.
Saturday was set aside for painting the deck. That wood is so dry it’s like dying to soak the desert with a garden hose. Suffice to say it is a “work in progress.” But how about the weather Saturday? That is the life. Mid 70’s, no humidity, gentle breeze, tunes flowing (96.1 is usually the spot), it made the drudgery of painting darn near fun.
Friday night Kate and Nathan each had a friend over. We rented Mall Cop. We saw it in the theater and decided to rent it. It’s funny. Kevin James is like Will Ferrell, just looking at the guy makes you smile, because you know something silly is going to happen.
Monty Python The Next Generation: Kate & Nathan?
I don’t know when it started, but for a long time Kate & Nathan would use a British accent and say, “Perry, may I have a wiener?” Now, for the first time, the whole world can see this nonsense! Woo-hoo! (They made me do it)
Memorial Day Work-end
It wasn’t all cook-outs and beer this year. It was a 4 day assault on the yard. Everything green, brown or colored got hacked, whack or trimmed. Then it was mulch-a-mania, that rite of passage every spring where I cover all my gardening and yard mistakes with more and more mulch. I don’t even know what mulch is. I’d really like to know where it goes…I mean it disappears after a year or two, WHERE DOES IT GO???
Lori ripped out the gardening boxes on the side of the house. We inherited them and a bonafide Better Homes & Garden yard that I’ve done nothing but destroy with Round Upin the last 14 years. I’ll grow some grass there in the Fall.
I really had some fun with a hammer on the deck today, bashing out piece after piece of lattice. Good’s Disposal will have to send their whole fleet to haul off all this junk. The deck is wide open now, I feel naked when I’m out there. For all this back-breakin, booty bendin, pushin & pullin, I must proudly admit…I feel great. Thank you P90-X!!! All those lunges and push ups and core excercises have me well-equipped for anything physical. Seriously!
We squeezed in a little fun. We hit The Deck in Ephrata last night, followed by ice cream at Boehringer’s (CMP with Chocolate Almond Amaretto mmm) and the fireworks in Adamstown. Got up at 6 this morning to take Kate to Dave’s Diner. She works there a few times a year, bussing tables. She made 33 bucks! See the fireworks:
Lori said, “You know what’s missing? You kmow what we didn’t do?” We had no answer. “A long ride in The Big Red Car.” she said. Ahh yes, my beloved 1960 Sunliner. I had it for 12 years. Sold it last September. Insert sad emoticon here.
One of Those Not Sure What We Did Weekends…
By the time I get the first, “How was your weekend?” I will have forgotten everything…so I’m making notes now.
Lunched Friday with the always energetic Craig Rothstein and had a darn good cheeseburger at JB Dawson’s at Park City. I LOVE my cheeseburgers, and this is a good one…too big though…who really needs half a pound of ground beef for lunch?
Lori’s folks are in town for the weekend. They are affectionately known as Nana and Papa (pronounced Paw Paw). They got to see Nathan play T-ball and Kate play soccer (2 goals!). By the way, the team Kate played was a team from Lancaster that was well-skilled in trash-talking, poor sportsmanship and general bad behavior. It’s hard to hear what is said on the field, but our girls came to the sideline with story after story of smack being talked. Unbelievable. We had them down 5 to nothing in 5 minutes and we just coasted from there. The Boomchakalakas rule!
Lori & I had a rare kid-free night out., Saturday. How much nicer it is to go shopping when we don’t have to endure the whining, begging and fighting. We dined at Tobias S. Frog and grabbed ice cream at Bruster’s.
So how was your weekend???
Kate Breaks Into Movies
Kate has a fracture in her arm the size of a ladybug’s eyelash, BUT it still required a cast. She fell while roller skating at a friend’s brithday party on Saturday. Kate was not excited about the pain, but WAS excited getting a cast. It’s covered with names now of course.
Just another Weemsco Whirlwind Weekend
The Ephrata Girls U10 Soccer team I coach, The Boomchakalakas is now 4-2 with a thrilling 4-3 home victory over Hempfield Friday night and a short-handed loss to Rheems today 7-2. We only fielded 7 players today, and the Ephrata girls were gassed by the 2nd half. However Rheems might have been the best we played to date. To the best of my knowledge, Rheems is in the Bermuda Triangle between Mt. Joy, E-town and Maytown, but that’s just a guess.
Kate couldn’t play because of a “buckle” fracture in her right arm, suffered at Overlook roller rink yesterday at a birthday party. It took 2 hours at Ephrata Hospital to learn the news. She might be done for the year. Yipes, she is our most willing goalie.
Saturday was dominated by the Yard sale, see post below. We were up at 6, because in our neck of the woods, the Plain folk are out in force as soon the sun is up, and in your face at the first sound of a garage door opening. The Obama administration needs some of these folks negotiating for him. Something worth 12 bucks is listed for 8 and they get you down to 5!
Lori made Mother’s Day a work day. Without Kate in the line up for soccer, she opted to stay home and finish painting our bathroom. (Somehow this project went from, remove wall paper and new paint job, to a 1.7 million dollar project that we need government bailout money for!) She then capped her Mom’s Day by harvesting 3 large bags of clothes from her closet for Goodwill. (I’m not sure I even have 3 bags of clothes total!) We had a nice family meal the night before at Austin’s in Wyomissing, a place we have dined over 100 times and been very satisfied every time. Nathan made a really nice card in school and Kate bought her a special cupcake at the Ephrata Wal-Mart Friday night.
Nathan had his 2nd T-ball game Saturday. Hilarious. One boy runs to 1st by way of the pitchers mound each time he hits the ball. The grass was so high in the outfield, 2 of the smaller boys disappeared for a whole inning! 2 games down, another 27 I think before it’s all done.
Oh my allergies were bad. I’m going to have to cut the grass wearing a Swine Flu mask. Claritin take me away!