HURRICANE!!

Okay, if I haven't lived in this town my entire life I would be high tailing it out of New Jersey! We really didn't get anything too bad. In fact we didn't even have to shut every window in the house. We do have about an inch of water in the basement. In the center of town is about a mile away and was completely under water. Lots of people have posted pictures on facebook. We decided to go and check it out ourselves. There is a river that floods easily that runs along the valley. Where Aidan is standing is a business parking lot. The short stone wall is the end of the parking lot and the tree line beyond that is the other bank of the river. The business in the background is a car repair shop that was half under water at the peak of it probably around 8am today. We were there around 5pm. One picture I saw there was a pickup truck parked next the repair shop and the water line was up to the windows of it.

We never lost power but part of the town did. We don't have cable phone or internet though.

Aidan was very scared yesterday and ended up in my bed last night which in turn I didn't get any sleep. When he woke up and the sun was shining and there was no destruction he eased up and has been in a great mood today.

Earthquake!

I'm sure everyone has heard that the earthquake in Virginia yesterday was felt all the way in New Jersey.  I was a work and I felt it, at first I thought someone was just shaking my chair but every time I turned around no one was there.  Then the nurse next to me asked if i felt that and we jumped up and noticed the building shaking.  It was very freaky!  When I called home my mom had felt it and well, Aidan, not so much.  He was watching cartoons in his room and never noticed the house shaking or heard the dishes shaking.  He gets into his shows and is oblivious to the world around him.

Giants Pre-season game

Just when Aidan thought his summer fun was over we got the opportunity to attend tonight's Giants game. Aidan had a GREAT time and kept talking about "next time", like next time we come I want to sit in the front row. HAHAHA!

Aidan knows how to tail gate with the best of them

Wildwood/Cape May 2011

What a great trip we had!  When we arrived in Wildwood on wednesday we unpacked and headed straight to the beach for some fun in the sun.

After a couple hours there we went back to the room to go out to dinner.  Here is the view from outside our room.

We went to a restaurant called Duffers that has an arcade and mini-golf with it.  Aidan has been playing golf so much lately that he kept hitting the ball so hard it was flying off the course! He eventually calmed down but he was watching his ball with the same intensity as at the driving range.

After mini-golf we headed to the arcade for some more fun.

From there we went to the boardwalk to get a good sand digging shovel and check out which pier we wanted to go to the next night.  The boardwalk at wildwood has three piers of rides and games!  We decided on the middle one since it had the ferris wheel. 

Aidan is inside the "D" in wild

I'm sure everyone is missing the sleeping pictures, so here is one!

The next morning we headed to the beach bright and early to get a good spot. 

He loves collecting shells!

And being buried in the sand!

So after 4 hours I managed to drag him off the beach by enticing him with a dolphin watch!  He was going to play in the pool before we left but as soon as he sat down he realized how tired he was and just watched some spongebob on TV.  The dolphin watch we choose was using a speed boat called the Silver Bullet and boy was it fast! It's a good thing I grew up around boats and knew to sit in the front to get the least wet but he still wore his bathing suit in case. The people in the back were dripping wet!

We saw A LOT of dolphins and he was running back and forth to see them.  In this picture, to the left if you enlarge it you can see three fins together. Young dolphins stay close to their mother for protection. 

Aidan was so excited to be out in the Atlantic Ocean also and not just in a harbor.  Wildwood is very close to Cape May and on the ride we were able to see the lighthouse which also excited Aidan.

When we got back to our room before I knew it he was running off to the pool and jumped in.  I had lost a contact on the dolphin watch and was making phone calls to find a place to get more from.

After a short time in the pool he decided he was finally hungry and we headed off to dinner. We went to a great place called the Dogtooth and it was fantastic!  Always wanting to learn I looked up the dogtooth tuna and told him all about it.  When I showed him a picture of the real thing I think he was slightly disappointed it didn't actually have a dog's head on a fish body haha.

After dinner it was time for some boardwalk fun!  We took the tram down to the rides.  If you have heard anything about Wildwood you have heard "watch the tram car please!". Oh my goodness it is obnoxious and is on constant repeat!

He is just too cool for his own good!

Aidan found a new favorite ride, the teacups! Of course with Mommy's muscles spinning the thing as fast as it could go helped haha.

Beautiful view from the ferris wheel.

Aidan loved the paddle boat, of course his short legs didn't do much paddling.

Aidan wanted to try a deep fried oreo...not a fan at all.

He really wanted some funnel cake but was just too tired to really eat anything. At this point it is almost 11:30pm. Of course he still wanted the powered sugar. I turned around and saw him eating it like this haha. I didn't think wild animals were allowed on the boardwalk!

The next day, friday, it was time to check out and head over to Cape May to see some sights.  Aidan was very excited to be able to climb to the top of the Cape May lighthouse.

This the third lighthouse built in Cape May. The first two didn't last long due to poor construction.  This current lighthouse was built in 1859.

The lighthouse has 199 steps

It opened to the public in 1988

The structure on the beach is the remains of what was Fort Miles that was on the New Jersey side  It served as a bunker during World War II. The fort was spread between New Jersey and Delaware. It was built because US intelligence learned the Germans were planning a Pearl Harbor-like attack. It is not longer accessible to the public.

Next we visited the WW II control tower known as Fire Control Tower #23 built in 1942. It is the only tower to have survived in New Jersey.  It is accessible to the public but we were just too tired to climb 6 more stories worth of stairs.

In the background of this picture is the remains of the SS Atlantus.  It was launched in 1918 and was the second concrete ship built for WW I.  

In 1926 a storm caused it to break free and it ran aground off the coast of Sunset Beach in Cape May.  After several attempts to free it failed it was abandoned.  In the 1950's the boat split in half and has been slowly sinking since. 

We were planning on hanging out at sunset beach for a little bit but Aidan was just exhausted.  We decided to just grab some ice cream and head home.

On the way home going through the pine barrons I spotted the Jersey Devil!

Jersey Devil Information

Aidan just loves the beach and loved wildwood so much!  We just might go back next year!

Wildwood!

We made it down to wildwood! Today we went to the beach, swam in the pool, played mini golf and went to the boardwalk for a preview for tomorrow night. I am exhausted! Aidan, not so much.

Summer update

It's been a while since I updated so while I am sitting here watching Aidan hit golf balls I figured now was the time. Yes, you read that right, Aidan's new favorite past time is golf. He is yet to be on a golf course since I have no idea how to play the game. When he isn't at the driving range he is hitting golf balls around the back yard. Target had a nice set of 4 junior sized clubs that he was thrilled to get. The driving range close to home has heated stales during the winter so he can come all year long if he wants to.
Other than that nothing else has been going on. A couple weeks ago he had team camp at the gym that he loved. It was gymnastics from 9-5 Monday though Friday. He has never been to a day camp before and he loved it. It wasn't all gymnastics as they did other activities and games. Now he is back to the normal three day a week four hour day all gymnastics.
This week we are finally getting away and going to the beach for a few days. Aidan is super excited to play in the sand and walk down the boardwalk. We will even be going on a dolphin watch and going to see the cape may lighthouse.