A Day Spent at The Peninsula Near Rehobeth Beach!

The gals were up extremely early this morning and are lacking in "rest time". They were all on a relatively "short fuse" but we were hopeful that they would get better as the day progressed and they did!

After breakfast we packed lunches and left for The Peninsula off of Route 24 in Rehobeth Beach.  Dane's parents bought a home there in June and they were generous and offered for our family to go there for a day to enjoy the amenities The Peninsula offers and then stop by their home to eat lunch, and after all of our fun activities go back to shower and change before going for dinner.  How nice of them.

So, we got there around 10,  dropped off our clothes and lunches and then toured their new home.  How beautiful!  They had to furnish the entire house and Jamie and Sue had a great time doing that together.  The furnishings and floor plan are exceptional.  Dan and Sue are not coming down until this coming weekend.

We rented paddle boards and a tandem kayak for 2 hours, so we spent time in the launch area on the bay having a great time taking turns and experiencing both "boats". 

Lanie and Katelyn were the 1st to try the paddle boards!

The water in the bay was rather choppy and you really had
to "work it"!

Cali had a good ride with her mommy!

Lots of activity on the water!

Cali, Samantha, and Katelyn also had fun making what they called "San Diego" on the beach. 

I hope you recognize the city of San Diego!

Samantha, Bria and Cali enjoyed being on the paddle board with their parents, but they also did a good job of trying it by themselves. 

Samantha enjoyed trying to paddle board by herself!

She did well!

Next it was Cali's turn and she did well too!

Bria enjoyed it too!

Success!!!

The girls also had fun paddling the kayak with Grandma, PaPa, and their parents.  It was an exciting 2 hours.

Notice the amazing synchronization!

There was also gymnastics on the beach with a competition between Lanie and Jamie.  I believe Jamie was the winner with better form than last year!  Bria and Samantha decided to try their skills also!

Jamie and Bria!

Samantha wanted to be a part of the fun!

Wow!  Jamie did an amazing job!

Lanie decided to give it a try also...... 

...and it created a lot of laughter for the 2 sisters!

PaPa and I tried the paddle boards too.  Fortunately PaPa was able to stay on the board this year.  Last year he found it rather challenging!  For some reason, there are no photos of me on the board.  Maybe I really didn't do it, but I think I did! 

Keep it going, PaPa!

.....and off he goes!  I hope he knows how to turn that thing
around!!!!

Then it was back to the house to enjoy our packed lunches on the patio.  The sun was in and out today and when it was out it was so hot.  We were glad for the cloud cover throughout the day.

After lunch we went to the wave pool area where there is a sandy beach area, an adult pool, the wave pool, and 2 places to buy food and drinks.  The girls enjoyed the wave pool where the waves are on for 20 minutes and then off for 20.  PaPa was such a trooper, playing with the girls in the water for a long time.  Just when he got out to rest, Cali decided to stop making sand castles and get in the water.  She was upset that she didn't get to spend time with PaPa in the water, so back in he went.  He was tired by the end of pool time.

The girls enjoyed the waves!

All the loungers at the wave pool are in the sand.  Can you see
another "San Diego" in the background?

What a beautiful and unique pool!

We went back to the house where we all showered and changed and drove to the Paradise Grill which is very close to the Peninsula.  By then it was cloudy and they were predicting some showers, so the huge island type setting was very empty. They offer a huge playground area for children and seating in so many different areas on the sand. 

This is the stage at Paradise Grill!  No live music tonight!

Mommy and Bria!

What a nice picture of 3 generations!

Katelyn, the youngest, won the battle of who could hold
on for the longest time!

When we just finished eating, the light showers began.  So we were on our way to the Yuengling Ice Cream Shop about a mile from Paradise Grill.  For $3.00 they give you so much ice cream it is almost ridiculous. Ken and I definitely should have shared.

Lanie was very excited to be getting ice cream!  Yuengling
makes a very rich and tasty treat!

We were back to Bethany Lakes around 7:45 and the girls were in bed by 8 after a very busy day.  The 5 of us played more games of Skip-Bo while watching the Olympics and the great races of Michael Phelps.  We stopped playing at 10 and I stayed up to work on the blog and watch the American gymnists win the all around.  They were amazing.

It was another best day!

A Gorgeous, Fun-Filled Beach Day!!!

Well, the gals slept in until 6:30 today and came to see Ken and I in our bedroom at 7.  So cute to see your 4 granddaughters 1st thing in the morning.

We all got ready, ate breakfast, and then the 9 of us were on our bikes to ride to the nature trail close to Bethany Lakes.  It was amazing to see all of us in a row riding along the road (actually on the sidewalk) to get on the trail.  2 years ago when we were here not all of them were even riding a 2 wheeler!  They all did extremely well, including 5 year old Katelyn, although she said her legs were very tired when we got back.  It was about a 2 mile ride!

Leaving Bethany Lakes and heading
to the Nature Trail!

It really is a nice ride and well-maintained trail!

The safe bikers!

We packed lunches and were on the beach by 10:30.  It was a gorgeous, sunny day and the waves were perfect.  Today was the 1st time the girls discovered how much they like being out farther from the shoreline and jumping and swimming with the waves with adult supervision.  (1 child for every adult)  They just didn't want to stop and they did get pushed into the water by waves several times.  PaPa and Lanie got knocked over too and the worst part was that PaPa lost his prescription bifocals.  We spent a lot of time walking some of the beach area looking for them and about 1/2 hour after he lost them, he saw them being turned up by a wave 2X's, but he  was unable to grab them.  Unfortunately, he doesn't have a spare pair with him, but fortunately my prescription is very similar so he will be wearing mine.

There was a lot of screams and shouting when they were
running away from the waves!

Bria is growing up so quickly!

Such a fun time!

It's a big one!  Run for your life!!!!!

It is so much fun watching these little ones enjoying
the beach together!

It's in my eyes!!!!!

We are getting a bit more daring!  Unfortunately I don't
have any photos of them out in the bigger waves with the
adults.  

The girls were very disappointed when we left the beach around 2:30 but we were concerned that a "meltdown" could happen in the near future.  After showers, the girls relaxed and calmed down watching a movie while PaPa did some reading and I worked on this blog.  Bria and Katelyn actually fell asleep in the loft area watching a movie!

We had put chicken teriyaki meatballs in the crockpot before we left for the beach so that was our dinner along with more corn on the cob.  It is so nice to eat on the deck and not go out to dinner every night.  Dane even made some clams on the grill.  After dinner we rode our bikes about 1/2 mile down the road for some delicious ice cream.  It really was exceptional!

What a special picture of Samantha and Cali in the backyard
of our rented Condo!

After dinner it was another bike ride for ice cream!

Don't pass up having Woodside Farm Ice Cream!  It is
incredible!!!

The girls were in bed by 8:30 and they were exhausted.  The 5 of us played several games of Skip-Bo while watching the Olympics!  It was a fun evening, but by 10:45 we called it a day.  

Another best day!!!!

The Family Vacation Has Begun!

Ken and I left home on Saturday morning around 7 and stopped at Perkins to share the Tremendous 12 breakfast.  Soon after getting onto Route 1, we got into stop and go traffic (mostly stop) and after checking Google Maps we discovered there was a major accident about 1 1/2 miles from our location. While stopped, Ken notice a little gal waving at him in the car stopped beside us - it was Samantha.  What are the odds of being stopped together when all we had determined was that we would arrive at our Condo at Bethany Beach between 11:30 and noon.   We were coming from different directions too!  It was amazing!

We arrived at the clubhouse at Bethany Lakes around 12:30, quite a long drive considering it should have taken about 3 1/2 hours, not 5 1/2.  Lanie, the girls, Ken and I swam at the pool until our condo was ready at 2.  Jamie and her family arrived at 3:15 after a 1 1/2 hour drive from Rehobeth Beach.  There was such heavy traffic going through that area for them and for us!

It took quite awhile to get everything unpacked and in its proper place.  Dane and Jamie picked up Grottoes Pizza and we had a great dinner on the deck.  We played some Racko and watched the Olympics but by 10 we were all tired and "went to our rooms".

Sunday was a beautiful beach day.  The little ones were awake before 6 and out of their room by 6:30.  After breakfast and packing lunches, we headed to the beach area at Delaware State Park at the Indian River Inlet.  


What a fun day at the beach.  The girls loved jumping the waves, looking for shells, playing in the sand, etc.  We were there 4 hours and everyone had such a good time.  It is amazing how they love the water.  We only sat in our chairs about 30 minutes to eat lunch.  All the rest of the time we were in the water.

Samantha, Cali and Katelyn really enjoyed playing together
in the sand!

Uncle Dane helped Lanie, Samantha, and Katelyn with
the sand shoveling!

Time for a walk down the beach to find shells!

Don't you love their shell bucket and
shell bag???

Samantha and Katelyn were on a mission!

Bria is almost as tall as Grandma!

The girls enjoyed watching a retired gentleman make his
fancy sand sculptures!

We were back to the Condo by 2:30 and showers felt amazing.  The girls had so much sand in their suits that I think they brought half of the beach back with them.  They relaxed watching a movie and then we played Racko and the Disney Version of Apples to Apples.

The girls love playing Racko with Grandma and Katelyn
wants to be my partner!

All dressed up with no place to go!  We decided to stay
in for the evening!

We had fun playing Apples to Apples!

Samantha was a bit hesitant to play this new game, but
she enjoyed it!

I never realized how much Bria and Jamie look alike!

Love this photo of Cali.  I wonder what she is thinking???

Instead of going out for dinner, we had a grilled seafood fest of scallops, shrimp, tuna and salmon and some corn on the cob.  The girls and I enjoy a rotisserie chicken that Ken and I had brought from Costco.  

The girls were in bed by 9 and Dane was happy to have parent patrol duty upstairs while Ken, Lanie, Jamie and I played cards.  By 10:30 Ken and I were tired, so we called it a day.  

This has been an incredible family day!

This Week Has "Flown By"

A brief review of what Ken and I did these last 3 days!

Very early Wednesday morning Cindy and I had fun texting back and forth. John and Cindy left at 3 AM to camp at Fort Lejuene in North Carolina.  At 3:07 AM she text me to say they didn't have the results of her medical test when she called the Dr.  I had asked her to call me a let me know and she had forgotten to do it before she left.  I had just gotten up to go to the bathroom, so I text her back and thanked her for the update and wished them "Happy Trails and safe travels".  I also mentioned why I was up.  Just when I got back into bed she texted me again and asked me what I was doing up at that time of day.  When I was getting ready to text her back, I got another text from her - "oh, I just read the "potty" part.

Ken went to the bike shop in the morning for a new bar to put on my bike when loading it on the bike rack and some new straps for the rack.  We spent the afternoon playing games with my parents at Masonic Village.  It was a fun afternoon.

Thursday Ken was home all day without a car because I met Lanie, Samantha, and Katelyn in Reading and rode with them to Easton to the Crayola Crayon Experience.  What a great thing for children.  It is an older warehouse type building with 4 floors of so many wonderful activities for kids to do using markers, crayons, and clay plus a show telling how crayons are made and another one where you learn about Silly Putty. They stated making Crayola Crayons in 1903 with only 8 colors.  They are still made the same way but with more modern equipment! There are so many interactive things to do and everything is so well done!  We had such a fun time.  We were there from 10 to 2:30 and I was so glad Lanie invited me to go along.

The World's Largest Crayon!

This is the entrance to the building!

You get to pick 2 colored crayons and then
put them in to a melting pot that drops
a design on your paper!

They also have a play area that
Samantha.....

...and Katelyn enjoyed!

Crayons everywhere!!!

Ken spent the morning working at his desk making appointments to have the car and Waldo inspected, Dr. appointments, etc.  He was a busy boy!  Then after lunch he decided to walk to the movie theater (about 3 miles each way).  I did pick him up about 4 blocks from our apartment when I got back to Lititz!.

Jamie's family is at the beach this week staying at Sue and Dan's new beach house near Rehobeth at the Peninsula.  Their friends were with them from Saturday till Tuesday and then it was just Jamie, Dane, Bria, Cali, and Lulu, their Berneise Mtn. Dog.  They are having a great time and Jamie and I had such a nice, long phone conversation!  So good to talk to her.

Today, Friday, was a crazy busy day.  I had an early breakfast with my Curvette ladies, then visited with my friend, Jackie, and was home in time for Ken to go for his annual blood test.  We did some packing and then headed to Costco.  How comes you always buy things you had no idea you needed until you get there!  It happens almost every time.

Ken deboned the rotisserie chicken while I went to ACE to get a few things we needed.  After lunch and the completion of 2 loads of wash, the packing for the beach began and then the loading of the car.  How can we possibly "need" so many things for 1 week????

After doing a little weeding around the apartment building we reserved another CG  for out west, made dinner, and then Ken went for a walk.  (I just didn't feel like it!)  Now we are watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.  We plan to leave by 7:30 tomorrow morning for our week's vacation at Bethany Beach, Delaware with Lanie and Jamie and their families.  It will be a fun week!

A Busy Day That Included More Planning for Our Western Trip!

Ken was up by 6 and read in the LR.  I only got up at 7:30.  We decided to have breakfast before we left for our walk.  It was in the low 70's but the humidity was 100%.  Needless to say, it was very hot and oppressive already!

After showers, we decided to drive to Root's Country Market about 15 minutes away.  We had taken Melissa and Chuck there last Tuesday and were thrilled with the delicious fruit and the very reasonable prices.  So, off we went and we weren't disappointed - more great fruit for very low prices!  Wish you could have joined us, Melissa and Chuck!

When we returned we spent time working on the itinerary for our west trip.  We have our reservations and destinations from October 5th on, but needed to decide when we were leaving and where we are going until then.  We do need to go to near Denver to Lazydays RV to have our 1 slide adjusted.  It is resting too heavily on our new floor and leaves indentations.  We also decided we will go via Interstate 81, then 64 and eventually to Interstate 70.  

We stopped for lunch and then it started to look like rain, so we drove Waldo to the storage area where he will stay for the next 1 1/2 weeks. I talked to my sister on the way there and they are leaving at 3 AM tomorrow morning to go to Camp LeJune in North Carolina for 1 week.  It will be about a 10 hour drive and they want to get around Washington DC before the crazy traffic begins.  Upon our return, it was back to trip planning.  It is a lot more time consuming than I anticipated. After several hours, we planned our stops and made reservations at 3 campgrounds.  We will leave on September 7 and plan to be at Lazydays in Colorado at 8 AM on September 14.  It took us most of the afternoon to plan those 8 days.  We still need to decide where we will go after we leave Lazydays and before arriving at the Albuquerque Balloon Fest (on Ken's bucket list!) on October 5.

Ken grilled for dinner and we had some corn on the cob.  I spent the evening doing more digital scrapbook pages for our granddaughters while Ken did additional reading.  America's Got Talent was on while I worked on the computer.  I am amazed at the quality and variety of the acts.  It is very entertaining!

By 10:25 we were in bed.  It was a rather busy day but I felt like we got a lot accomplished, but more trip planning is in our near future!

So Hard to Say Good-bye to Chuck and Melissa!

Ken and I were up by 6:45 and continued the task of getting ready for this morning's departure.  Chuck and Melissa stopped by at 7:45 and we said our tearful goodbyes.  Hopefully we will see them again in the near future, for we always have such wonderful and memorable times when we are with them.

They hooked-up their CRV in the parking lot near the pool and as they were pulling out, Ken and I were standing at the top of the hill and the 4 of us did our final waves good-bye for this trip.  

Ken and I left the CG at 8:45 and he followed me to Lititz, only about a 35 minute drive.  The CRV was "packed full" and it took a little time to get in unloaded. Then we filled the car again with additional things that needed to "leave" Waldo.  Ken finished the unloading while I put everything in its proper place.

It started to rain around noon so we went out to Waldo to close windows, put in the awning and then it started to pour.  I had time to clean the refrigerator while we were waiting for the rain to slow down.  After lunch Ken took a short nap while I finished 2 loads of wash and recorded all of our expenses in our budget program.  Ken did some work on the computer including paying bills and then sorting through our mail.

Ken left for Celebrate Recovery at 6:15 and I spent the evening creating some digital scrapbook pages for Bria, Cali, Sam, and Katelyn highlighting our camping trips with them.  Also talked to my mother and they are doing great! Ken was home by 9:30 and had a great meeting.  He met a gentleman who works with Nomads, a mission outreach ministry of the United Methodists.  The Nomads program is specific to individuals and couples with RVs wishing to be involved in Christian service. Nomads projects include working at churches, church camps, homeless shelters, children's homes, mission agencies and disaster agencies.  The amazing part of this story is Ken had put on his tablet "to do list" for tomorrow to research and try to find a Christian organization that we could possibly get involved with.  We know this isn't just a coincident!

We were in bed by 10:30 and did some reading!  It was a busy day!