Jersey Shore

No internet at the house we're renting! What was I thinking?? We are at an internet cafe but no time to write much. Having a blast--here are a few of the many photos we've taken. Hope to post more later!

Update--June 21--

The time has flown by and I still haven't had a chance to do much on the blog, obviously. We are finished with our week at the shore and the kids have all gone home. Today is Rich's bday and Father's Day--so my Mom and I took him out to dinner.

In the above photo, we see Sarah and Elle on the merry go round at the arcade on the boardwalk in Ocean City. Elle was so cute to watch as she discovered and explored lots of new things while here.

The view from the ferris wheel.

My Mom on the porch of the house we rented.

Mom threw a surprise bday party for me. These are just a few of the people who came....

Sarah and Elle
Elle on the boardwalk. She wanted to walk on her own like everyone else--no stroller for her!

My brother, sis in law and kids came for a few days but unfortunately the kids were still in school.

Cousins Abby, Aidan, Becca, Alex and Billy enjoying the surf.

Elle loved the water, even though it was freezing cold.

Billy, my brother's youngest.

Aidan enjoying the waves despite the temp.

Three Planes, One Train and a Car Ride Later....

We watched the Goose land and Aidan was very interested to know that I have flown in one before. He thought it would be a good plane to take us to New Jersey.

After waiting all day to head out, our plane arrived and we were soon on board.

The flight to Anchorage was smooth, we had enough time there to grab some dinner and then got on our plane to Seattle. Our seats had been changed to one on the aisle and one at the window. When I questioned the ticket agent, she said, "oh, there's no one in the middle." Sweet! We had lots of room to spread out. I was very surprised that Aidan fell asleep before we hit 10,000 feet leaving Unalaska. I had to wake him up in Anchorage. He stayed awake for about the first hour of the flight to Seattle and then slept the rest of the way.

Then we had the dreaded "sleep in the SEA-TAC airport from 3:30 AM till 7 AM." We got as comfortable as we could in the seats at our gate area and caught a little shut-eye. I was thankful that Aidan did go back to sleep, even after snoozing on both planes. I drifted in and out till about 6, when I got up to check the flight info and noticed that they'd changed us from the C Gates to the D Gates. I woke Aidan up and we trudged to D6. Man, it was a long trek with all of our carryon stuff. I halfway wanted to claim a bad back and get a ride on the passenger cart. We still had plenty of time so we split a pancake breakfast. Our flight from Seattle was delayed due to weather in Newark so we hung out for awhile and finally got ready to go. Unfortunately, we'd scheduled a train trip from Newark to Philly within an hour of our arrival time in Newark. It became clear that this was not going to happen as planned.

Flying into Newark, I thought we might still make the train but then we circled for a good 20 minutes, spent another 20 waiting for our luggage, and had to ride a tram to the Amtrak station. By the time we got there, our train had departed. The woman at the counter was the meanest person I've interacted with lately. She was "helping" (used loosely) another family in front of us and I noticed there was a "closed" sign on her counter but I just figured she hadn't taken it down for some reason since she was obviously working. We stepped up next and she kept doing something else while ignoring us but I thought that was okay, I would let her finish. She was slamming the stapler down as hard as she could while she put some paperwork together. I waited patiently and she pointed at the "closed" sign while slamming it down with her other hand. Nothing like nonverbal communication. I said, "Oh, I am sorry, I wasn't sure if you were closed or not. If you want us to leave, just say so." She then said, with an exaggerated sigh, "What do you want, Miss?" I told her we'd had a reservation for the train to Philly which I assumed we'd missed and just wanted to know if we could get on the next one. If she was not working, maybe she could advise us how to get another ticket. She sighed again and asked for our confirmation number, which I provided. She then did some paperwork, threw some tickets at me and told me to sign them and really didn't tell me anything except that the train left on Track 4. I asked what about our luggage since I have been on Amtrak before where they will check your bags just like on a plane and she said, "You're on your own." Okay, well, thank you very much. It was now 7 PM and the next train did not leave till 8:23 so we started hauling all of our stuff to the waiting area.

I didn't see an elevator anywhere so I thought we had to take the escalator down. I had my huge suitcase, a carryon bag, my laptop, and a blanket. Aidan had a small backpack and his little rolling suitcase. He convinced me that he could go down the escalator with his stuff and I should have known better but I decided it was okay. He stepped on once and his legs started splaying apart so I had to drag him back off. I was going to say that I would take the stuff down in two trips when he said, "I'll step on and you hand me my suitcase, okay, Gigi?" I asked him if he was sure and he said yes. I should have known better (again) but we put this little plan into action. He was all right at first and I got on behind him with everything else. The next thing I knew, he'd lost hold on his suitcase and it was barrelling down the escalator steps on its own, about to careen into an oblivious man and woman in front of us. I began yelling, "Look out! Look out!" as they turned around to see the flying suitcase. They managed to get out of the way, the man stood the suitcase up on the floor without a word and they walked away as I yelled, "Sorry! Sorry!" after them. They were not impressed.

Our train arrived and we had to haul all of our luggage on by ourselves. Not only that, but the train was packed, there was nowhere for us to sit and nowhere to put our stuff. A woman and her daughter took pity on us, saying they were getting off on the next stop so they would take their luggage out of the storage space and let us have it. They also scooted over so we could sit down. The daughter and I tried to get my 49.1 pound bag into a low space and it would not fit so we just leaned it up against the wall. Of course, one of the conductors walked through right after the suitcase fell over and she about had a hissy fit, telling me that it could not stay there. I told her I couldn't lift it into the overhead space and I didn't know what else to do with it. She pointed at the low spot in the baggage storage area and I explained that the girl and I had tried our best but couldn't get it to go. She told me to get out and move it. So I climbed over the only two nice people we'd met so far in Newark and the conductor woman told me to try to get it in the bottom space. I was trying with all my might but could not budge it. She grunted and leaned down to try to shove it in so I stood back and then she berated me to get down there and help her. Finally we did manage to make it fit. She turned to me and said, "See, there's always a solution." Thank you for the Amtrak wisdom. Then I started getting worried about how I would be able to get it back out when we got to Philly and only had a few minutes to grab everything and get off the train before it left for the next stop. Okay, I love Amtrak and I have never had a bad experience before, but I have to say that they had two of the rudest people working for them in Newark.

After our seatmates got off, we had a lot of space to ourselves and the rest of the ride was very pleasant. We arrived in Philly where my brother Bill and his wife Patty picked us up. It's a pretty short ride to my mom's, where we are staying till we go to the shore. Bill and Patty's four kids were at my mom's house and we were happy to see everyone. Aidan hit it right off with his cousins and all had a great time playing till they had to go home to bed.

The week is flying by and we've had all kinds of stuff going on. One day Mom and I took Aidan to a fancy playground where he played and made new friends and we walked the track a few times. He played with cousin Billy one day while the girls were at school (no, school is not out yet in NJ!) We've been shopping and to a doctor's appointment for me (that's another whole story I won't get into today) and out for hoagies and run some errands and I am not sure where the time has gone but it's already Thursday night. Sarah and Elle arrive tomorrow and we are anxious to see them!

We visited at Bill and Patty's tonight and the kids all had a big time. Here's Alex, Becca, Billy and Aidan.

Making goofy faces.

My Mom and Abby.

Bill Rice, RN. Don't you want him taking care of you in the ER?

Abby and their horse of a dog, Toby.

Last minute adventures

When the tide is low, there's a little "island" in the bay in front of our house. Aidan has been wanting to walk out onto it so today we put on our boots and took a splash into the water. Although he has his new X tra Tuffs, he thought he needed the taller bee boots while I wore the whales. I didn't think the water would be too deep, but it ended up being over my knees at one point, which made it pretty high up on Aidan.

This was not the deepest part! Anyway, we had water pouring into our boots, soaking our socks and feet. We made our way out to the island, examined all of the shells and took in the view.

Then we had to slosh back through the water and climb up the rocks to get into our yard.

Aidan likes the buoys he's seen all over Unalaska. We got back to the house and he pulled his boots off with no trouble, but mine were tightly suctioned onto my feet by the water inside them! Imagine the sight of Gigi lying on her back on the living room floor while Aidan pulled with all his might to get the boots off. It was no easy task and took many tries. We were laughing so hard, and soaking wet as the water and sediment ran out of the boots, all over us. We both had to change clothes when I was finally free.

O ur cats, Ajax and K ali, love to get up in our closet and sleep. Aidan saw them earlier today and told me he wanted to try to get up in the closet with them. It's funny the silly things we'll allow our grandchildren to do. Yes, I helped him climb from a chair to the top of Rich's dresser and then into the closet. I could just picture both of us falling to the floor and breaking a bone, or the shelf giving way.

Ajax came over to visit and let Aidan pet him, while the shy Kali stayed in her corner.

Ajax had enough and jumped down. Then came the really fun part of helping Aidan back out of the closet without causing injury to either of us. Luckily, we survived our adventures today.

We're still not really ready to go on our trip but I figure with an evening flight, we can spend some time tomorrow finishing up.

Saturday

Aidan has been making great progress on his learning programs. He's already finished with one. I've been impressed with how much he's learned and how it's carrying over to every day life. And he doesn't seem to mind doing them so much any more, despite that look on his face. He's just concentrating. :)

I really have not been sleeping well with Rich gone. Aidan was up late last night again and we chatted in bed for awhile. He went to sleep and I tossed and turned. I finally got back up and read the N ew York Times book reviews on line till 3 AM. Just what I need, more book suggestions! I was still up early this morning and started trying to get the house cleaned up for our house sitters. Later, Aidan and I drove out to the world famous Alaska Ship Supply to do some shopping for presents for him to take home. There he noticed the kids' boots and had to have some X tra Tuffs of his own after all!

We stopped at the WWII V isitor Center and checked out the memorabilia.

BB eware of low flying aircraft!

We did a little more gift shopping and he had to have some "wonder dough" for himself. After stops at the Post O ffice, the library and the hotel to check the mail, we spent the rest of the night at home, cleaning, doing laundry and beginning to pack.

Since we don't know if or when Rich will be able to join us in Jersey, I made reservations for us to ride the Amtrak from N ewark airport to Philadelphia, where my mom and/ or sister in law will pick us up. I think Aidan will love riding the train and I just wasn't up for renting a car and driving after flying for two days and sleeping in the Seattle airport. :)

I don't know what's up with Blogger tonight but it's writing letters over letters and putting in extra spaces but won't let me correct any of it. Either that or it's my computer...who knows...

Whale boots, playing outside, friends, library time, and strange noises on the roof

Aidan's time in Unalaska is winding down. Last night we went to my friend Judi's for dinner, along with Darcel, Donna and Paul, my former coworkers. They had just finished an audit from the State and were relieved to get it done. We had lots of laughs and good conversation. Aidan was bored and went out to play in Judi's yard.

He loved throwing rocks in the stream.

He switched to my whale boots yesterday. It has really amused me how much he loves wearing rain boots.

Today Aidan went to stay with Luc and Jacob while I worked half the day. It was his last time with his little buddies because they are leaving on vacation to the Philippines tomorrow. I'm glad he had the opportunity to make some friends while he was here. After dinner, we went to the library for the showing of a documentary called "The Grace Lee Project." It was a mostly lighthearted look at the stereotypes about Asian American women seen through the eyes of several who share the name of Grace Lee. Really interesting, thought provoking and humorous. Aidan watched part of it, enjoyed a handful of cookies, and then went to play in the kids' room till I was finished.

We have a wonderful kids' section which Aidan has certainly utilized while he's been here. We still have several books and dvds at home that we need to finish and turn back in!

It was still sunny tonight when we left the library so we walked across the bridge at Iliuliuk Creek and explored a bit before going home.

We bought a fat round watermelon at the store last night, which we cut open and dug into after bath time. We were interrupted by a loud banging on the roof. Yes, eagles had rescued a plastic bag full of fish parts out of someone's garbage and were wrestling with it on top of our house. They swooped over our heads when we went out to investigate. The bloody bag is still up there so I am hoping one of them will come back and get it before it rots and stinks the place up. :) Meanwhile Ajax and the neighbor's cat were sitting in the yard watching the eagles fly around. Ajax doesn't use his head around eagles and thinks he is invincible.

Here's a note from Aidan:

Hi everyone! I love you and I am having fun in Alaska! I will see you soon.

Gigi's "water boots" are perfect for puddles

We went to sleep SO late last night. Before Rich left, he told Aidan he could use his recliner and his spot in the bed while he's gone. Aidan made a comfy little nest in the recliner last night, fluffed up with several pillows and a warm throw, some juice and grapes arranged on the side table. I let him watch a movie and we finally made it to bed close to midnight. Then he wanted to chat. How cute is that? We talked about the stray cat, Chuckie, who comes to our window and cries at night. Aidan was very concerned that Chuckie is homeless and he had lots of questions about the whys and hows. We talked about our upcoming trip and all of the relatives he will meet (very confusing). He then got interested in calling out the numbers on the digital alarm clock (about every one minute.) "Look, Gigi, now it says 1-2-4-9." Yes, that's 12:49 and we really should get to sleep! It was so sweet, though, and I wanted to enjoy those moments rather than shushing him and telling him it was too late. Hopefully, when he's a hormonal teenager and is angry at everyone, he will have happy memories of his visit to Unalaska when he was 6. :)

He also found my rainboots (the yellow bees AND the navy blue whales) and wanted to know if he could wear them today. He lined both sets up in the bedroom last night so they were ready. This morning, he mulled over which pair to choose and settled on the bees. I thought he just wanted to play in them, but no, he wanted to wear them to go with me to work. We got up early, despite going to bed late, and went to work in the morning instead of the afternoon since I was determined to get the newsletter finished and into today's mail. I convinced him to bring his tennis shoes along because he might not want to wear the boots all day. They were really cute on him, if huge! I can't believe he could actually walk in them without tripping. We got to work and he hung out with me for a little while, then asked if he could go to the babysitter's. Yes, he wanted to wear the boots over there, too, though I did talk him into carrying the tennis shoes. Luckily the sitter makes the kids take their shoes off in the house!

It took me all day to get the newsletter FINALLY FINALIZED--I am used to feeling pretty competent at a job but this was very frustrating and I was feeling a little stupid, though it's just a learning process, I suppose. I picked Aidan up at the sitter's (where he reported having lots of fun with his friends again) and he had to wear the boots to go to the library to return his dvds and check out some more. I got the distinct feeling that people were looking at us and thinking, "oh, that poor little boy has to wear boots 6 sizes too big for him."

He was excited to see how many puddles were left in the yard and on the sidewalk when we reached home. After doing some of his learning programs, I let him go outside for awhile, where he got as wet and dirty as possible in the yellow boots and then traded them for the whales. He was quite pleased that both pair were "filthy" by the end. I did not manage to get any photos of him outside but here he is, posing in the living room last night.

He wanted to know if he could take the boots home but I said maybe we should look for some that fit him better. I explained that I didn't think that there were any with designs on them here, but maybe we could find some in New Jersey. He could not imagine that there wouldn't be a store in Unalaska carrying such cool boots and wanted to know where I got mine. This led into a big discussion about the pleasures of online shopping. Yesterday Lauren was wearing her Xtra Tuffs when we went up in the hills so I told him he could get some like that here and he was having none of it. :)

As often as it rains in West Texas, there's not much point in buying "water boots" but how can I resist?!

Golf in the hills of Unalaska?

Aidan went with Lauren, some board members/volunteers and me to do a walk through of the Tundra Golf Classic site up in the hills behind Westward this evening.

Tundra Golf is an Unalaska tradition. You will never have any more fun playing golf! Lauren and Aidan are scoping out the site while looking for lost balls from previous years.

The hills are getting greener and all kinds of little plants and flowers are popping up.

Bryan brought his new little puppy with him.

There's still a little bit of snow to be seen. But not much!

Aidan found one golf ball, three tees, and was the recipient of a donation from Bryan of another ball. Lauren paid him a dollar for the "ball bounty." He couldn't wait to go to the store and buy some candy with his winnings.

The two of us are on our own for the remainder of Aidan's time in Unalaska. We received a phone call yesterday that Rich's brother George is not doing well and Rich caught a plane out of here last night. He made it to Portland early this morning and then drove to Sutherlin, OR, where George and his wife Nadine live. I am glad he is able to spend some time with them and am sorry that I couldn't go with him. We are sending all good wishes George's way.

I find myself wondering every day where the time has gone. I can't seem to keep up with all that needs to be done. I've been working on the newsletter for work and was determined to have it mailed out today but, as always, there was some little glitch or another causing me to keep revising and redoing all day long. Not to mention trying to learn a completely new program in which to create the newsletter in the first place. We picked my friend and coworker Anne up at the airport today--she's been on a trip to Mexico. It was cute when we were waiting and Aidan thought that Grandpa Rich was coming home. (We miss you, Rich!)