Broadkill Beach...

My parents are selling their home. They have lived on the beach for nearly 30 years. My brother and I spent a good deal of our childhood living there, and it was my sister's childhood home for as long as she can remember. Needless to say we have a lot of memories. This is the image the realtor has captured of my parents beautiful home http://www.jacklingo.com/real_estate/listings/delaware/MILTON/558158/detail.htm

These are just a few of the images I have captured




It goes without saying that we will all miss the beach. It is beautiful and relaxing during every season. I have fantabulous memories of my family home -- from the shark that my brother and I found on the beach, to the baby whale that washed up one Christmas -- I think he finally made his way back out to sea when the tide changed -- to the winter the bay froze over. We went crabbing and swimming. I sat sunning and had memorable parties on the beach. My family shares even more memories of Broadkill because before we moved there we had vacationed there for many years when my brother and I were little.
Broadkill is actually not at all like it used to be and not at all like I choose to remember it. More people have found out about it and although it is still a quiet private little beach, there are a few more people around than there used to be.
There are, most certainly, many other beaches up and down the coast, but anyone who has been there, lived there, or vacationed there knows that a good day on BBB (Beautiful Broadkil(n) Beach) can't be beat.

Backseat wisdom from a three year old...

Yesterday Mary Elizabeth and I were in the car...again...on our way to pick up Mallorie. We rode by a fast food restaurant that had a play area with a climber. She noticed the climber and asked to go play -- I noticed the yellow "caution" tape and told her we couldn't play today because the climber was broken --

ME "It's broken?"

P "Yes"

ME "Oh, ... Bob the Builder can fix it"

P "Yes, I suppose he can"

ME "I have to call him"

Bookends...

One of the nice things about summer is that each of the older kids has an opportunity to go and visit their grandparents -- one at a time. Not only does this afford each of them a little undivided attention -- it also gives Mary Elizabeth an opportunity to spend some quality time with whoever isn't away at the moment. It was a rare photo opp with my two bookends sharing an afternoon ice pop. Not only does this photo represent my oldest and youngest child, but also my tallest and shortest. Mary Elizabeth finds Jason facinating and he thinks she's adorable. All in all a mutual admiration thing.

Take me out to the ball game...

Late in the afternoon yesterday one of the partners in the firm I work for called to say he wasn't going to be able to use his tickets to the Phillies game last night (he has season tickets and when he cannot use his tickets he often gives them away). So, at any rate, last night Kevin and I went out on a date to the Phillies game. The tickets are "Diamond Club" tickets and include preferred parking and enough retail credit on the ticket to sit down in the restaurant area behind the seating section and have dinner, drinks and desert. The picture I took on my phone really does not do justice to how close we were -- we were in the 9th row up. We could see the expression on the batters' faces when the struck out. I am ruined for any other seats in the ballpark, I'm sure. The most ironic thing is, I think these tickets were offered to me two or three times before the first time I took them and sent Kevin and a friend of his as a father's day treat -- THUNK!!!-- he came home and told me how great it was and I couldn't wait to go. We had a really nice time, the date was wonderful and, oh, by the way, the Phils won!!

Girls Rule!!!

These are my two favorite women in the entire world!!! The untold story of the family reunion trip we took last month was that because my father was unable to attend, my mother, my sister and I had two connecting rooms and put all the kids in one room so we "three girls" could have a room. We had fun at the reunion -- but we had a BLAST hanging out together. I miss seeing them both all the time and sharing the day to day stuff.

Meggie is so silly!!!

My sister now lives far away, but for a little over a year, while she was going to school, we shared a house together -- well, she and I and my three older kids and my mom would come up every week for a couple of days because we all worked for the same company and although my mom mostly worked remotely from home, she would make weekly appearances at the office.We had so much fun that year -- not all of it was fun, but all of the things I really remember are fun. We would giggle a lot, and we could laugh at almost any of the everyday things that just seemed to always be happening around our house.

I am starting to have a lot of that same kind of fun with my older girls. It is a nice turning point when you can share things with your mother/sister/daughters and build life time memories together.

Take a nap for goodness sake...

Came accross this article today about the 45 year old man in Japan who worked himself to death http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20080709/Japan.Overwork.Death/

and decided maybe it isn't such a bad thing that Kevin likes to lounge around and take it easy on the few days off he actually takes, after all, the painting in the bedrooms is almost done.

Luckily, most of us here in the United States know the value of a good nap!