September Eve, 94 Degrees

 

 

Hoping that this isn't the final evening we spend on the beach... but it might be. 94 degrees at home equals warm but windy at the beach. Boys happily played in the water, ate a picnic dinner, goofed around with Daddy...

Thinking of all who participated in the Belmar 9/11 remembrance run tonight. And all of those friends and family members who are still grieving. We'll never forget...

September In Asbury Park

Above, we have Jack, Alex, Ollie, Trenton, and Ellie. On the BIG lifeguard chair!

 The boys had a blast climbing up on it and jumping down.

A new playground was built in Asbury at 7th Avenue in honor of both the Sandy victims here in NJ and the Sandy Hook Elementary school victims from CT. It is a beautiful structure that can hopefully be used by locals and neighbors alike. The kids had fun trying out the new slides.

Trenton played with Ellie lots-- he loves that little girl.

 

And then it was time to meet Jim for dinner! At Porta!

We love the atmosphere (both inside and out) and the fresh baked pizzas (although Jim had fantastic octopus, fennel, and capers). Oliver gave us all a song and a dance to the Italian music that was playing... take a look:

 

Oliver Sings In Italian from Sheryl K. on Vimeo.

(Porta = "Door" in Italian... needless to say, there are doors everywhere)

And look what was in the bag tonight! I'm psyched to try out a squash gnocchi recipe with the green baby there on the bottom... and those are special 'low acidic Roma' tomatoes. And beets. And onions. Mmmmmm....

First Day of School, 2013

 Both boys had their first day of school this past Monday. Yes, that's right, school started on Monday, September 9th. Truly one of the longest summers ever...

 

Oliver was thrilled to return to preschool this year. There are twenty kids in his class and he will go three mornings a week. Yay!

When not attending preschool, he can be found creating beautiful paintings in our own backyard ;)

Finally, YES, I had to blog this. Because it is crazy that there is a grammatical error on one of the emergency cards that the entire school (district?!) hands out to parents on the first day. So, of course, when it asks me to "Please verify that all information on this form is correct", I can't honestly do so, now can I? ;)

Tices Shoal

Tices Shoal is the name of the area in the Barnegat Bay, just east of Forked River, where our friends, the Livingstons, have a boat. Each year we are excited to spend a day out on it with them and their kids. And we're always happy to have great weather!

Above, Kendall and Oliver 'sunbathe'.

 

 The old boat suffered some pretty bad electrical damage during Hurricane Sandy... so this is a new one! The boys enjoyed hanging out down in the cabin (three beds!) and playing on the new kayaks.

The water was beautiful-- clear and relatively calm. There were very few clams, however. When we walked across the bay and over to Island Beach State Park, we saw new piers that had been built, and more crystal clear ocean water on the other side. 

 

 Rodney and Jim talk running and share a few beers.

 Afterwards, five kids squeezed into a little table to eat a delicious dinner. Many thanks to our friends! Great conversation, great memories :)

And THIS is the nice gash that I got on my Achilles from some dock-wood that was still sunk in the sand in the bay... This is after I cleaned it up, but it sure bled for a long time. Trenton got a nice gash on his foot, too. But the risks were well worth it!

Nora's Fourth Birthday

 

  

 A very happy fourth birthday to Nora! We were happy to drive down to MD for the day to be part of the celebration. With a Monster's University theme and a Mike W. cake, the whole party was definitely a fun one. Below, Zak created a watermelon smoothie... by mixing up the fruit within the rind!

The kids were amazed. He used a bent hanger and attached it to his power tool... The kids loved it!

Blue Skies

 Awesome day in Avon with friends. Dare I say it, but might be the last 'beach day' of the summer.

Love the fact that it looks like a tiny woman is walking on my head.

 Beach totally tuckers this little man out.

 An evening in Belmar, celebrating Grandma K's birthday.

 
A trip to Point Pleasant with friends revealed this gigantic crater in the sand at Dresden's Beach. Folks said that lifeguards had dug it out the day before. Boys had a blast playing in it. Mommies got to chat while kids were entertained :)

Labor Day With the Lacinas

Today we spent some time celebrating the combined birthdays of three of my cousins: Evan, Grace, and Jack (all in the back). It is always nice when we can get the family together, especially my other cousin Robyn's boys (Anthony and Nick, in the front here).

Jack and Grace are the proud owners of a brand new boxer puppy, Lucy. The boys couldn't get enough of touching her. 

Most Lacina parties have some kind of lawn game involved. Before it started raining, lots of family participated in a volleyball game.

Below is a picture of my dad and his six siblings--- haven't taken one of the whole family like this in awhile. Everyone is getting older, but, for the most part, is in very good health.