San Diego Trip, Day 1

 Hello from sunny San Diego! Check out this view of the marina from our hotel!

 Jim had a conference in SD to attend and he also had scored with an airline credit... so we used that to buy my ticket and chill in California for a few days. After the insane fall that we had in NJ, it was a welcome respite. Many thanks to our parents for watching the boys for a few days, so that we could get away solo.

 The hotel that we stayed at was the Marriott Marquis and Marina, located right at the water's edge in San Diego. Across the water there you can see the island of Coronado and the beginning of a magnificent sunset.
Leading up to the trip, we kept checking the weather, which called for cloudy skies the entire time we'd be there. After complaining about this for hours, Jim finally forbade me from making any further comments. So I did. But let me tell you, that was a long-ass flight to get out here, and I was not a happy camper knowing that I'd be sitting in the cloudy cold.

Look at those crazy trees. So tall, yet so little shade.

  First trip out was to eat. We'd caught an early flight and by the time we arrived, it was lunchtime Pacific time, but dinnertime for us. So we were famished. Luckily, Jim had done his research and found some fantastic spots for us to fill our bellies.

 That's my special pumpkin drink that I enjoyed at Grant Hotel Bar. Apparently, it was featured on the Food Network. It was very, very good, but had too much of the holiday spice in it. I drank it anyway. :) We also had truffle fries, as an appetizer.
Then we headed over to Extraordinary Desserts. Check out the cases that you literally walk into as you enter the place:

 Dang, kids! Eat some dinner first!
And we did. Jim had a cheese plate and I enjoyed half a paninni. We got a chocolate dessert to go and ended up eating it for an early breakfast the next day.

We hit the sack pretty early, because we were exhausted.

Our Four Year Old Oliver

 Here's the obligatory photo of Oliver in his Monmouth t-shirt.
Every year we take one (or three) to document his growth.
His smile gets bigger and bigger ;)

 A friend got him a pirate ship-shaped birdhouse for his birthday. We painted it the other morning before placing it outside on the fence.

Very colorful, no?
I love doing little projects with my buddy. He had a great time telling me which flag needed to be painted which color... and made sure to include all of our initials around the outside of the ship.
It is questionable if a real bird will actually take up residence, but I will post if this does happen.

Destruction

So, where did we last leave off...

Ah yes, a Nor'easter. Massive snowstorm in the beginning of November, dumping wet, heavy snow on trees that were still full of leaves... and causing them to crack and break. 

These pictures were taken of trees outside the former home of my best friend from high school, in North Brunswick. After the power went out (yet again) in our town, we packed up and headed out there to stay with my parents. When I passed this, though, I just had to take some pictures.

 Above, Oliver with his adopted bear-friend. He insisted that we set a place at the table for "Beary" and put the jar of honey in front of him. Because, you know Mom, bears eat honey.

 So get this! North Brunswick further postponed their Halloween Trick-or-Treating until Friday of last week. Therefore, the kids got to go candy-searching yet another night in November! Mom had some dress-up clothes at her place for them and she thoroughly enjoyed taking them around to the neighbors's houses and showing them off.
In an exhausted lapse of parenting, I somehow told the boys they could eat whatever and as much as they wanted that night.
I give up. ;)

 *****
My goal today was to head back out to the shore and see if/where we could help out.
But the boys BEGGED to go to the park. So we did.
This is what we found in the middle of the basketball court at Curtis Park in Manasquan:

 Now THAT'S a huge-honkin' tree. Probably over a hundred years old, right?

The boys were relatively sturdy on the thing. 

 And look at the other side!
This is EXACTLY what all of the trees in Jersey look like-- roots, but not extensively long... holes, but not incredibly deep. Almost like someone ripped them straight out of the ground and then plopped them over on their sides...

We arrived at the UMC church in Manasquan to help out, but were told that they had enough volunteers to serve dinner that night. Oliver and I signed up to return Wednesday morning. We left to see if we could help out in Belmar again.
A detour there took us past this:

The Atlantic Ocean is just to the right of those massive piles of sand.

I drove as close as I could to the boardwalk. We were right at the Belmar/Spring Lake town line. Folks, I feel like I was JUST THERE, walking Oliver up and down the boardwalk in the stroller, getting him to fall asleep for a nap. September and October have the best late-summer days for doing that on warm afternoons.

Now we have this. As Trenton later described it to Jim on the phone "The boardwalk was all ripped up. Just piles of wood."
 
I had to leave before one of us started crying.

Turns out that the rec center in Belmar closed kinda early... they want people to go home by dark, which is around 5 PM these days.
We took a quick walk down the block to see how Strollo's did... and as you can see, they seem OK! A bit of the awning is ripped. But they are closed for the season...

Drawbridge between Avon and Belmar is still out. Lotsa folks detouring around it.

I did get a chance to talk with a good friend who lives in Point Pleasant today. Basically, she is staying positive despite the enormous amount of stress that she is under. Staying with any friend that has a free room, her and her three kids. Trying to apply for help from FEMA... decide how she will clean up and fix up her house... living out of her car for now... excited that she found a salvageable pair of good jeans in her home when she was allowed to return and check out the damage... There are still many, many people like her out here on the Jersey Shore that need our help. For those of you who are reading this, please don't forget about them. Please keep the donations and prayers coming.

Although many of us emerged from these storms without major damage, quite a few others have had their worlds turned upside down. My heart breaks for them, but is hopeful for the shore moving forward. I'm happy to hear that the recently closed Fort Monmouth will be open and able to accommodate between  400 & 600 families. Shore towns that look to rebuild can and should look into ways to help create a healthy barrier between the shore and the residential areas, and perhaps more homes will be built to withstand these types of storms (as they are in Florida).  As Chris Christie has said "We're not closing down the Jersey Shore. We're just going to make it safer."

November's Nor'easter

 What's that you say?
Just live through the toughest hurricane in a century and now get ready for a Nor'easter?
OK.
We can do that.
ARUGHHHH!!!!
Monday was still powerless for many in our town and Tuesday was Election Day. On Wednesday, Trenton returned to school for the first time in over a week, and when he came home, there was THIS: 

 

By 9:30, the power was out.

AGAIN!

Allowed us to take some pretty fantastic photos of the front yard, though.

 (You can tell who has a generator on our block...)

 Now, check out our tree. As you know, I've had it pruned recently, and then the thing made it through Hurricane Sandy and only lost one large limb. But this? This was just too much. This wet, heavy snow just did a number on the trees everywhere. Because there are still so many leaves stuck on them, we ended up hearing cracks and crashes all night long. I couldn't stand it anymore, and eventually went outside and smacked the heck out of the leaves with my snow shovel in an attempt to clear off the branches and give the tree a fighting chance.

 

 Same tree the next morning.

 Suffice it to say that I believe this Nor'easter did just as much tree damage (if not more) to our area as Hurricane Sandy did.
And I'm not pleased.
Neither is he:

 He's like "WTF? Did I just witness Jim using a lawnmower, a rake, and a snow shovel all within a month's time?"
Um, yes, you did.

 Our refrigerator. Again. A bit more efficient than last week.

 

 But hey-- it was a snow day for the kids! Better play in it before it all melts! And puddles up all over the streets because the drains are clogged with leaves from the storm last week!

 Snowball fights. Below, with Alex.

The kids had a great time sledding down the hill in Alex & Ellie's backyard. Only problem was that we didn't have a dryer to put the wet stuff in once we got home...
When I realized that the weather report was calling for 20degree temps for tonight, and that none of our friends in town had power either, Jim and I made the call to pack up and ship out. We'll be staying at my parents' house for a bit, warming up.
I'm done with this nonsense. Go back to being a normal November, please.

Election Day, 2012... & Belmar Relief Effort

 The boys were definitely interested in the election this year. We listen to the radio often, and talk about the names that we hear and the roles that politicians play. They were eager to head out to the polls and help cast our votes. Above, Oliver hits the 'vote' button. Below, Trenton expresses his excitement!

 We were very happy to have POWER back so that we could sit on the couch, with our laptop, phones, and iPad, and 'watch' the returns. It is amazing how you can follow live blogs, Twitter feeds, Facebook posts, live audio (from NPR), AND watch the coverage on TV.
Like many others, we were very surprised that the media called the election for Obama before midnight! Although Jim and I tried to stay awake and watch the speeches delivered by Obama and Romney, we both fell asleep...and woke up at 2:15 to see the highlights. Ha!
Next day, both boys show their approval for the next president of the United States:

 *****

 My mind has been on the shore for days now. I went around the house and bagged up all the stuff I thought we could donate: food, sheets, laundry detergent, personal products, old books, toys, etc... After my dentist appointment Wednesday morning (Trenton's only school day this week), Oliver and I headed out to the Belmar Arts Center, where they were accepting donations. In the rain, we ran the bags into this little building. The ladies there attempted to sort it a bit, then fill tubs with items into a truck, then drive them over to the Rec Center for distribution.

 I fed Oliver lunch there and worked to help ladies who were passing out all kinds of baby-related items. Volunteers I met included an out-of-work Freehold teacher and a woman who drove from Union County "just because" she wanted to help.

Oliver brought a smile to the faces of many volunteers.

 We sorted toothbrushes into this box. I had to take a picture when I saw what someone had written on this bag-- "Jersey Strong".
I was told that there is a strong need for 'shelf milk' and children's medicine. They have so many other donations... Once the locals are able to clean up their homes they will truly be able to take many of these items back with them.

 The best little volunteer in Jersey... helping out in one of our favorite beach towns.
Check out the video at the end. Oliver was interviewed on NJ Today. I'm so proud of him :)

Oliver is on around 1:50 in this video clip

Watch Seaside Communities Hit By Sandy Prepare for Nor'easter on PBS. See more from NJToday.