Stardate 63763.70 - Sailing to Staten Island

The Atlantic Highlands Yacht Club (of which we are members) held a cruise up to Great Kills Harbor, Staten Island from the club's headquarters in Atlantic Highlands, NJ a few weekends ago. We (unfortunately!) do not currently own a boat, but Cheryl decided to be New York pushy and sent an e-mail out to the cruise director to see if anyone would be brave enough to take the two of us and Loren and Kate with them. Joe and Patti of Ocean Cowgirl were kind enough to invite us aboard their Catalina 34 for the overnight trip, and we gratefully accepted.

We had no wind on Saturday so we motored the entire way there. After drinks and dinner ashore, we returned to the boat for the evening. The next morning was calm and gorgeous. The girls even slept in a bit.




We then went to the Staten Island Zoo as a group. The Zoo was pretty small, but it had an excellent petting area (which is where Loren spent most of the time).







We returned to the boat and winds were favorable for our return sail.



Loren cannot resist being in charge, and here "Captain" Loren briefly takes the wheel.



Our hosts were fantastic, and we had a wonderful time. Here Joe sails us back.


This is the type of sailing I enjoy - a day sail or weekend get-away. The AHYC has tremendous opportunities of this type, and in fact I have canceled my Manhattan Sailing Club membership in order to focus on the Atlantic Highland Yacht Club.

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Stardate 63745.98 - Sandy Hook

It has been a while since I put a post up. Way back on the 13th we took a drive over to Sandy Hook, figuring that the traffic would be light post-Labor Day. We were surprised by an extremely long line of cars trying to get off of the Hook while we were entering. Turns out there was a triathlon or something that morning and the traffic was all the participants and spectators leaving. Luckily they were cleared out by the time we left, later that afternoon.






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Stardate 63684.49 - First Day of Ballet

We were too late to sign up for the swim class we wanted for the fall, so we asked Loren what other things she might be interested in taking. And so we ended up with Ballet. Here she poses in her outfit that she proudly announced to the other two girls in the class (who were wearing the exact same outfit), "We got it on sale at Target!"

Loren did really well, both in listening to the teacher and in doing the 3 basic moves of which the first class consisted. She seems to be pretty excited about it, so I'm hoping she keeps up the same level of enthusiasm and effort. There is one girl in the class who is pretty disruptive and inattentive (and older!) and I hope she doesn't become a bad influence on Loren. I'm not too worried, however, as at least once during the class Loren shook her finger at the girl and chastised her for disobeying one of the class rules. Loren will probably grow up to be a Paladin (Edition 3.5, of course).

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Sprayground

Loren, Kate and I got an early start to our Labor Day weekend. I took the day off and relaxed at the beach house with the girls in the morning. Funny that on her day off from (pre)school, what Loren mostly wanted to play was...school. After lunch, we headed inland to check out Dorbrook Recreation Area in Colts Neck. They have a terrific playground and a sprayground. Even Kate got in on the action. She has been pulling up to standing for a couple of weeks now. She's also crawling all over the place. Time to seriously babyproof...




From the park we headed over to my parents' place to have dinner with my Aunt Bev, Uncle Chris, and cousin Jaclyn, all visiting from Ohio. They'll be coming to Highlands for a visit tomorrow.

Stardate 63631.33 - Reality

During vacation Loren and Aunt Jen and I had the following conversation:

Me: Loren, tomorrow Uncle Andy and Aunt Jen have to go back home to Virginia.

Loren: Why?

Me: Because they have to go back to work.

Jen: Back to reality!

Loren: Reality is a long way from New Jersey.

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Stardate 63628.23 - Highlands Clamfest

We went to our first Highlands Clamfest a couple of weekends ago. Very convenient since it was just right up the street from our beach house.





Loren enjoyed the rides.








She also spent some time pushing Kate in the swing.




Then it started to look like rain, so Loren used her last tickets on the Castle.



And the very last thing we did was to ride on the firetruck!


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Stardate 63615.7 - Loren Ride the Fire Truck

Here is a short video of Loren getting a ride on the fire truck at the Highlands Clamfest.

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Stardate 63615.7 - End of Vacation

Here are the last few photos from our vacation. First, Loren and Kate play together building a robot, according to Loren.



And here Loren gives Kate a piggy-back ride (with a little assistance from Daddy!).


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Stardate 63609.91 - Keansburg Amusement Park

Vacation pictures continue. Here are some posed shots at Cheryl's parents' place before everyone started returning home.





Once people started returning home we still had several days of vacation left, so we took one day and went to Keansburg Amusement Park. Loren loved the rides!!









And Kate enjoyed watching Loren, and being pushed around. But mostly she wanted to be held. It was a hot day, and we ended up spending a lot more time there than I thought we would.

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