My Life Abroad: July 2006

Monday, July 31, 2006

Monday, July 31 Chuck E. Cheese's

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Sunday, July 30

Bradley Beach

Actually, I wanted to go to the beach together with Elisabeth and Lisa today, but since Elis didn’t have off (they had switched the days and so she had to work today) and I couldn’t reach Lisa on her cell phone, I decided to go alone. I left quite late, around noon, so I had some trouble finding a parking space. Once arrived at the beach, I almost couldn’t believe my eyes -- there were so many people that I thought I had missed a special event or something. However, luckily I could find a tiny empty spot right next to the ocean where I could spread out my blanket and my beach towel. And then, I just spent the day relaxing, reading my book and refreshing myself every once in a while in the ocean. : )

Unfortunately, I had forgotten my camera today, so I couldn't take any pictures. I wanted to take a picture of the beach house, but I will have to do that next time when I go to the beach.

Friday, Saturday -- July 28, 29 Beach Club

On Friday in the morning I went to the gym again and decided to talk to the guys there again about everything. Good news! Apparently, I don’t have to pay anything this summer for my membership and can just go to WOW whenever I want to; I won’t get my money back, though, but at least I don’t have to pay anything for August and that’s just great! I have to admit that it was my own fault that they kept charging me last year, since I didn’t read the contract carefully enough and just put my initials somewhere. Later I saw that I would have needed to cancel my membership 90 days before leaving WOW, so it was a stupid mistake of myself, but I had the 3 kids with me the day when I signed the contract and was a bit in a rush. I also tried to explain that to the customer service lady, but she didn’t understand that. But anyway, at least I don’t have to pay for August now, hopefully. (There are still some people at the gym who would want me to pay (but this is partly because of jealousy, I think…). However, this is another story…)

In the afternoon, we went to Sea Bright which is about 30 minutes from Tinton Falls. Our neighbors are members of the beach club there and this weekend there was a special event. The members and their friends could stay over night and camp on the beach. Sharon wanted to show me the way to Sea Bright, since I had to go there on my own in the evening, and we also had to get the tickets for the evening. We passed a town called Rumson that is just amazing. There are a lot of rich people who live in Rumson and the villas that we passed were just breathtaking. I wanted to take some pics of them, but that was a bit hard, since most of them are a bit hidden. Bruce Springsteen is also said to own a villa there; additionally, he owns one in Colts Neck that is just 10 minutes from Tinton Falls....

Once we had passed Rumson and its beautiful houses, we arrived in Sea Bright where Sharon bought the tickets. Then we went back to Tinton Falls again and made ourselves ready. Sharon didn’t come with us in the evening, since she had some of her old Boston college friends from New York, Connecticut and Louisiana in town. (On Saturday, the even went to a Bon Jovi concert…) So it was Kevin, the kids and me who went to the beach club in Sea Bright in the evening. I had never been to a beach club before, but I really liked it there. There are a lot of those small cabanas that are equipped with a tiny kitchenette, shower and one spot to sleep; they are really small, but they suffice for one family. It’s just great that the ocean and a big pool and a pool for smaller kids are nearby. I think that being members in such a beach club is really good, since you can always meet your friends there and go to the beach, to the pool, etc., it’s just a bit expensive, though. One membership for one family costs about $ 12.000 ,-- a summer which is a lot. However, we had really a lot of fun that evening. The kids enjoyed their time in the pool, then we had hot dogs, burgers, brownies, etc. Kevin stayed with Conor over night, but I went back to Tinton Falls with the little ones. Riley was a bit scared and didn’t want to stay there, so I had 3 kids in the car; namely, Riley, Finn and our 2-year-old neighbor girl who I dropped off at her mom’s cousin.

On Saturday in the morning, I went to the beach club again with Riley and Finn and we spent the whole morning at the pool there. In the early afternoon, we decided to go back to Tinton Falls where I had the rest of my afternoon off. So I spent the time on our patio reading… I even fell asleep for a couple of hours. : ) As I have already mentioned, in the evening Sharon went to the Bon Jovi concert with her friends. Kevin ordered some pizzas from Domino’s again and later, we had another “movie night” on the patio and watched “The Incredibles”. Lisa, Angie’s babysitter, who watched 2 other neighbor girls that night, also came over and joined us with the girls. Angie and Elis also came over for some time and we enjoyed the evening.

Friday pics

Me, Lisa, Kaitlin/ Kaitlin and Angie

Tom, Finn, Angie, Kaitlin Lisa, Carlo (Lisa's boyfriend) and Kaitlin

Saturday pics

Carlo and Conor/ The beach cabanas

Thursday, July 27

At the O'Connors' pool

In the morning, I finally called the WOW (Work Out World -- my gym) customer service to ask them to reimburse me. Unfortunately, I wasn’t very successful. Although I explained that lady on the other end of the line in all details the whole story, I was not lucky. She remained very friendly, though, and had such a friendly voice that I was even forced to say “Thank you” in the end, although I knew that they wouldn’t reimburse me.

Sharon had some appointments again, so I decided to go to Elisabeth and the O’Connors’ pool with the kids. The kids just loved it there. After a while, Sharon also joined us and she later went back home with the kids. I spent some more time at the pool with Elis. It was a wonderful day again, very hot, though; the beginning of another heat wave; but we didn’t mind the heat, since we could jump into the pool to refresh ourselves : )

In the evening, Kevin and Sharon went out for dinner and I watched the kids. In the late evening, there was a thunderstorm and the kids were a bit afraid, especially Finn who didn’t want to sleep. At 11, he finally fell asleep.

Wednesday, July 26

Bradley Beach

I spent the day at Bradley Beach with the kids -- it was the first time that I went with all 3 of them to the beach, but it was no problem at all. I think the kids had a lot of fun digging holes and looking for crabs again. We also met out neighbors from the Bradley Beach house, Bud and his daughter CC and Conor and Riley really enjoyed the day together with them.

Tuesday , July 25

Monmouth Museum

Pat, Sharon’s mom, came over and we went to the Monmouth Museum with the kids. After the museum, we stopped at the ice cream parlor, since it was such a hot and humid day again and everybody was craving for something cold. In the evening, I cooked dinner. Sharon showed me how the grill works and we had some chicken, corn on the cob, potatoes and the kids got cheeseburgers.

July 23, 24

Atlantic City

FUN FUN FUN!!! : )

Finally, I managed to upload some pics of our trip to Atlantic City where we celebrated Caitlin’s (Chris’ girlfriend) 21st birthday. I can tell you, guys, these 2 days were fantastic...

We could finally party again and had FUN FUN FUN by meeting a bunch of new people, gambling in the hotel casino, drinking, relaxing at the beach,…! Everything started already in the limousine that dropped us off directly at our luxury hotel - the Tropicana…

Take a look at just some of the many, many pics I took and get an impression of AC!

Thanks again, Caitlin and Chris, for inviting us to this special event. : )

Me, Elis, Ryan, Gerard, Caitlin, Chris