Trip North

School is out and we have been busy bees. The day after school let out, we drove to New Jersey with my mom.

We stayed with Aunt Jackie...a much loved long time friend who knew us back when I was just a wee one. The boys enjoy going to the Little Silver playground and the splash park in Monmouth County.

 The next day, I took the boys to Asbury Park. I was on a mission to see where Bruce Springsteen got his start. To their chagrin, I made them pose in front of The Stone Pony. One day they will thank me for this.

 As they played in a playground in the sand (since in NJ you can't go on the real beach unless you pay for it, ugh), I took a selfie with a real camera of myself on the boardwalk. We were very lucky the weather was so cool.

 Then I found heaven itself on the boardwalk. Seriously, I am a pinball fan! When I saw this sign, I knew I needed to come back. Luckily, they let us use their restroom and be on our way because our meter was about to expire. Next time I am in town, I know where I am going!

 We rode the streets of Deal, NJ and looked at the mansions. Eddie got some of the pictures from the back seat. 

 Which one do you prefer? 

 Maybe this one? 

 Or this one?

 Next stop was Red Bank, NJ...home to George Sheehan. What? You don't know who George Sheehan is? This should help you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_A._Sheehan. He was a famous runner and writer whose home was here. Every year, they run the George Sheehan classic. I ran it a couple of times and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 Again the boys indulged me by going to the visitor center where I asked the lady there, "Do you happen to have a memorial plaque or statue for George Sheehan somewhere?" She said, "No, but let me see if I have a poster." She went into the back and brought out not one, but two hats from the 5K race that was there the weekend before!

I made a fool out of myself with gratitude and could not believe we were so lucky to be marching back to Baltimore with these.

Next stop was to our friends, Pam and Rod. Aunt Pammy is Eddie's godmother and my dear friend from college. We lived next door freshman year and I introduced myself to her and Alice by saying, "Hi, we are going to brush our teeth and just wanted to say hi," the very first night of college. Boy, I'm surprised she didn't run with that opening line.

The kids enjoyed playing with each other. Pam has Ellie and Rod and Nate (twins) and she still always has a smile on her face!

 The next day Eddie and Ben and I took the train from Pam and Rod's house in South Orange to NYC! We went to visit Alice, (reference above with the tooth brushing comment...she was Pam's roommate freshman year). Alice's two older kids were in school that day, but she had her sweet baby Sarabeth with her and we headed to Central Park Zoo.  There are usually nothing but giggles when Alice and I get together. 

 We saw the Delacourte clock at the gates. It even has a penguin going round and round along with some other animals. It is quite pretty.

Our entire mission of the Central Park zoo was to see the penguins. They have four species there! We got to see the king!

 The chinstrap! 

And the gentoo! (sorry my photos are lame, it was impossible to get good shots of moving penguins behind this ugly glass they had and I'm too lazy to fiddle with it in iPhoto). Eddie was a kid in a candy shop and had the best time seeing them all. We also got to see them build their nest with stones from the bottom of the water. They were so awesome!

 And the sea lions were pretty cool too! They put on quite a show and even waved to us.

We had a great rest of our stay in NYC and NJ and made it back to Baltimore safe and sound. And we all slept late the next day. All that navigating around took it out of us! Fun times!