Cloudy with a Chance of a Money Pit

Me: Knock. Knock.
Ali: Who's there?
Me: Amos.
Ali: Amos who?
Me: Amos-Quito!
Ali: [turns. leaves the room]

Frick and Frack, the previous home owners, made many a ding-dong decision. One of the dingiest-dongs was the addition (and eventual loss of interest) of a garden pond. Honest question, what was your reaction when you read the previous sentence?

Oh, garden pond. Where for art though purpose?

One thing was obvious: that swamp station, mosquito haven, zombie lair needed to go. The years and years of accumulated rain, leaves, mud, animals (unverified), potted plants, branches and rocks totaled 1,357 cubic feet of sludge. For reference, a gallon of water weighs 8.34 lbs. In total, I hauled 11,317 lbs of yack-inducing chuck toss. Blah.

I eventually reached the bottom of the 3' beast. Then the fill dirt arrived, clouds parted and the Red Sox ripped towards their 4th World Series Championship in 14 years.

From there on, it was mostly smooth sailing. Kinsley and Alex had a blast playing on the mountain of dirt and going for rides in the cart. As we entered the second half of Fall, the garden pool was full and Alex posed for one more picture. For some reason, he thought it was hilarious to lay on the ground like this.

I sure am happy to cross this project off the list. Makes me sleep a little bit better knowing there's no pond in the yard. I think I'm shorter than before I started the project. And I'm glad I didn't find a body while dredging nasty nast. Take that, Frick/Frack!

It's Pronounced [loo-is], Y'all

We've had difficulty finding time for a vacation this year. We've cancelled, rescheduled (twice) and also shortened. Total downer. Makes me wonder, what's the longest a family has gone without a vacation? To the best of my knowledge, we never had a summer without a vacation when I was growing up. Ocean City, Deep Creek Lake, Rehoboth Beach, Outer Banks. Most years we'd team-up with aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. Other years we'd bring a friend.

I have a greater appreciation for it all now. Good thing Ali's driving this ship. :-) To Lewes we go!

This was the first time Kinsley was old enough to play at the beach. She went head first into the sand fun but was understandably apprehensive about the water. It is October, after all.

Alex must have been feeling more adventurous: he was living it up in the water. All he needed was a shovel and bucket. After that, he was good to go. Eventually Kinsley's curiosity got the better of her and we ventured into the water together. She and I went in far enough that I could let her sit on my knee. The water was cold but she didn't mind; she blew bubbles and even splashed some waves over towards her mom and brother.

The highlight of Alex's trip was the Pirate Cruise. They really do a great job engaging the kiddos in pirate adventure. He's been keeping an extra close eye on his bounty but I'm willing to bet that his favorite part was defending the ship via water cannon during the pirate attack.

We lucked-out because there were only a few kids on the cruise. It gave us plenty of room to play and explore. 

While the kids are goin' bananas for beaches and the pirate life, Ali and I are judging a 4-day battle of the baristas. We tried a couple different coffees each morning in search of Lewes's best cup of joe. From Station of Kings to some other place that I don't recall, we both agreed that the First Cup bean at the Bake Shoppe was tops. Bake Shoppe's losing points for other things but they emerge victorious in Battle O' Coffee 2018!

One of the things that keeps us coming back to Lewes are our wonderful Aunt and Uncle. Google seems to think my Aunt/Uncle are Alex & Kinsley's great Aunt/Uncle but that makes my head hurt. So how's about we roll with Grand Aunt/Uncle? Either way, they make us feel welcome even when our circus-on-wheels is in tow!