Vacation

This past week I've been on vacation with my family.  This time "my family" includes, my mom, Julia, Elton, Evan, Kyle and my Aunt Cheryl from North Carolina.  We've spent the week in Wildwood, NJ.  This was the chosen vacation spot this summer because Julia dances and there was a dance competition here this week.   I guess I should mention that it was Nationals.  From what I understand she and the rest of her dance school (Dance with me by Sisters 3) did really well.  So Congrats to all of them.  Now here's a breakdown of my week starting last Saturday:

Saturday (July 6)

I spent the night at Kyle's on Friday night and then we woke up bright and early (6:00 am) to start our drive.  We got on the road at 7:20 am and arrived in Wildwood 8 hours later with a stop in State College along the way.  Also, Kyle was sick which sucked but he started feeling better the next day. YAY!

Our "arrival" photo

Sunday (July 7) 

We went to the beach.  We were there all day and it was awesome.  

I love the beach.

Monday (July 8)

We also went to the beach.  Julia had to dance.  We went to a restaurant called Dogtooth Bar and Grill.  They had pretty good food.

He was begging to be buried.

Tuesday (July 9)

No beach today.  We went to watch Julia dance in her duet.  They did really well but there was some steep competition.  We went to dinner at a place called Maui's Dog House (featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives) and had some gourmet hot-dogs that were pretty tasty.

Yummy

Wednesday (July 10)

Julia danced her solo and did a beautiful job.  I was so proud of her.  We went to the beach afterwards and then it got chilly and from there the weather went South.

Thursday (July 11)

 The weather was really crappy in the morning.  In the late afternoon we did go out on the boardwalk.  I finally got some seafood and we went and saw Marmoset monkeys that were absolutely adorable.  Kyle won me a Despicable Me minion and I was happy as a clam.

BANANA!

Friday (July 12)

Today is our last day here and it is quite possibly the worst last day at the beach ever.  It has yet to stop raining.  We did have a nice breakfast at Uncle Bill's Pancake House but I think that's as exciting as it's going to get today unless the rain stops.

So I guess I can say that it's been a pretty good vacation, except for the rain.  The rain really sucks.  Tomorrow we'll be heading home and stopping in Hoboken to visit Carlo's Bakery (as seen on Cake Boss on TLC) I'm super excited.  After Hoboken it will be back to State College for Kyle and me because this weekend is Arts Fest. 

Happy Friday!

Things I want to enjoy this Summer

When Summer begins I always make grandiose plans.  I'm going to workout, eat healthier, be more active, go more places, attend more concerts, et cetera, et cetera. I already told myself and blogged about how I was going to workout and all that business and I'll be honest, it might not happen.  But I do have some places I'd like to get to and I would like to make the most of the summer so I'll post this now and at the end of the summer we'll see what happens.

Ohiopyle

Cucumber Falls

I talked about Ohiopyle when I was home for what I thought was only a week and I didn't get to go because it rained all week.  I don't think it will rain all summer and I hope to make it to Ohiopyle several times over the summer with or without my Sadie dog.

Camping

I love to camp.  I should spend more time outdoors seeing as I love it so much but I never do.  The internet and TV are just much more convenient.  I hope to go camping at least once or twice this summer.

Less Tech

The blurb above brings me to "Less Tech".  I'm almost always near a TV, computer, tablet or my cell phone.  I would love to cut down on my usage of all of those things over the summer. I'd like to cut down to about an hour a day on my laptop and an hour a day of TV.  I'm sure my cell phone will still always be on my person but I'd like to cut down on how many times I check Facebook and play how much I play meaningless games like Candy Crush.

The Beach

Now I know I will knock this one out.  My family is going to Wildwood, NJ for my sister's dance competition this summer and I'm also supposed to visit my aunt in North Carolina in August so I know I will get to the beach.

Kennywood

Most of you probably have no idea what Kennywood is.  Well, I'll tell you, it's an amusement park in Pittsburgh, PA.  I've been there about 8 million times and it really hasn't changed too much.  I'll still go every summer though as long as I live in PA.

Emotional Independence

Now this one's a bit more serious, I recently realized that I'm pretty emotionally dependent on the people around me.  I don't think I was always this way so I'd like to work on making me happier which I think is always a good goal.

Books

I love to read and usually I do a good bit of it.  I'd like to find a few new favorite authors this summer so I don't keep limiting myself to Stephen King.  I will always love King and will always be a die hard fan.  One day I will make it to Maine and go to all of the places he describes in his books.  However, I've limited myself the past few years to reading only King books and in all honesty I'm kind of bored so this Summer I'm going to find at least one new person to add to my list of favorite authors.

I think these are pretty manageable goals and I'll be sure to update you all in August.

Happy Thursday!

P.S. Baking is not on this list because I will be baking almost everyday at work.  Whoopee!