broadkill beach babes babble AT REHOBOTH BEACH

Virtual Tour

2010-11-11T08:47:00.000-05:00

Virtual Tour

REAL ESTATE PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

2010-04-27T08:30:00.003-04:00

REAL ESTATE PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

2009-12-09T10:20:00.008-05:00

BRADEN'S 3RD BIRTHDAY

2009-05-14T14:30:00.011-04:00

Braden celebrated his 3rd birthday on May 6. The whole family was there to wish his a happy day. The theme of the party was "Batman"--even though everyone knew this but us! There were lots of Batman toys. We got him a riding motorcycle which he loved. So did Andrew and Kai!

When you look at the slide show of the party, pay particular attention to the pictures of us trying to get all four boys posed for a group shot! We were not very successful!!!

VISITS

2009-05-13T09:40:00.002-04:00

Spring and Mothers' Day go together. After many days of rain and dreary weather here, we had a wonderful weekend. Casey came down to celebrate with us and as a little vacation for herself--to be away from the boys for a short while. We had a wonderful time. We hit the beach, we shopped, we ate at a new restaurant, and we all slept in on Sunday. How lucky I am, as a mother, to have such a loving daughter! She is more precious to me as each year passes by. For those of you who still have teenage daughters, there is light at the end of the tunnel! We get smarter and more acceptable as we get older!

The new restaurant we tried was Fins on Rehoboth Avenue. Crab cakes, blackened Mahi Mahi, steamed shrimp, spring rolls, crab dip, and martinis were all excellent.

We love having our family visit us. Our house is always open to them. So far, the boys really enjoy our new place. The best thing , I think, for them is that they can play hide and seek forever in our bigger house!

Our pool opens this weekend, and we can't wait to try it out.

We're still waiting for our first friend to visit us. Even though we have put out many invitations, no one has taken us up on it. Come on, guys! We'd love to see you!

ANDREW

2009-05-13T09:36:00.003-04:00

KAI EASTER 09

2009-04-17T12:29:00.000-04:00

EASTER

2009-04-17T10:39:00.002-04:00

We were happy to celebrate Easter here in Rehoboth with no actual plans except to go to church. At the last minute, Michelle decided to come down with Kai. Our spiritual day was wonderful--we celebrated our Lord's resurrection at our church--Epworth Methodist--and celebrated the Easter Bunny with Kai as he searched all over our 4-story house for his eggs and candy. The Easter Bunny also visited us. We had eggs under our pillows!

We all walked downtown with Gracee in the afternoon. There were many people who came into town to celebrate Easter and for the start of spring breaks. It was chilly when we felt the wind but, basically, it was really nice, sunny, and it definitely felt like spring.

A LIFE UPDATE

2009-04-08T10:12:00.004-04:00

We are settled into our new house--almost. At first glance you'd think we were completely done with it, but this is not the case! We still have boxes to open and half our storage unit to clean out and things from our dome to bring down. We now know our church is having a yard sale, so our goal is to put some of our things into it.

For those of you who don't know, our beloved dome has been rented. This meant we had to move EVERYTHING out of it. So we had to rent a truck and pack up what we could. Thankfully, our good friend, Cliff, was there to help. He also came back out after we left to take out the rest of the things and to clean out our shed. He and his family are finding places for it all! Thank God for good friends like Cliff and Sharon. Thanks, you guys!

We wished we had another good friend like Cliff down here. Without such a person, we had to move everything ourselves. Our one male friend was busy when we needed him. Too bad Bob and Coz weren't in town! Now, for those of you who don't know---our new home is four stories. The first floor has a closet, small laundry area, and the guest bedroom and bath. The second floor is the living area. The third floor is the master bedroom and a guest/boys' bedroom. The fourth floor is the family room. So the biggest challenge we met was our mattress. It is queen size and extra thick. What a hard job!

Our new house is exactly one mile from the boardwalk. The stores and restaurants on Rehoboth Avenue start about two blocks from our house. It is an ideal place to live. We truly hope that some of you come down to experience it with us.

Our new address is: 22 Canal Landing Court, Rehoboth Beach, DE, 19971

WE ARE IN OUR NEW HOUSE!

2009-03-14T17:07:00.002-04:00

We've spent three nights in our new townhouse here in Rehoboth and are slowly finding our way around it. We certainly enjoy our new location. Gracee hasn't made up her mind yet!

For all our friends, our new address is:

22 Canal Landing Court
Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971

Pictures later.

Visitors Welcome!!!!!

THE EAGLES ACADEMY

2009-03-06T10:25:00.002-05:00

Recently we had a great experience. We went to the Philadelphia Eagles Academy for women. It was right at the NovaCare complex and approximately 300 women participated over two days. Our session was on Sunday and it ran from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The NovaCare complex is very cool with lots of pictures of past and current players featured.

We had a group meeting in their auditorium first and John Spadero spoke to us about current happenings in the Eagles camp. We saw a movie featuring my favorite, Tommy McDonald, and another movie about Chuck Bednarik. After that we broke up into small groups. Our group had classroom teaching first. We had a class on "offense" taught by ex player Cecil Martin, and we had a class on "defense" taught by ex player, Gary Cobb. These were actually run like the players' sessions. We had film and we had white board instruction. We all learned a lot. There were lots of questions asked by all of us. We also had a talk with an ex official, Jim Kearny. Then we toured the weight room and the locker room. The locker room tour was so interesting. Each player has a cubicle with his name on top, a mailbox, chair, and a tape cutter. From there the players "decorate" to their taste. All had clothes hanging up--some had many, many shirts--some very few. They all had shoes on the floor. Again, some had many, many of them. It seemed like all the men had a lot of skin care products. We were amazed by Brian Dawkins' locker because he had many super heroes decorating the top. He also had wonderful photos of his kids. The press conference area was right in the locker room. We had a mock interview where two women had to pretend they were Andy Reid. Emily volunteer to be one of these women. The PR person was there to explain how he prepares players and coaches for the press's questions. It is the organization's plan to defuse blame away from the players. There won't be any Mike Ditkas in the Eagles organization! We'll post pictures soon, and you'll see some of these lockers. The photos won't be as good as we'd like since we only used our small camera.

We ate lunch in the Eagles dining room. They have chefs who work there fulltime. It is buffet style. They have a huge variety of foods at every meal. We loved everything we tried.

Our second session was in their indoor practice facility which is across the parking lot from the NovaCare. It is huge and the turf is very soft. We had four groups in here. We tried field goals (disastrous for us all); we ran an obstacle course which at the end we had to catch a ball and jump through two dummies and into a big cusioned mat; we ran pass routes; and we had a throwing drill. Our instructor was Brent Celek. He is a receiver who came into his prime during the playoffs. I think he caught more passes than any other player in the playoffs. He is so young. Tall and gangly and cute. The women were going "gaga" over him and asked him if he was "boxers or briefs". He told us he was a "boxer brief" guy.

We had a group picture taken in there and we'll all get a copy. At the end we got gift bags which included an autographed ball and a jersey scarf (made like Eagles football jersey).

We came away excited and thrilled to have participated and we definitely learned and will go back next year.

ICE ON THE DUNES

2009-03-03T21:41:00.000-05:00

ICE ON THE DUNES

2009-03-03T21:40:00.000-05:00

CONSTRUCTION ON R.B. BOARDWALK

2009-03-03T21:39:00.000-05:00

SNOW ON REHOBOTH BEACH BOARDWALK

2009-03-03T21:36:00.000-05:00

WINTER SOCCER MARCH 09

2009-03-02T22:26:00.007-05:00

Kai and Braden joined soccer for the first time this session. For Andrew, this is his second session. They had their first practice in the gym at the YMCA in Ridley this past Saturday. What fun. It is wonderful to see the boys grow, mature, and begin new adventures in their lives.

BROADKILL BEACH SNOW MARCH 09

2009-03-02T21:32:00.003-05:00

Once again we felt the power of old mother nature as she showed us who was boss. We had what amounted to as a nor'easter last night into this morning. We only ended up here with about three inches of snow. But we also got plenty of ice and strong winds.

P woke up in the middle of the night hearing the powerful wind and realized that the power had gone off too. She got up and gathered candles and flashlights. Then she noticed things in the driveway. She decided to go out to check out the beach and to see what the things in the driveway were. The things were snowballs made by the winds. In our slideshow to the right, you'll see Braden checking one of these things out. They were still out there this afternoon when we went outside. The water on the beach was up to the steps. She decided to stay up and keep an eye on things and, at one time, considered waking me and going into town to get off the Broadkill. She was very worried with things. Items were blowing around, heavy items. It seemed to her to be worse that it was in our first nor'easter in May of 08. She, eventually, went back to bed. I slept through it all.

This morning Braden got us awake around 7 and the wind was still howling and it was still snowing. It was too cold to take Braden out then, so we waited til after lunch. As you can see from the slide show, it was still cold and windy and icy. Our mini van was frozen on the bay side and the tires appear to be iced to the carport. Ice is under all the snow. Our side door was frozen shut too. No damage appears to have been done.

Life is never dull here on the Broadkill! We never thought we'd see this much snow living the "beach life".

FEBRUARY

2009-02-20T15:38:00.002-05:00

February, as usual, has been cold and dreary--even here at the beach. We did have a couple spring like days as if to remind us of what is to come soon. But, we've also had snow, wind, and cold temps.

We visited our home in Montoursville for one week. As usual, we fell in love with it once again. Oh, how we wish we could keep this property and still afford living down here. But, for now, we have decided to try to rent it. We have high hopes that the real estate market down here will recover soon and we'll make so much money we'll be able to keep that property and buy one down here too! Yes, we believe in the power of positive thinking!!!! Whatever will happen, God has us in his hands and we'll go with what He wants for us.

While we were in Montoursville, we got to visit old friends. With Bon we took a drive to Sullivan County. We drove through Loyalsock State Park. You'll see a picture of a frozen water fall in this park. We also drove to Forksville and visited the General Store there. We have a picture of the front of the store in the slide show and a view from the openings in the covered bridge beside the store. It is unique because the man who now owns the store is from South Philly. He moved in with his family about 8 years ago. His kids, at first, hated the change. We talked to one of his daughters, and she now loves it in the mountains and works for her dad in the store. In the back of the store is a small restaurant. On some nights the owner performs with his saxophone. It must be a good act because you now need reservations to get in. The other piece of Philly in this place is that they had Amoroso rolls and true Philly cheesesteaks and hoagies. After the Forksville visit, we went to Eagles Mere. The fire company there sponsors a toboggan ride during the winters. They chop pieces of ice from the lake and form it into blocks and stack them and arrange them down a big hill. It has sides and they rent the tobbagans for a fund raiser and you can slide down their ice ramp and you end on the lake. They weren't open when we were there, so we decided to go back two days later. As is turned out, we were both sick so could not play! You'll see pictures of the slide on the slide show on the right.

We joined Epworth-Rehoboth United Methodist Church which is right outside Rehoboth. It used to be in town one half block from the beach, but they outgrew the facility and built on this site and moved in about one year ago. It's a very active congregation and a member of the Reconciling Ministries Network--which means it is very accepting of everyone and open in thought and deed.

We've also been spending a lot of time on our business. We still have photo shoots even though the number has gone down since the busy season. We're working on brochures, letters, and emails to go out to other agencies, so they can make use of our services. We're also honing our skills on something called "Smart Draw". It is the software that lets us draw floor plans of the houses we photograph. Then we can put markers in the rooms, and a person can click on the marker and see a photo of that view of the room. It's a current, more popular feature that a lot of customers like rather than the Virtual Tour. We call this feature "Pix Alive".

This Sunday P, Casey, Emily, and I will attend "The Eagles Academy" at the Eagles complex. It's a one day event just for women. We're going to learn about the ins and outs of football, plays, and skills that are needed. We'll have lunch in the Eagles cafeteria and then play some football. We're all psyched about it. We're going in there with black under our eyes, our Eagles game shirts on, and we're ready to kick some butt! Look out women, here we come!

CHASE IS ONE YEAR OLD!

2009-01-28T10:51:00.000-05:00

Time just flies, doesn't it. It seems like just yesterday that Chase Matthew was born. January 21, 2008. It was around that time that we left Montoursville and moved in with Casey and Steve awaiting the birth of Chase. What a wonderful time that was. It reminds me that we all must appreciate each and every day. Never take anything for granted. Experience life and love each and every minute God gives us. We were blessed to be with them for the birth of Chase, to spend time with Casey as she nurtured Chase for the 8 weeks she was home and to help her with her duties. We were also blessed to be in the position to babysit Chase for one month after Casey went back to work. What a bonding experience that was. And now Chase is one year old! He is just starting to walk as you'll be able to see in the slide show.

Thank God for all He has given us. We are thankful for our four happy healthy grandsons!

Here is Chase saying "Yay! It's my birthday!"

MORE SNOW ON THE BEACH

2009-01-27T21:53:00.003-05:00

So many of you are surprised that we get snow down here. We are not that far south. We do get winter weather, and it is pretty surreal to see it on the beach. I took Gracee for a walk today and, she didn't want to come down to the beach because the snow was too deep on the steps for her. Now, remember, she is very very tiny! But she looked so cute in her new pink winter jacket! She sniffed and ran and enjoyed herself as she and I were the only ones around and she was really easy to see in pink! Our street is now deserted. Only our neighbor, Carol, across the street and us live here year round now. We never see Carol during the days since she works in Dover. The other neighbors who lived at the corner moved out on Sunday. Directly across from us was an old screened in picnic house (don't know what else to call it). They tore it and all the shrubs down on Saturday and staked out the property yesterday to build a new house. I've been told any new houses have to up on pilings because of flood. These huge things have to be pounded in the ground and this person told me that the work can go on for weeks with the loud pounding noise also going on! You'll see pictures in the slide show of the street today which were taken mostly for our neighbors who are living elsewhere this winter. You, guys, maybe never saw your property in snow!

INAUGURATION DAY 2009

2009-01-20T14:28:00.002-05:00

No matter what political persuasion you are, I hope that you join me in feeling pride in our country. We can all have differences but we can come together for a belief that we can do better. I love the ideas that were spoken of meeting others with handshakes and not raised fists and for building up and not tearing down. I have hope that this country and all its many peoples can overcome all the troubles we hear about everyday. Have hope. Have love for each other. Work for the country, not for a partisan group. Let's cooperate and make this country what we know it can be.

SNOW ON THE BEACH

2009-01-07T19:48:00.002-05:00

We've posted several photos here and at end a post about what's been going on in our lives called "This and That".

First picture: Path and Cindy sunbathing in the snow
Second picture: Snow on the Broadkill
Third picture: Kai's birthday party (Kai at top, Andrew, Braden, and friend, Riley)
4th picture: Chase enjoying Kai's party
5th picture: Birthday boy
6th picture: Andrew and his Gingerbread House

2009-01-07T19:45:00.000-05:00

2009-01-07T19:35:00.000-05:00

2009-01-07T18:56:00.000-05:00

2009-01-07T18:53:00.000-05:00

2009-01-07T18:49:00.002-05:00

2009-01-07T18:47:00.000-05:00

This and That

2009-01-07T18:15:00.002-05:00

So, okay, we have not been keeping up with this blog. It's not that things aren't happening in our lives because they are. Maybe we are too busy and that's why we ignore this too many times. Our days are full of setting up our photography business. There is always something else to spend our money on! We are finding out that the old saying "you have to spend money to make money" is absolutely correct. Things are slow down here now. We are optimistic that in the next month or two it will pick up and newly listed homes will have to be photographed. We're also learning a new program that allows us to draw floor plans on the computer. Once these plans are drawn, a person can click on arrows on the floor plan and see the photos we've taken of that particular room from that particular spot. This is a new feature that clients seem to like even better than the virtual tour.

Our time is also spent enjoying our families. We've made many trips up to Lancaster County and the Philly area to be with family. In November we celebrated Andrew's 5th birthday party. A magician was in attendance and the kids were delighted. He even had the traditional white dove appear.

In December it was Andrew's turn to visit Nana and P by himself. We had a wonderful time with him. Highlights were going to a gingerbread house workshop for kids, Winter Wonderland in Ocean City, and his first airplane flight. We were contracted to do some aerial photography for the realtors in a Cessna. Andrew was allowed to come along. We were worried about whether he'd get sick. Well, he was fine. P and I got very sick! We had to cut our trip to two hours! Three days later, the two of us went back up after taking three Dramamine! This time we were fine and completely enjoyed our ride.

Christmas with the boys was fun since the oldest three completely understood Santa. They got too many toys. Have any of you noticed how difficult toys are to get out of the box. Both Casey and Ryan were still working on some by New Years.

On New Year's Eve Casey and Steve asked us to babysit the three boys and we had their first New Year's Eve Party. They had no idea what we were doing and why, but they enjoyed making rice krispie treats, having a buffet table of food, making homemade ice cream, banging pots and pans and lids outside around 8:30 (our midnight), and making a toast with sparkling grape juice. Both boys offered their little toasts. Braden went to bed around 9 and Andrew stayed up to 10:15 when we told him we were going to bed. He thought it was 2 a.m. Isn't it terrible how we tell tall tales to kids?!

January 4 was Kai's 5th birthday party. We all celebrated at "Bouncing Off the Walls". There were about 10 kids and 10 adults. Pizza and cake and lots of play.

We were going to go up to the mountains after the party but decided not to. We are tired of travelling so decided to stay here at our beach house and work. We miss the mountains. There is something about the quiet at this time of year and the snow that is usually on the ground. BUT we did have some snow here on Friday. The beach actually was covered with it for awhile!

Updates

2008-12-11T13:06:00.002-05:00

As you can see from the dates, we have not been able to keep this blog up-to-date. There are too many things going on, and we find our days short. We've had lots of photo shoots during this time. Most weeks we are kept busy with one to three of them. We've started putting stock photography out for the realtors to use. Path has taken some portraits of realtors for them to put on their websites, etc. The agency asked us to take aerial photos of certain properties in Sussex County. So they hired a Cessna pilot and we'll be doing that this Saturday (weather permitting). It is supposed to be sunny but cold.

Look for more updates soon. We are having fun.

Shippensburg

2008-11-06T13:26:00.002-05:00

We visited Shippensburg University where I went to college. We wanted to go so that P could see where I went before some of the buildings are torn down. Supposedly, some of the dorms (except Horton and Old Main) will be demolished and new ones put up. It was a beautiful fall day for us to do this as you can see in the slideshow. We watched about a half of the football game too.

Phillies World Series Parade

2008-11-06T13:02:00.002-05:00

Last Friday Philadelphia had its World Series Parade for the World Champion Phillies. It, of course, comes down Broad Street. It made its way from City Hall to the Stadium. Since Casey, Steve, and Ryan were going down to it, we decided to go too since it could be a once-in-a-lifetime event. Everyone was told to take mass transportation. So Ryan went to a train station near his house and the rest of us went to a train station near Casey's house. When we got there, there were many people already waiting. As we waited several trains came --- and went. They didn't even stop!!! It seems that they were already stuffed with people. Eventually, the train station made an announcement that they were suggesting that we take "alternate transportation". We could laugh at this because we thought we were taking "alternate transportation". Ryan was having the same trouble up at his stop. So we proceeded to drive into the city. We parked at the Penrose Diner which was about 6 blocks from Broad Street and found a place to stand along this neighborhood street. It was a safe area and as we waited it really filled up with crazy Philadelphians. It was a sea of red. We enjoyed ourselves and are glad we made the trip. We even got to eat a genuine Philly hoagie from a neighborhood store nearby.

Halloween at the Kmetts

2008-11-06T12:29:00.003-05:00

Halloween night was spent with the family at Casey and Steve's house. Andrew and Kai were both "The Hulk". Chase was the "Baby Hulk" and Braden was "Cookie Monster" (which totally fits him!) As you can see, Casey, P, Nanna, and Ryan also dressed for the occasion. Somehow we don't look quite as cute as the kids. I found out that this year the older boys knew what candy they had gotten and knew when one piece if it was missing!!! Hmmmmm. . . . I wonder what happened to the missing candy!

Sea Witch Festival

2008-10-27T22:54:00.002-04:00

The Sea Witch Festival is an annual event in downtown Rehoboth. There are contests and shows all weekend and the big event is the parade which goes down Rehoboth Avenue. As you can see from the slide show, people have lots of imagination when it comes to dressing themselves, their pets, and the kids.

SMB Real Estate Photography

2008-10-27T10:54:00.004-04:00

Many of you wanted us to keep you updated on our "new life" down here in lower, slower Delaware. Well, this is is! We have finally found our niche where we can use our photographic skills and P can use her real estate license and knowledge. We are taking real estate photos. Most realtors today use photos to promote their listings. The photos might be online or in pamphlets or magazines. Sometimes we take photos of vacant houses, but, usually, the homes are furnished or partially furnished. We take photos of the interiors and exteriors. Most of our work so far is with Ocean Atlantic-Sothebys, Int., Real Estate where P has been working since we came down here. Slowly, we are branching out to other agencies too.
We seem to be offering a good product and are in much demand and kept busy. It is the kind of work we've wanted. We're self-employed, able to work together, and can take time off to go to the beach! The above photo is of a house in in the north shores section of Rehoboth right on the beach. Please take a moment to check out our new website at: http://www.smbrealestatephotography.com/

Blessing of the Animals

2008-10-23T08:13:00.002-04:00

On October 4, our church, Epworth-Rehoboth United Methodist Church had a Blessing of the Animals service to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. It was held outside on a beautiful fall day. Ryan and Kai were visiting that weekend and, as you can see, Kai participated in our Gracee's blessing. There were over 100 animals there. It was a meaningful service which called to mind our connection with all living creatures. We also gave thanks for pets that have passed.

Family Weekend

2008-10-20T16:05:00.003-04:00

All of you who know me, know how I love sports. Well, oldest grandson, Andrew, is now playing youth soccer. I love seeing him love what he is doing! P and I have seen him play twice. Saturday was the first time we've seen him score. What a thrill for all involved. As you look at the sequence of photos that P took in our slideshow, you'll see how thrilled he was. And, if you look closely, you'll see that lady in yellow raising her arm in triumph too. That lady is me, the proud nanna. And you'll also see a gentleman in navy raising his arms. That gentleman is proud pappy. We all look forward to many more sporting events and other events of all our grandsons. How special P and I feel in being parts of Andrew's, Kai's, Braden's, and Chase's lives.

From the soccer game, Casey and the three oldest boys came to the beach with us. On Sunday we all dressed to go down to the beach. It was chilly and the wind was blowing and had been blowing all night. To our surprise there was NO beach to play on. The wind was bringing the waves right up to the dunes and our steps. The boys were intrigued by the sight. One brave wind surfer added to our enjoyment of the windy beachless day.

Mosquitos

2008-10-20T15:44:00.002-04:00

Mosquitos were out in full over the last two weeks. The marshes filled with water and the winds were just right for those nasty little "buggers" to be in our yards, beach, and on us as we got into our cars. Our cars became buggies for the buggers. Our bodies became buggies for the buggers. They followed us everywhere.

We heard planes overhead on several occasions and rushed out to see them going up the beach quite low. The first evening P and I went to the steps on the beach to look, it was twilight and the plane actually rocked its wings back and forth to us as if to say hello. At this point, we did not know they were spraying for mosquitos and we thought this acknowledgement of us was kind of romantic and exciting. On another evening, we heard two planes and rushed out again. This time we took the camera and got the shots you see in the slideshow. And this time, we realized what the planes were doing. You can actually see the pilots in the cockpits.

Braden's First Visit By Himself

2008-09-22T20:35:00.003-04:00

Braden visited for two nights and three days. It was the first time he was away from home by himself. He loved being here with us and enjoyed being the center of attention without Andrew and Chase. We all had a great time. This photo is of Braden and Nana at "Shag", a new restaurant in RB. If you are familiar with the area, the restaurant used to be called Club Zeus. (See our list of recommended restaurants on bottom right of our blog.) Now it is decorated as the 1970s and is family friendly and doggie friendly too. Our friends, Nadine and Mary, were with us and their doggie got to sit with us in the courtyard. Braden loved all the different rooms and we visited each one of them.

Young Horseshoe Crabs

2008-09-22T20:20:00.005-04:00

Here is a "pile" of young crabs washed up on Broadkill Beach. Braden was visiting this weekend, and he was amazed and confused as what all of them were doing on "our beach". He calls the biggest ones (the adults who still get washed up) "Daddy Crabs".

This photo was taken on Sunday, September 21, looking south from below our steps. Many, many small horseshoe crabs washed up on the beach.

Deaths on the Beach

2008-09-17T17:07:00.003-04:00

Not to worry. Nothing gruesome. Just like in the spring when many horseshoe crabs were on our beach, we are finding more horseshoe crabs there. This time, however, they are baby crabs who didn't make it. There are different sizes all over the place. We haven't seen a live one yet. Every morning when we go down to the beach we see more. Gracee is extremely interested in them. Have to be careful when walking barefoot because their little spiny backs are sharp!

This and That

2008-09-13T10:14:00.002-04:00

We just realized we had never written after our last post. Yes, we made it easily through Hanna last weekend. In fact, Hanna was nothing more than some rain and some wind. The men took out the steps to the beach so they wouldn't get damaged as they did with the Nor'easter in May. Now, we have to make like a mountain goat to get to the beach. Better safe than sorry, though.

We hear there was more rain in Williamsport and Philadelphia than we had! We slowly made a turkey dinner all day and watched Penn State play on TV. The guys next door came over with a friend of theirs for dinner and they brought goodies over to share too. We had a wonderful time eating, chatting, and eating, and chatting, and eating and chatting, and watching some football too!

We've been working hard on photography and real estate. Ocean Atlantic is now part of Sotheby's International. This is both exciting and challenging for all the realtors. We've also attempted to get some of our photos accepted by a stock photography company. We're finding this challenging too. Our photos in Wellsboro are still selling. Path is also learning how to take photos of houses for listing agents.

Hanna is Coming to Visit

2008-09-05T12:29:00.002-04:00

Several people have asked if we'd ride out a hurricane while we were here. Welllllll. . . . . We are crazy but not completely! We stayed in May for the Nor'easter. Winds upwards of 50 miles per hour and surf high. But it was never life threatening. If you'd like, go back to our May posts and see info on this storm. We got some weather info from the Beach Preservation Association yesterday, and it said winds of 35 mph with gusts upwards to 60, 3-5 inches of rain, storm surge 2-3 feet, ending sometime after midnight Saturday. We intend to cook a turkey, watch football, and go up to the beach ocassionally to observe and take photos. We've already brought in outdoor things, tied things down, and gone for "milk and bread"!!

Having said that. . . we have made plans for any bad storm that comes our way (Ike?!). We know what we'll pack up and we're heading to Parkside, PA, to the Kmetts!

2008-09-04T11:15:00.000-04:00

End of Official Summer

2008-09-04T11:00:00.002-04:00

Labor Day weekend has come and gone. Where did the summer go? A great thing about it for "us locals" is that our beach is practically empty now. Yesterday we looked left and right and saw no one for as far as the eye could see.

We can have bonfires on the beach here and we have done so many times. Monday night some friends from Tall Pines came over with some of their friends from home, and we cooked hot dogs and shrimp on the fire. It was a perfect night to do it. We all had sweat shirts on and the stars were shining all around us. We told stories of our youth and laughed a lot.

Sunday night we spent at the Indian River area. P's brother was down with friends staying at their condominium right on the river. It was a beautiful sight to watch the sunset there. What a sky. We stayed longer there than we planned and we froze going home on our cycle.

Last night was special too since we got to see some of my teacher friends. They were down with a family vacation in Bethany Beach and made a point of calling and taking us out to eat. It was wonderful to see them and catch up on old times and new.

take a look at bottom of blog

2008-07-29T22:37:00.000-04:00

HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY, COZ!!!

2008-07-16T20:58:00.004-04:00

Happy birthday to our dear friend, Coz, or Chip, or whoever you are! HA!!!! What a great birthday present you got yourself.

New Toy

2008-07-13T12:08:00.000-04:00

Recently, we bought this kayak and have been having fun with it ever since. We plan on travelling up and down the eastern seaboard with it eventually. We figured it would be cheaper since we can't afford the gas. No, no, no..... just kidding. At first we just enjoyed taking it out and enjoying the waves rocking us around. Then we actually started using it as an exercise. And, it is that! Especially when we don't row together and one paddle is going up and the other is going down! Our goal is to be out in the water when the dolphins come down past us. So far, we haven't been able to do that. Since the bay is calmer than the ocean, it is easier to get a kayak out here than down at Rehoboth. However, yesterday, it was a different story. There were pretty big waves hitting the beach and it was high tide and we found it VERY hard to control and get in. Therefore, one of us got knocked down, but gently, and the other got knocked down and landed under the kayak and then was on her back with her feet straight up in the air!!! NOW we can laugh about it! Our friend, Coz, came over after this and helped us get in the kayak. He is thinking of getting his own kayak but, for now, is also enjoying rides in ours.

During the weekend of the 4th, everyone enjoyed taking rides in it. We even had the two older boys in it as we stayed close to shore. They loved it. However, if their parents had seen us yesterday trying to get into it, they would never have allowed us to take the boys out!

THIS IS THE FAMILY

2008-07-10T23:39:00.000-04:00

THESE ARE THE BOYS

2008-07-10T23:37:00.000-04:00

A Real Family 4th of July

2008-07-07T17:18:00.001-04:00

This year we and our family experienced a real hometown 4th of July here at Broadkill. At 11 a.m. on July 5, a parade went down Bayshore Drive. There were scouts, floats, kids on bikes and scooters, families pushing strollers, trucks, jeeps, one fire truck, and candy being thrown out to all kids along the route. Take a look at the slide show we've posted!

At 6 p.m. we had a picnic at the Smiths. There were at least 30 people there as well as delicious eats. Our family joined in the festivities.

At dusk Jim and Ed put on their annual firework display on the beach. Yes, these were real fireworks and they were beautiful. The show lasted over an hour. Some of us sat on the beach and some sat back on West Virginia Avenue to watch. Frankly, I loved being on the beach with some of my family and the two oldest boys. It was awesome. As we looked up and down the shoreline, we could see at least four other firework sites going off at the same time. There were also bonfires on the beach.

On Friday evening, July 4, we had our first bonfire on the beach. P worked diligently to dig a hole and then made the fire to burn safely. We all sat around it to roast hot dogs. The boys had a wonderful time playing in the water as the sun went down. We bought a new game called Lasso Golf which we all got to enjoy. It was so much fun. The kids had a frisbee and we got to see the boys' talents in hitting a wiffle ball. I'd have to rate this whole weekend as one of the best of my life. Family, country, and love. Can't beat it.

This is the Day That the Lord Has Made!

2008-06-29T14:42:00.002-04:00

Sometimes families go through periods of times that we wonder over and over again: "Why?" Deaths of loved ones is never easy. In the case of our elderly, we know it can be a release and a day that the person is actually wishing for. We also know that they are truly in a better place. We mourn for ourselves, however. We lean on God and trust that once again He'll get us through our grief.

Today I look at a bright, decorative plate that we just purchased because we love the verse and the meaning behind it, and it says: "This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us give thanks and be glad in it." I look down at a memorial card we got yesterday at our latest funeral and it has the same verse on it. Coincidence? I don't think so. God is working in my life once again. He gives us signs. We just don't always see them. This time I saw and I believe He was telling me that our loved one was glad for her release, glad for "her day". She was happy as she looked down at the gathering in her honor as we remembered her.

Some of you might find comfort in the following: (author unknown)

A tear at my death is like raindrops for the stars, as I believe in life, not death.
I believe in the Kingdom of God, and the promises in the Bible.
I believe that with God's will, life shall go on.
Someday, you may catch a glimpse of a butterfly landing on a flower.
Or of a bird softly settling on a branch.
It may be me, stopping by to say His word is true.
As I am a part of God's Kingdom, I did not die and neither shall you.

Another tidbit of information

2008-06-25T21:30:00.002-04:00

Ever wonder why those ships are lined up off the coast? Us too and we have found out. Smitty and Mike have told us that the ships line up early in the week waiting for a dock date to unload their cargo, being oil. They go up the bay and then up the Delaware River, forget where they dock at, and unload. Now, we never noticed that the bow is sometimes pointed up the bay and at other times out towards the ocean. We were informed that they do this because of the tide going in and out. Can you figure out which way the tide is going just by looking at the bow of the boat? We're not telling so you have to blog us to find out if you are right.

New Friends

2008-06-22T10:45:00.003-04:00

One of the benefits of moving away from your home is the fact that you end up meeting all new people, new friends. Last night we went to a home of two new friends and met several other women there too. We had a wonderful evening sitting on their back deck which was next to a beautiful marsh which, because of all the rain, is very green right now. This marsh has a waterway coming into it and across the marsh are other beautiful homes. These homes were beautiful and their boats were beautiful but the prettiest, most awesome sight we saw was a giant blue heron which landed about 100 feet away. He stayed for a long time posing for us as we all ooohed and aaahhed. Do we have a photograph? Of course not. We did not have our camera with us.

Our new friends here in Broadkill have included us in lots of activities and all have welcomed us warmly. We've been to two birthday parties and one picnic. These new friends seem to find reasons to celebrate!!!! Yesterday I hit golf balls with one of our next door neighbors. We had a fun time. We're invited over to their house tonight for dinner. The neighbors on our other side are coming over for dinner on Tuesday. They'll be fed homemade chicken pot pie--a Lancaster County recipe.

At the end of our street at the beach, they built a bench similar to one you'll find on the boardwalks. One where you can move the back to any direction--to look at the ocean or down the street. Most afternoons around 5 you'll find someone sitting there with a glass or two of wine or a martini. Of course, you might find us with a beer.

Exercise, Flies, and Gracee

2008-06-20T21:35:00.003-04:00

FINALLY, we are making use of this beautiful place to start an exercise program once again. Since it's all flat, we don't have any excuses. So, today, we walked two miles (well almost) and rode our bikes four miles (well almost). We are finding out that Broadkill can be "buggy" at certain times, at certain places, and in certain winds. We have heard that some people actually take a fly swatter along on their walks! The flies lie in wait on Bayshore Drive at the places where there are no houses on the marsh side. They see us coming and then attack. Of course, we still walk on the beach too. There is always something new to see there. Gracee loves the beach. Everytime we take her out to potty, she wants to head to the beach. On our daily walks, Gracee is going to go along. We'll take turns walking her because about 1/3 of the way, she turns around and wants to go home, so we need to pick her up at this point and carry her. For those of you who don't know, she is literally afraid of flies. Maybe she's afraid because the flies are bigger than she is! So she'd rather be anywhere else when we come upon that part of the walk where they seem to attack.

Double Rainbow

2008-06-16T21:45:00.006-04:00

This evening, we had the pleasure of a nice thunder storm. As a child I was afraid of storms and my gram use to tell me it was God and the angels bowling in heaven. I'm sure she is playing now!!! I know it is her when the thunder is especially LOUD- she got a strike. GOOO Gram. After the storm, I looked out the window and saw the sun shining. I thought there may be a rainbow and as I went out the door and looked toward the east, there it was, but there was two of them. I called to C to bring the camera and we got some nice pics of it. The first one is of a Yucca plant, bench and duck with the rainbow in the background. The second one of of our bench and the last one is of the Cape May-Lewes Ferry going through the rainbow. We found our "Pot of Gold" right here in Broadkill. God says so with the rainbows.

Pammer, this one is just for YOU!!

Necklaces

2008-06-14T07:58:00.003-04:00

When we first started walking the beach here at Broadkill, we saw many of these "necklaces". We thought they were backbones of fish. Quite frankly, they are kind of gross. Now we know what they are--whelk egg strings! They wash up on the beach and eventually dry out and become brittle. They are often referred to as "mermaid's necklaces". If you look closely, you'll see medallion-shaped egg pouches. Each pouch of the "necklace" contains a large number of baby whelks. We were told that if a pouch was opened, many very small shells would come out. We tried to open up one and all we got was "goo". If anyone out there has more information on these necklaces or whelks, we'd love to hear from you.

Whelks--God's Treasure for Us

2008-06-14T06:49:00.004-04:00

For years we've thought of any shell that looked like this as a Conch. Since we've been at Broadkill, we've learned that most of what we find here are really Whelks. If you look closely at the shell in this picture you'll also see the animal inside!

In English, the common name whelk refers to several very different kinds of large, usually edible Busycon snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Melongenidae. Like other mollusks, whelks have a mantle, a thin layer of tissue located between the body and the shell that creates the shell. Whelks build their hard shells from the calcium carbonate they extract from seawater. The shells can grow up to 16 inches (40 cm) long. Can you tell I didn't write this last paragraph? Courtesy "Google"

We never found a whelk or a conch on a beach before two years ago after a hurricane in Rehoboth. When we found the first one, it was a true treasure for us given to us from God. We were so delighted. After inspecting our treasure, we saw the animal was still inside. We realized we had to throw it back in the ocean so this animal would live. We were sad to "lose" this treasure. But, the next day, as if to say "thank you for throwing my creation back into the ocean", God gave us another and then another and another without the living animal in it and we were able to save several and give some to the grandsons. One time P found one with the animal still inside and picked it up and the animal was hanging out. It must've been a grandfather whelk! It was at least 8 inches long and 6 inches thick. Unfortunately, we didn't have our camera with us that day.

This spring on the first morning of our stay in Broadkill, we walked the beach, and were so pleasantly surprised to find several whelks. On this small, empty beach, at the beginning of a new part of our lives, we found something that we think of as one of God's treasures.

Rebuilding Part 2

2008-06-01T21:24:00.002-04:00

People have been working on cleaning up the beach and our steps ever since the Nor'Easter. Path has enjoyed helping at this. This Saturday, May 31, there was a general cleanup of the dunes, etc., and the men of West Virginia Avenue completely repaired the steps down to the beach. No more climbing on the "rip rap"! We can just walk down "our steps" once again. Every morning and every night we can now easily say hello to the beach. Did we tell all of you that we are only 150 ft. from the beach?! Oh, we have?! Well, we realize we are blessed to be here. Even when we come back after a visit elsewhere, we walk down "to make sure the ocean is still there"!

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-06-01T21:06:00.004-04:00

Our first holiday at Broadkill! We chose to celebrate it with "the family". The kids and grandkids came down to checkout our new house. Besides ourselves, we had 4 adults and 4 children. We found that our cottage easily handled that many. It did not, however, take care of all the noise that that many kids (of all ages) can make! But would we want it any other way?!
The weather was perfect--sunny, breezy, and in the 70s. It allowed the boys to completely enjoy themselves in their new playground! It was also a weekend of "firsts". It was the first time they all saw our cottage, of course. It was the first time that baby Chase was at the beach. It was the first time that Braden realized he was at the beach, having only been on the beach when he was Chase's age. He was at first scared of the water and the big sandbox. He wanted nothing to do with it the first day. But the next day, he liked it well enough to dig and play and stick his toes in the water. Kai and Andrew were old hands at the beach and loved the water and digging in the sand. It was also the first time that Kai and Andrew went fishing with their dads.
We'd like to go to as many local events as we can, so on Saturday, we all went to Milton's Horseshoe Crab Festival. The kids loved the train ride.
Everyone also got to meet all our new neighbors, as "Mayor" Jim and Donna had a picnic for friends. They provided delicious barbeque ribs. Yum! We met several new people here and realized once again that that Broadkill Beach is a friendly place.
During this weekend we made use of the new dirt ramp that was put up on North Carolina Avenue. Thanks again for that access.

Rebuilding

2008-05-23T20:58:00.005-04:00

Neighbors on North Carolina rebuilt an entrance to the beach for us. All of us wish them many thanks for getting the permit required and then for the dirt and equipment needed to build such a ramp. It took several hours and at times, I thought the front end loader was going to tip right over onto the beach!! It was fascinating to watch itgo from rubble to a smooth ramp. Tomorrow we will upload a pic of the finished ramp. (we were too busy using it today to get to the beach to sunbath to take a pic! HA)

Our New Friends

2008-05-21T21:37:00.002-04:00

Our New Friends is a slide show. We've included photos of Primehook wildlife, Horseshoe crabs on our beach, and one of a sunrise. If you want to see the photos better and see the caption, double click on the photo.

Primehook Wildlife

2008-05-21T21:17:00.002-04:00

As you come in the road to Broadkill Beach, you'll go through part of Primehook Wildlife Preserve. There are marshes on either side of rt. 16. Everyday we drive slowly past this area as we love to see all the wildlife that is there. There might be a turtle crossing the road. If there is, we'll stop the car, get out, and place it on the side of the road. We see lots of Orioles along here which we think are pretty since we don't see many of them in our areas of Pennsylvania. There are Canadian Geese. We think some nests were destroyed during the nor'easter. Luckily, we got some pictures of mammas, daddys, and babies. We've also taken pictures of Egrets. So far, we have not been able to get a picture of the Heron we see posed in the marsh. If anyone who lives in Broadkill knows what kind of Heron we see, let us know. Have any of you seen more than one?

The Ancient Mariner

2008-05-21T20:53:00.002-04:00

We've enjoyed getting to know the "Horseshoe Crab" as most people know it, but it is really an arthropod, related to spiders, ticks, and scorpions. One morning the beach was literally covered by these beings. We were told to "just flip 'em" when we saw them upside down. So we spend many mornings flipping our new friends. They are like turtles and can't right themselves unless people help them or a big wave takes them out to sea once again. We found out that the spring is the time of mating and the males come ashore first and when the time is right the females start arriving as the males wait along the water line. Then they hook together and go up into the sand. The female makes holes along the way and deposits her eggs. There could be up to 40,000 that she deposits. The males comes along and fertilizes them. Since our nor'easter, we have not seen many of them.

Back 2 beach

2008-05-20T22:32:00.002-04:00

Hello,

We went to Lancaster County to visit family and then to Philly to do wash!! No, we don't have a washer and dryer so Casey is our laundramat. We tease her that now she knows how it felt when she came home from college to do laundry. We brought Andrew back with us because the whole family will be here for the holiday. It is going to be a real nice weekend both weather wise and having everyone here. I'm sure we will have lots of fun playing on the beach and eating. We'll be posting pics soon, so stay tuned.

isabel schmizabel

2008-05-13T11:57:00.002-04:00

view from the beach

2008-05-13T11:53:00.001-04:00

The day after #1

2008-05-13T11:48:00.002-04:00

May '08 Nor'Easter

2008-05-12T22:05:00.002-04:00

When we went to bed last night, the wind was blowing the rain horizontal. But we were snug as a bug in our cottage. We never expected to wake to full gale winds and flood warnings. Looking out our sunporch windows we could see massive waves rolling in the normally calm bay. As we watched the waves come crashing onto our small beach, we wondered how things were down at Rehoboth. With winds blowing 40-55 mph, we didn't think it was a good idea to just go riding around. We walked to our small boardwalk 3 times throughout the day and looked at where the men of W. Virginia Ave had constructed steps only two weeks ago. All that is left are splinters of our steps. We wondered how we were going to ever get back down to the beach. Such small thoughts when others in the area were being evacuated from the flooding. Our prayers are with these people.

South Bay Shore Drive beach homes damages from storm

2008-05-12T20:01:00.003-04:00

first nor'easter 55+ mph winds

2008-05-12T12:07:00.004-04:00

our first blog

2008-05-12T10:29:00.004-04:00

we have been talking about doing a blog to keep our friends and family updated on our life. more or less what it is like to live at the beach. we feel so blessed to be living this and as we've said many time to each other and other people, we wish everyone could "feel" what it is like to be free. we will attempt to keep this update regularly. if you want to be notified automatically when we update just let us know and we will make it happen. whereever you are today and whatever you are doing, know that we think of you often and are sending positive thoughts to you.