August 7th Jim and I got in the car and drove down to Atlantic City for our weekend getaway that I planned for our anniversary and also to celebrate b
oth of us turning 50 this year...we really didn't know what we wanted to do to celebrate our birthdays and when I asked Jim he said, "Go to Atlantic City?" and I said, "Yeah...no, I don't think so!!" he always loses a ton of money there and well...I wanted something different. The next day I happened to get an email about a concert at the Tropicana hotel and I thought it was a 'sign' so I called Jim and said, "You can get your Atlantic City trip and I can get to see one of my favorite bands, Daughtry!!" So we made the plans and off we went. Of course, Jim lost a few hundred dollars but I have to say I couldn't believe my luck, I won $106.60 in a PENNY slot machine! Whooo hooo! I cashed in and walked away because I knew I could take that money and use it for something I had coming up the following week and I wasn't about to give it back! The concert was excellent and I had a great time!On the 11th I went to Jones Beach again with my friend, Paula, and we saw Maroon 5...what an incredible concert that was...I absolutely love them live!! Owl City opened for them and if you're a fan of their hit song, "Fireflies" as many people are...I am sorry but they weren't that good live...every song sounded the same and I was bored and couldn't wait for them to be done so that M5 could take the stage!
The next morning I worked from 9-12 and then I came home to pack up my car and hit the road for my much anticipated long weekend in Trumbull, Connecticut where I spent the next 4 days scrapbooking and getting some much need "ME" time. I had a beautiful king size bed all to myself at the hotel, I enjoyed using the gym a bit, sat by the pool, did a little bit of shopping and of course scrapped to my heart's content!!
This has become one of my favorite crops to attend and I am already anticipating and looking forward to next summer and going again. I am planning to take Alex with me next year because I think that he would enjoy spending time at the 2 pools that the hotel has to offer and not to mention that Mike and Mindi who run the crop bring their kids who are his age and he would have a great time hanging out with Mitchell and Cali. I suppose we will see what next year brings but I know that he will be almost 14 and the time where he will want to hang out with mom will be limited...I cherish each and every moment I get to spend with my sons because I know how quickly life can just pass you by.I was so pleasantly surprised when my friend, Regina and her daughter Emma walked into the crop room on thursday and I realized they were sitting just next to me!!
I hadn't talked to Regina in a while because when I lost some email addresses on my old laptop I couldn't get in touch with her and I wasn't sure if she would be there this year. I found out the next day when her friend, Karen, arrived that she had told Mindi to seat me near them if I registered so that was so nice to be able to hang out with them a bit. All in all it was a super great weekend and I got lots done!! I am so thrilled that I have finished Robert's 1st deployment and now I'm on the hunt for the perfect album to put all of the layouts in.Somewhere in all of this busy month my baby turned 13 years old...I have no idea how that happened and it was way too fast!! He wanted to go to the chinese buffet for his birthday dinner and we were happy to do that for him. Since Robert wasn't going to be home he had gotten him a cake the week before and Jesse was sleeping because he works nights so it was just mom and dad with Alex when he gave him his gift...I think he was happy!!
After another busy work week upon returning from Trumbull I grabbed Alex and jumped in the car once again to head south to visit Nancy, Paul and baby Cole!! It had been way too long and I was itching to get me some baby loving!! This was going to be a longer weekend visit than normal because I had tied this in with a concert that was near Nancy's house...about 20 minutes away, actually...a venue called Wolf Trap was hosting one of my favorite bands, Train, and I just had to see them and I worked it into my plans!
It was really cute when we picked up Cole from day care because he really didn't know us that well since we hadn't seen him since June and his face was priceless!!
It took a little while but once we got him home and he was back in his familiar surroundings he warmed up to Alex and I and we really enjoyed spending some quality time with him that weekend especially because Nancy and Paul left friday night to head to their boat and didn't come back until Sunday...whooohooo...it gave me plenty of time to spoil my nephew without mom's prying eyes!! Heehee! 
Alex had loads of fun with his little cousin and I'm glad we made those memories! On sunday my friend, Paula, arrived with her son Andrew and we spent monday afternoon enjoying the community pool in my sister's complex while Cole took his nap at day care. Monday night Paula and I went to Wolf Trap and had a blast seeing Train perform...what a great venue...it was raining for a bit but we were in the covered seats so we were good. I had purchased 19th row seats when they went on sale but as luck would have it Paula has someone through her job who knows one of the sound guys from Train and he left tickets at the Will Call for her...amazing...we had 7th row dead center whooohoooooooooooooo! So of course I had to "Pay it Forward" and I went on the hunt and we found a mom with a little girl sitting on the lawn section under and umbrella and we gave her our 19th row 'covered' seats.
On the morning of the 24th we hit the road to head home because we had tickets to a concert that night at Jones Beach so I wanted to get home early enough to be able to get a nap in and relax a bit. It was a little sketchy getting out of there because someone needed coffee (not me) and she got lost and I couldn't leave her but finally we were on the road and did well time wise and made it to Cracker Barrel for breakfast by just a little after 9:30ish. I love Cracker Barrel...it reminds me of mom and I have such fond memories of going there with her whenever we would visit her in Florida.
The Creed concert that night was so off the hook...I loved it!! Paula had to leave a little earlier than she hoped and she missed a few of their hits that they saved for the end of the concert but I really enjoyed it! The vibe with Creed is so different now that they are back together, I can feel that they are tight and they are really enjoying themselves on stage again. I'm so glad I got to see them!
I spent the last week of August just really trying to hang on to summer with all my might...the weather was glorious...a perfect gift from GOD really.
I took Alex to the beach on the 30th and since I have the best job in the world and the most amazing and understanding boss ever I was able to push my shift from 5pm to 6pm so that I didn't have to rush off the beach to get home for work that night. We got to the beach fairly early ( I think about 9:30am) and Alex just really enjoyed spending time in the water the entire day! Paula and Andrew got there about 11:30 and once Alex had his buddy he really started to have fun out there. They did some boogie boarding and just spent almost the whole day in the water.On the 1st of September I had the day off from work and I originally planned to hit the beach one more time but then Paula and I talked and decided to meet at the town pool where she lives and Alex was all for it and I wasn't going to complain...no sand? I'm all for that!! HAHAHA!!
We had an incredible day, the pool was pristine and Alex went off the diving board over 100 times, I'm quite sure!! I couldn't get him out of that pool! Paula left at 3pm because her cousin was doing a show in the city (he's a stand up comic) and Andrew went home with another friend who was at the pool that day since he had a baseball practice but Alex and I stayed way past 6:00 and I was totally ok with that...just trying to enjoy the last bits of summer with my son and I wasn't in any rush to get home, that is for sure...I knew that school was starting in a few days and I didn't want the fun to end.That's it for August...September has already been a busy and fun filled month so I will post about that next. :)
