End of the Summer - Life's a Beach!

You know the end of summer is near when the CNE opens.  And we finally got the opportunity to take Kieran.  It was going to be tight because we were leaving for NJ the next morning.  Do you think we were finished packing? Hell no!

Do we leave early for the CNE so we can get home early to finish packing and head out before 6am?
Which universe do you think you are in?
We stayed until the CNE kicked us out.

We brought our next door neighbour Yahvi with us so Kieran would have someone to go on the rides with him. She not as fearless as Kieran when it comes to the rides, But it's amazing what peer pressure can do.

We were looking for the Haunted house.  And finally we found it.  It took some coaxing to get Yahvi to go in, but in the end she went with Kieran and the kids went twice! Second time with their eyes closed because they knew what was coming.  I think we could hear Yahvi screaming from outside.  Next to it were the bumper cars and Yahvi was doing pretty well.  They're both a little on the short side to steer all that well.  But it looked like they were having fun.

Vid:Wheels of the Yellow Submarine go Round and Round.

Vid: Yahvi's Roller Coaster

The evening went fast. By the end of our time at the Ex. Yahvi's dad texting us to see if we were ok.
It was great a time.  I haven't been to the EX in decades.
And it was fun.  Wished I could have been a kid again.  But my body reminds me I am not.
Especially on those spinning rides.
The ride stops eventually, but my brain still thinks it's going.  Sometimes my stomach too.

Made it to the Food building.  So much to choose from. Which food do I choose to boost my overall cholesterol and blood pressure?  Yep.  Fried food, and food that will make you so sick you will end up in Emerg (aka. Cronos Burger).  But taste good going down.  Serves you people right.  Why do you eat this crap?
But I did try something.  I had gyro.  I was hungry.  I also tried the lobster roll.  I didn't realize that it was cold.  I was expecting it to be cold.  There was a Filipino food stall, but I didn't try it.  It was overly loud in the Food building making it difficult to hear each other talk.

The Chair lift that used to be a gondola ages ago, was a great way to finish the evening.  It took us back towards the entrance via the kids area so the kids could take advantage of the wrist bands some more before they closed the rides.

Photos: First time Kieran's been to the EX 

Now it was crunch time.  No time to be tired.  It was time to start our 2 week hiatus in NJ.  The plan was to leave before the sun came up in the London, UK so we would be at the border before any of the Cross Border shopping Nexxus driving asians with their real PVC fake LV bags showed up.

DR TNG and the Beige, Blue blur.

We always have to move something big during our time here.  And this year was no exception.  I am not sure if we moved anything big last year.  I cannot remember.

But we pretended to be a bitter Hispanic couple feuding down I-295 trying not to get pulled over because we were in the country illegally working for McD.

But we managed to bring up to the second floor landing a large cabinet.  With a lot of screeching and howling and sweat, and thank God for sending the UPS guy and the neighbour across the street when we needed another male to get us over the hurdle.

Thank you God. Thank you!
Not sure what we did for 2 weeks, but it went by fast.
There was New Hope for our 11th anniversary lunch meal at Sprig and Vine.  Every year it's a renewed hope that my cousin will move over from the Meat side and join the Psuedo Vegans.  Every year it's less of a struggle.  Seems like we eat less meat every year.  Which I think is a good thing.  Medically.

Note to self.  Don't order the Soba noodles for the kids.  They don't like it.

They did like the garlic bread.  Just get regular noodles with butter next time.



The vietnamese inspired buns are always good.  Better than the zucchini wrap that Tresa had.  The red beet gizpacho was not as good as the melon one from before.  Still it was delicious, but did not have the breadth of flavours the melon one had.  That was great.

One can never put enough sun screen on.  Sun protection is so underrated.  Put it on until you are a ghost before you hit the beach.
This might take a few hours for your skin to absorb it.
If there is an SPF 1000...this might be it.

Although Jersey Shore had been decimated by Sandy.  The beach was still beautiful.  The small building that housed the washrooms and some food stalls was being rebuilt, and parts of the boardwalk had been replaced.  It looked pretty good.
It wasn't super hot. But it was warm (30 deg C). The water was chilly at first but nothing like Lake ON when I did my race.  No head freeze here.  But my fingers did get tingly after a while.  But these kids don't care, they just want to smash the waves and scream like they could break glass.

The Dolphin Whisperer

Cousins hanging out.
We don't get many chances now to get a photo op.
So take 'em when you can.

DR - battle of the pros




This newish Italian restaurant in Crosswicks was amazing.  Coltello.  It's in the middle of a residential neighbourhood and I hope it does well.  The food that Nana inspired was fantastic.

There was a bit of battling for the Tiramisu.
The seafood was superb.
This cheese appetizer was, wow!
Glad I chose to avoid the land meat fare.  I had a taste and it was great, but enough for me.

The Cheesecake Factory.  I didn't have high expectations. But what I had I liked.
The Kobe Burger was pretty tasty.  And it was enough for me.  The single order of shortcake ice cream could set most people over.  But not this group.  2 or 3 could be devoured.
I learned my lesson from Nina's ice cream that your eyes will lie to your stomach.  And all you need is a taste, and that's enough to satisfy.  I had my taste.  And I was done.

That strawberry shortcake + vanilla ice cream had no chance.
Kinda like a seagulls and a french fry.


I even got to see a car show for FREE.
I would love one of these Datsun's.  I think my generation will be the last to remember this company car name before it changed to what it is today.

I didn't get to go to NYC to hit a food truck.  But hopefully next year.  As well as Iron Chef Morimoto's resto in Philly.
Hope it's gud!
Leaving our mark in NJ 2013
Keep it clean and tidy.  it's not that hard.