The J6 Journey: Year 4, July 19th-21st, 2019: Delaware Vacation Days 1-3

Breathe deeply. Ok, I'm starting this after midnight on the day we arrived in Delaware for vacation. Abishai took too many naps in the car and is now wide awake. Jared got up early to go to his normal breakfast meeting and then drove all day, so, I get to be the one to stay up with Abishai. Oh joy. Not! And I can't stand to be awake and not be productive, so here I go trying to recap the day while Benaiah, the only other person awake wrestles the preschooler. Pillow fight! Oi!

The day started out well and it ended well, too. We were all packed up and ready to go at 9:10am. We arrived at our destination at 10:30pm so not bad overall. The weather was beautiful and we saw a ton of awesome scenery, especially in Maryland! It reminded me so much of New Hampshire and that's all I could talk about. As we traveled east, the bridges and homes got older. It was like we were time traveling. In fact, the first settlement in Maryland was in 1631, a full 200 years before major settlements in Indiana. We even went through the Cumberland Gap which is the thinnest strip of land in Maryland's "neck" and where a few Civil War battles were fought. We are staying in a home in Delaware though, not quite in Lewes like I thought, but near a wildlife preserve for migrant birds. Not sure if and when we can explore that, but it would be fun. I didn't hurt too much in the van, but all the kids had one complaint or another. We were trying to be cheap on food and eat up what I had brought from home, which was every perishable thing from the fridge. Thankfully, we had done a great job eating down what we had. I didn't bring carbs for the others because I thought we would stop so yes, the kids were a little hungrier than normal and that's ok. I didn't buy pop either. Anyway, I did write a few things down that I can journal with the pictures. It will be hard to narrow the scenary photos I took. We didn't end up stopping at a park to take photos, but that's ok.

Oh, and the van we are borrowing is very nice, and I can control the temperature well. It's a bit cramped in my opinion, but we are managing. Jared drove the whole way, so I was in the passenger seat the whole time. He didn't listen to an audiobook as expected but we also didn't talk much either. I did read some of Chalene Johnson's 131 method book and played my phone game. One thing that is hard is charging phones in the car. They charge super slow. Pretty annoying. So we took turns. I had to use my backup battery as well, so now I have to recharge that. Sigh. Overall, we got along. I heard Justin and Keturah on the backseat playing video games. Benaiah interacted with Abishai in the middle. There was a few "don't parent them" and "stop whining about....." but again, nothing to ruin my mood. But sitting on the floor is ruining my posture, so I must go before Abishai dumps out all the board games. Eeek! Go to bed Mr. 12:40 am!!!

Delaware Travel Day 07/19/2019 Playlist

Thanks to travel medication and a slightly earlier than normal wake up time, the kids and I all had a nap during the first couple of hours. In fact, I slept or read through all of Indiana and Ohio and part of Pennsylvania, the parts I've seen numerous times.

Columbus, Ohio.

It's very true!

Way too hot! Like stay inside all day kind of hot!

I let the boys visit A&W which we hadn't had since we left Canada while the rest of us had a bit to eat at McDonald's. Cheese curds and mama or papa burger. Yum!

Little guy, still in his pjs, was so hungry since he didn't eat much breakfast.

Even Benaiah got in the play place! But he barely fit in the tube slide! He's just practicing for when his kids get stuck up there and he has to climb to get them down.

Hi, Justin! This play place is exactly like the one at the Washington St. McDonald's off of US-52.

Keturah on a pogo stick. Jump your energy out, we still have half a trip left.

So.....much.....gorgeous.....scenery....through the mountains. No one else really cared except for me though.

We went though this little neck of West Virgina, cut through the corner of Pennsylvania, traveled a few more minutes in West Virgina before hitting the state highway/road that would take us through Maryland to Delaware. We avoided every toll, too!

Water! We are getting closer to the coast!

Time for tunnel(s)!

Short and sweet tunnel.

Daylight.

This bus was pulling a small SUV behind it. It definitely was not a school bus any longer.

The roads take me back to the NH highways. Ah....

Home of Cabela's, which is like Dick's sporting goods? Lots of outdoor stuff for hunting and sports.

Pennsylvania! Last time I traveled this far east by car was when I was 5 weeks pregnant with Abishai. I did NOT enjoy that spring back home to Charlottetown to get Justin to summer camp. It's a 24 hr drive and I literally could only give Jared a 2 hr break. I felt so ill with morning sickness and no meds. Not fun at all.

These towns must have been named after someone's kids.

Back in West Virginia for a bit.

Hey look! We found Star City! Home of the Green Arrow! Bwahahaha!

Now through the top of West Virginia into the neck of Maryland. Usually when we go east, we go right through Pennsylvania from west to east. Going south of Pennsylvania is new and different. Yeah! I don't know which way we drove when I went on a college tour with some friends but I do know that we went through Kenova, West Virginia on the KY border around midnight on that trip. Kenova, WV is where Michael W. Smith was born and raised. The Smiths were very well known in town when Michael was growing up.

Lots of old overpasses that are just built way differently than the modern ones.

Jared had everyone get out and touch West Virginia soil so we can count it on our state maps of the states we each have been to! They weren't so sure of it, but did it anyway.

Yeah, WV!

Ok, we did it, now let's get back in the van.

Another state, Maryland!

Benaiah said these trees look like broccoli. He's not wrong.

Ah yes, windy roads with lots of trees through mountains and valleys. We got to a height of 2800 ft above sea level. Appalachian Mountains, baby! And we did pass a sign for the Appalachian trail, too.

Must be getting close. There's a light house! Not really, we still had hours to go, but that's a cool way to make your church visible!

The neck of Maryland, going through the Cumberland Gap. It's where some Civil War battles were fought and Daniel Boone helped to explore.

Steep downgrades!

Getting closer to the old cities of Baltimore and Washington, D.C. which sit very close together. No wonder there's a ton of traffic. By the way, Baltimore is NOT the capital of Maryland, Annapolis is. We passed through it a bit, too, but it's much, much smaller than Baltimore.

More water, more bridges.

Meanwhile the girls were testing out the pool for us.

Oh yes, I know how they chiseled through rock to create the roads. Beautiful picture o the layers of sediment after Noah's flood.

Last food stop. We ate some food we brought from home like those "burger cookies." I didn't have enough carbs for hem, but they survived. We also got to stretch our legs, wrestle, and roll down the hill.

Abishai knows how to roll down at super speed! But he never rolls straight, it's always at an angle.

I finally got the boys to wrestle a little bit and let off some steam.

Abishai lasted 2/3 of the trip before I gave him the tablet. We were getting tired of playing the "Are we there yet?" "Not yet. (in a sing songy voice)" with him. He was teasing us mostly about it.

Woot! Woot! Getting close!

Yeah! That's where we will be during next week!

Bay Bridge, the only way in this area to get from one side of Maryland to the other side over the Chesapeake Bay.

Here we go over the big bridge! We were on the two lane side but the other one was 3 three lanes. They can switch the direction cars go on that 3rd lane depending on the traffic.

Gorgeous sunset OVER WATER!!!! It was like we were on the Confederation bridge in Souris, PEI.

Kind of pretty at night! Easier to see as well.

Our turn to go through the truss work.

Almost to the other side.

Must be getting closer to the coast. Cities named with some kind of reminder of beach life!

Just a couple of more hours from Maryland straight across to Delaware. But our GPS car unit wanted us to take the long route around tolls and the bridge. It took it a long time to recalculate.

Man, I wish we could go down to Chincoteague Island where the ponies are! I read and reread those books mutlipel times. I just know if we have time for a big field trip where the others don't have a clue why it's so cool. Yup.

We ended up on highway 1, which goes all the way in Maine, down the coass, and all the way to the Florida Keys. I think it's broken up in a few pieces, but how cool is that to be on the same road as my sisters and friends might use.

Saturday was our stay at home day. And boy did we need it! Abishai didn't go to sleep until after 1am. I didn't go to bed until nearly 1:40am. Then the sun started to wake me up at 5:40. Abishai was back up by 6:30. And the other kids soon followed. They stayed as quiet as they could after being told they can't get breakfast without us, being in a stranger's house and all. Maybe tomorrow we can let them get their own breakfast. Then we made them wait until 9am to swim, heaven forbid! Abishai asked every 90 seconds, "Can we swim yet?" Good grief. So Uncle Jared went outside with them. It's already nearly 90 degrees. It's supposed to be 99 degrees today with a heat index of 110 or so. Yuck! It's so oppressive! And being in the air conditioned car or house is deceiving. But I loved how we drove through the Appalachian Mountains like the ones in NH and then we were on the flat coastal plain of Delaware like on PEI. I had drunk too much caffeine, so I had a hard time going to sleep and all I could think of is how much I miss those two places. I'm stilling begging God to send us to New England in 10 years. Jared says he likes New England, like I like Texas, i.e. not a fan. Of course he would say that. It's not his home. But it's mine. And I miss it. And the heat isn't oppressive for the whole summer. And you can get to Boston and New York at ease. And the coast, dude, the coast. And skiing, and more snow! Come on, now! Anyway, I wept. And then I couldn't get to back to sleep after 5:40am. It's going to be a long day and I'll need a nap. Abishai might need a nap, too. Especially after an early morning swim. Gary is out tuna fishing, Benaiah is at church for band rehearsal, and Leah is cooking food/hanging out at the other house. Her mom is very ill and in the hosptial and she might even pass away this week. I don't think it will change our plans for vacation, and perhaps they will delay a funeral until we get back. I don't know, but now we have that weighing on our hearts and minds. It's time though. Grandma Cook is 92 yeas old. It's time. But it's still hard. And it's hard for me to stay out of it.

And so far so good at pointing the kids to Jared when they ask questions. I've been reiterating the fact that I'm going to be hands off in decision making and kid stuff. I need to protect myself. I'm going to be selfish, but I have to be. No one else can take care of me like I do. Hopefully, Jared understands. We'll see when Gary and Leah come over. We are staying in a couples' house who purposefully set up their house to house interns and guests. So they booted the interns out and gave the J4 and the J6 the upstairs with two full baths, 3 bedrooms and a pull out couch. Gary and Leah are at another person's house, the preacher's house, with a different pool. I overheard Shauna say that they have already had some miscommunications. And she didn't know what was going on when they got rear ended yesterday, and a rock cracked the windshield! Leah didn't know where and how to cook/put away groceries. Gary's idea of "find a place to eat" is different than Shauna's. Yup, it's going to be an interesting ride. But no one has huge obligations and no one is competing for Shauna and Aaron's attention, so, it should be more "normal" which hasn't happened in two years.

Interestingly enough, so far, after all that worrying about my own heart and head issues, the kids are the ones with the whining and complaining and arguing. I'm trying to tease and be light hearted and it's backfired. Hm,...don't know what that's about except perhaps I have created a negative atmosphere at home and have contributed to the kids' negativity. Which make me sad of course. Again, I go to prayer for God to fill in the gaps when I fail. Not if I fail, when I fail, because I'm constantly failing.

Many hours later....phew, what a nice day "at home!" I'm so glad I have friends who pray for me and that I worked hard prior to this trip to work on my attitude. So far, so good. I have felt decently enough, although I could have drunk more water today. I was able to get in the pool and it's a saltwater pool which is so much better than a regular pool. I'm hoping some of the salt actually got absorbed into my body, because I've been fighting a headache all day. I didn't take any medication or special electrolyte drink, so to come to the end of the day without a major headache is wonderful! I did take a 2 hr nap this afternoon to compensate from last night's sleep. And so did Abishai, thankfully. And Jared. It was a struggle though for Abishai. He swam a total of 4 hrs today and even at 8:30pm he was beyond exhausted. I hope he sleeps well tonight. He's usually fine once he's asleep, but sometimes it's difficult to get him there. Thankfully, I felt well enough to keep track of the time and got everyone to bed at their usual times.

Grandma was here most of the day, but Grandpa didn't get back until 7:15pm. He was exhausted. It took them 3 hrs by boat to get to the fishing spot, 6 1/2 hrs fishing, and 3 hrs back. They didn't catch anything worth keeping either. And the interns that went with them threw up the whole time because there was 6-8 ft swells. Gary has an iron stomach, so he was ok. The water temperature was 80 degrees which is pretty warm (I don't think PEI or NH waters get that warm), and the fish don't come up to the surface when it's that warm. They did see some porpoises and a whale in the distance though. Gary was falling asleep as soon as he sat down in a chair. He did bring over some chips to eat but never opened them. And he has to preach 3 times tomorrow. I don't think he realized how exhausting it would be, especially since he is only getting older. The last time he went fishing was maybe on PEI with our friend Robbie, but that was like 5 years ago, or when he, Jared, and Aaron fished in Alaska before Jared and I got married. Anyway, early bedtime for all.

Overall it was a great day with some fun games like Headbandz. Even Leah played it, and be proud of me, I didn't run upstairs to get my camera to take a picture! I really don't want a ton of pictures to process, so I'm taking less of the mundane and waiting for our days in Washington, D.C. to go crazy. The kids played video games, read books, and watched Home Improvement. I guess the girls had started watching it and liked it, so they are continuing to watch it. It's a decent show from the '90's like Full House was. I've seen a few episodes and knew who the actors were. Fun times! Everybody got at least 4 hrs of swimming in, including Benaiah! And they all ate ice cream with Grandpa. I rearranged the fridge at lunch time, but haven't looked in it since everything was put away at dinner time. We parents are bound and determined to include the kids in helping with meal prep and clean up. Shauna is taking some kind of medication for the cancer and I'm preserving my energy so we need all the help we can get. I haven't had to ask for too much help with the kids yet. But then again, I didn't go out to the pool for long when they were out this morning, so that was 2 hrs of peace and quiet. Then I had a 2 hr nap. Then I worked for another hr while others prepped supper. And then I swam with just Abishai and Benaiah for 45 minutes. I haven't been around the kids too much. But I can tell Keturah needs alone time and sleep. So, I'll try to get her to have quiet time tomorrow afternoon between church and our sunset cruise. And we are feeding the interns tomorrow after church as well, and swimming. Then on Monday, we'll go to a local beach at a state park.

Yeah for a great first full day!

5:45 am, they are still sleeping, but by 6:45, they will be moving around and told not to go downstairs until 8 and no swimming until 9!

Finally! He slept maybe 5 hrs. He usually sleeps about 10. We'll see how he does today.

Sleeping beauties.

That's what time I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. 4 hrs of sleep for me. Ugh.

Breakfast time! The owners don't have kids, so there's not plastic plates or anything. We do have paper ones, though. I'm just worried about breaking dishes.

Breakfast with the wee ones.

THIS is a microwave! Yes, you pull out this drawer and put your plate in. And the buttons come out from the top. Crazy! This house also has automatic spigots on the kitchen sinks and even a water tap over the stove for filling up pots!

Sun room shenanigans while they wait for the adults to finish breakfast so they could go swimming. I'm a little nervous about kids being near the pool without adults because of what I've read recently about drowning. Time to wait and be safe!

Hey, why didn't you come sit next to me! You're too far away! I love that the eating space at the island is low enough for real chairs instead of bar stools. No extra climbing for me!

Pool time! Saltwater pool, and very warm! The "lining" is painted on I think over hard plastic? And there's this landing "pad" where you can lay down and put your head back on a step like a pillow. The owner's wife has to have to warm for a skin condition. I loved the saltwater!

Lots and lots of swim time. Everybody used sunscreen at first but didn't reapply it, so they all got a little pinker today. Abishai's Spiderman floaties finally bit the dust, so it's good that I brought the backup pair. Grandma bought some other floatie things to use as well. Abishai swam the length of the pool with only one good floatie all by himself!

Somebody started a puzzle while they waited for us parents to get up this morning.

This house is very much a beach themed house and will be the retirement home of the couple who built it. They actually work in Baltimore and have an apartment there during the week. They own a painting business I guess. Anyway, this is a beach house and our bathroom has lots of lighthouses! My favorite!

So pretty!

3 bedrooms and two full bathrooms upstairs, plus the loft. I assume another full bathroom and bedroom downstairs for the couple. It's a perfect way to be hospitable to others like interns because it's literally two minutes from church. I think it's a couple our age who just got married a few years ago or something and doesn't have kids. Or maybe they have grandkids that live far away, I don't know. But I love the themed bedrooms!

Already time to play Minecraft!

After screaming for 20 minutes, Jared was able to work his magic and hold onto Abishai as he thrashed about like he did when he was two years old. I got to lay there and watch Abishai give up the fight and go to sleep. I miss watching him sleep like that. Never too old for Daddy to work his sleepy time magic.

How I found them two hrs later after my nap in Benaiah's bed. It was really hard to wake up Abishai, and it took him a little bit to warm up to other people again, but eventually he did.

I don't want to wake up, I want to snuggle.

Too hot! 110 degree heat index, too. Gross! It's a sauna out there!

The girls were bored so Grandma recruited them to help with supper prep tonight and food prep for lunch tomorrow.

All them kids sitting in a row.

Big brother helping little brother in the pool. So sweet! Benaiah was also in charge at the end of the first swim session this morning when Jared had come in with Abishai. He did fine with the other kids. Aaron and Shauna swam with Everly, Nora, Justin, and Keturah, this afternoon while we were taking naps.

Aww, he will make a great Daddy like his Daddy is. In time, he'll learn to be more patient with kids of all ages. Sweet!

Benaiah claimed he wanted to learn how to fix his own things, so, I taught him how to sew up a hole in his pants. He did pretty well! Yeah!

It's so funny to see big fat hands using a needle and thread, but hey, at least he did! Grandma Howell would be very proud!

Not a great picture of me, but at least Aaron got us working together.

Sunday Sunday, not a great day for me. Woke up with bad vertigo. Made it to church, the middle service at 10, and then laid back down when we came home. Others prepped lunch, I ate lunch, and promptly went back upstairs to rest again. We were going on a sunset cruise of the bay, so I was conserving my energy for that. And it worked! I still had a bit of vertigo but my eyes didn't hurt as much and after a 2nd dose of dramimine, I was ok. (Woke up the next day a little sore from standing but the vertigo was gone). The kids enjoyed church, lunch, swimming, etc. Benaiah did fine on drums, and Gary is doing his financial series, and today's sermon was on giving. He used the apple illustration he's used many times where he has someone eat the apple to its very core and encouraging people to give from their first fruits and not from the leftovers. Good reminders of course, but boring for me. I sat through all of service, too.

The sunset cruise was fun. The guys running the boat were entertaining and even let the kids drive the boat if they wanted to! They weren't anal about rules and such. People brought snacks and even alcohol on board (and a dog). It was a pontoon type boat so it didn't rock too much. We went up and down the channel and then out to the edge of the Atlantic Ocean to see a couple of lighthouses and breakwater lines. We also saw 4 dolphins! A person from the church, Steve, went with us, and his wife packed a bunch of snacks and drinks. Awesome! There was even a little bathroom on board if we needed it. We saw all kinds of things like ospreys and their nests, a dolphin in the channel, fancy boats and houses, the Delaware State Police boat, research boats for a nearby university, a weather facility, a wildlife facility, etc. The boat's pilot shared about how the breakwater line was formed over 50 years by hand 200 years ago. We saw brown pelicans even! And the area that was on the opposite side of where our beach would be the next day. It was 2 hr cruise and it was perfect. Well, except for someone's beer spilling and the nasty greenhead flies that bite multiple times! Those things are nasty! (They were at the beach, too!) I've never had flies like that around water that bite so much! Horrible creatures! It was slightly cooler on the water, but still very warm and humid. We were glad to be in air conditioned cars on the short ride back. It was a fun excursion and worth the $24 per person price (or whatever discount we got on it).

And everyone fell asleep quite quickly that night.

I know I'm going to quickly fall behind, but when I have snippets of time, I'm going to try to keep uploading pics and at least doing the big journaling portion when I can. So, I will just share the iPhone pics first and DSLR pics second for most of our vacation blog posts, and the videos were be in daily playlists. It's a lot less work than trying to coordinating it all. Here goes!

Delaware Vacation Playlist 7/20-21/2019

Sunday, 7/21/19 iPhone pics:

When you're a ministry family, you're never far away from the ministry, even on vacation this time! Actually, this has NEVER happened, but we choose our vacation location this year based on Gary's travels. And the church needed a drummer both weekends we are here, so there ya go! It's just what it is. Benaiah was very glad to have something to do, especially one of his favorite and more menaingful hobbies. You'd be surprised how little he gets to play video games these days.

Gary preaching about giving, one of his favorite topics.

I LOVE this idea for the young ones. Cute!

Sweet! It says "Developing" not "Eloping" ok? ok.

Woah, I had NO idea this was going to be the new line up! That's nuts! And yes, these aren't fake! This was what was announced at this year's Comic Con! (Yeah for keeping up with "the world" even on vacation thanks to technology).

Practicing for their cherry pit spitting contest with Gary.

There were a few pieces that still didn't fit quite right, but the puzzle pieces were extremely similar. Pretty puzzle!

Playing volleyball in the pool. The big kids got up to 11 hits before the ball fell.

I honestly don't think I've seen 99 degrees before. Not even in Indiana. Maybe we have, but it's so rare! Ouch! Anybody want to go out in the sauna? No need to buy one!

Cute little boy watching his tablet. I LOVE these recliners! Automatic AND it has regular plugs AND usb plugs in the drink holder area! No more trying to find plugs underneath or behind furniture! Sweet!

The sunset cruise was definitely out of a working fishing dock with huge fishing boats. I kept thinking about Robbie, our lobster fisherman on PEI, and how Jared got to go out on his boat looking for tune like Gary just did here. We are what, 1,000 miles a part, but it's still a coastal town. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the coast. Never ever doubt it. This is where I belong!

Boats!

The 4 middle grandchildren. All of whom are hormonal at times and have brain farts constantly. Meaning that they aren't little kids but they are too forgetful to be young adults yet. Their brains are being rewired and are "in progress......failure to load. Restart download. Internet connection is done." mode, lol!

Look, I'm on a another boat! I can't get enough!

Hi, Aaron!

Three ospreys all vying for a spot on the nest. Ospreys aren't mates for life, but they are attached to the same nests.

These will probably be repeats from the DSLR, but come on, there's nothing like water and sunsets and boats and the salty sea air. NOTHING.

Fancy lighthouse looking house at the end of the road with some other homes for those who are rescluses, lol.

Ah............

We started at the bottom right hand part of the channel there, went up the channel and then backtracked and went out out to the Atlantic Ocean/Deleware Bay. I love how this channel is great for protecting the smaller fishing boats in harsh winter and then there are breakwater stone walls in the bay so the bigger boats can anchor out there and still be protected.

Oooooooo.............

Ah.........

Driving the boat! Mr. Justin, the driver, was very kind to the kids and laidback. He did have plenty of knowledge to share about the area though.

Our Justin is such a natural at the helm, complete with the tanned skin and beach hair. Love it!

Wow!

One of two main lighthouses. Ospreys have a nest up top now. Probably fully automated now.

"My lighthouse, my lighthouse...." Yes, the worship song totally came into my head just then. I love everything about the coasts, and yes, all the lighthouses!

Perfection! Put it on a postcard!

I can't get enough! And I haven't even posted the DSLR pictures yet!

Dolphin time at the other lighthouse we saw. It was very hard to get great pictures, but there were four Atlantic bottle nosed dolphins we saw on our sunset cruise. They did jump a bit out of the water. I hope that helped to satisfy the dolphin lovers, Keturah and Everly (and me). The boat company does take dolphin alone tours and sometimes they will see tons more.

That's the other lighthouse. I have more pics on the DSLR camera. Dolphins, sea water, harbor, sunset, light houses, even the smell of a dock, what's NOT to love?! I am SO a New Englander! Too bad my parents couldn't handle the coasts. They, like me, would get heatstroke.

Mood lighting on the way back into shore. Actually, Gary was talking about typical church stuff with Steve, our host. He's always trying to have deep conversations with everyone about church things and what can be improved or be more Biblical and what not. Gary moves from Level 1 conversation to Level 3-5 conversation quite quickly.

Shauna took this picture as we were setting out into the channel. Nice cookie face Abishai, and hey, look at me with a camera in my hand! I don't think I've ever had a picture of me like that! Hehe! Thanks Shauna!

Kids went to bed quickly, so the four of us watched "A League of their Own." A classic from our childhood. Not something Jared and I would have picked, but something to relax and unwind with. Ah.....

DSLR pics: Remember, some of these may seem redundant, and that's partly because I take the same photo on my phone as the DSLR so that I can easily upload it to social media. The other reason is that I'm actually uploading and captioning many of these photos a week later than I did the other ones, so I don't know what I've already talked about. So forgive me for being inconsistent. We'll see what I come up with! FYI, note to self, doing anything on the computer at 8pm EST in Indiana with the direct sun coming in the sunroom window makes it really, really difficult to see my screen. Oh well, gotta type.

Swimming, swimming, over the ocean blue...every day that we were "home" and it wasn't raining, the kids swam at least once for an hr, sometimes twice. Who needs swimming lessons? Not our crew!

Water volleyball! Abishai really wanted to participate, too.

Everybody got involved, even Grandpa. We always had Jared, Benaiah, or Grandpa in the pool with the kids. Most of the time it was Jared.

Jump to sunset cruise. I got some great pics! Check them out! Nora and Abishai peering out the back of the boat while we wait to get started.

Looking south of us on the channel. From fishing docks to personal docks to tours like ours, lots of seafarers!

The dimple twins! Justin with his dimple on his right cheek and Everly has hers on her left cheek. But seriously, they sport the same Johnson profile, don't they?

Ready to hit the high seas in style! And I think that's Nora cheesing a big grin in the background, too.

Somebody hates the sun. But he loves watching the waves.

At the start of our tour down the channel facing northwest I believe. My map indicated the channel was north/south, but I think it was more northwest/southeast.

Lots of fishing boats! We are in the Lewes, DE port.

A fancy sailboat that reminded me of when the sailboats and pirate type boats or tall ships came to Charlottetown. The Charlottetown ones are usually in Halifax, but I know one of them came from Florida with a crew of teenagers in a special program. Anyway, sailing!

Diva! Oh man, she looks like her Aunt Stasia right here, too. Nora looks more like Shauna and her side of the family. She still hates her picture taken, too.

I will take your picture no matter if you smile or not. And when I say that, it usually makes Nora smile. I'm sure she fusses at her mom, but she's kind enough to not fuss with me. She tries to hide of course, and I'm usually not up in her face, but I'll sneak in a picture here and there.

Homes along the channel, and I think some of those ospreys were there on the dock as well. There's a lot of manmade platforms for osprey nests along the channel thanks to nature centers and conservationists and the nearby university.

Large osprey nest in that tree. Ospreys return to the same nest every year, but don't always have the same mate.

There's one of those platforms! The ospreys will fight over the nest, especially when the juveniles come back the next year.

Osprey landing on nest.

Like I said, there's a Delaware University of some kind near here, so there's of course all kinds of research going on, including a large modern windmill. This was about the time that the large "greenhead" flies started attacking us. Those flies are MEAN. I grew up with insects and being oustide all the time, even around horses and horseflies, but I have never experienced such aggressive flies with huge need to bite! Ugh! Thankfully we were moving on the water enough to keep most of them at bay.

One of the university's research boats. Being near the shore and having the Atlantic Ocean very close provides lots of opportunities for research of marine life but also fishing and even sea rescues. I think this channel was somewhat manmade, but the bay on the other side was God made. Just think of the first settlers coming to America and finding these bays and inlets where they can safely harbor during a storm and do trade with the Native Americans, etc. I'm sure there are wrecks on the bottom of the ocean floor, too, to explore. Nearly 400 years of history in this area probably! Compared to only 200 or so in Indiana. That's pretty neat!

Wildlife refuge/conservation, etc. And the sign includes a mermaid on it just for fun.

Delaware State Police boat is being stationed here right now because I think our boat captain said a week or two ago there was this huge raid/chase of a large vessel that might have been carrying illegal drugs. I forget the details, but it was a big deal. Abishai liked that it was a police boat like in his Lego sets.

The J2 adults.

Osprey landing/taking off.

Marshlands.

Sunset cruises are the best! We were able to take on our own food and drink, too, which was nice.

The lighthouse shaped house and community. The builder died I think before being able to occupy it. It's kind of an exclusive community, and the house has been rented out to writers and painters at different times.

Yummy oreos. We had tables and chairs/benches to sit on under a nice canopy on the pontoon boat. And the seas were pretty calm.

Just beyond that buoy is the Atlantic Ocean! And it's the first time for many of us to be on it!

We had some cloud cover, but that made for incredible views like this. It muted the sun a bit, which helps when taking photos of it.

Our crew.

The first lighthouse at one of the end of the handmade breakwall.

Shore bird scooping up its dinner I think.

Lots of shore birds out there. Just a bit further down this peninsula is where we went to the beach the next day.

The other lighthouse on the other side of the breakwater wall. Love it!

Dolphins! We saw a total of 4 of them, two at a time. We circled the area for a long time. The cruise company also does dolphin tours further out in the ocean and they've seen a hundred dolphins at once sometimes.