OC

We went down the shore this weekend with my parents, sister, and brother-in-law. Here is how Hurricane Bill, which was 300 or so miles from the coast, affected us:

Friday evening:
We were all ready for the boardwalk, but HB (Hurricane Bill) decided to make it rain just when we were walking out the door. So,

Maddie smiled at the flag on Aunt Yvonne's lap,

while Emma ate a chocolate pretzel and got it all over the porch chairs.

(We did have a good time playing games and eating Chinese food after the girls went to sleep, so it wasn't a total loss.)

Saturday morning, HB gave us some more rain until about lunch time, so we decided to skip the beach. My mom, sister, and I wanted to get a pedicure, and I felt so bad for Emma, who kept asking to "play in the sand" and "go swimming", so I brought her with us. I felt a little funny, but I let the lady paint her toes pink, and she was an angel (Emma, not the lady).

"Drying" her toes and keeping occupied with a lollipop (her feet didn't reach the dryer).

Before dinner, Bill and I took Emma to the rides, but I didn't take my camera with me. But she had a blast!

That night, we went on a double date to the Melting Pot in AC. I ate so much I thought I was going to explode, but it was worth every bite. Yum! Then we went to the casinos, paid $20 to park for 20 minutes and lost $20 in the slots. Maybe that's why we never go there :)
Sunday, I felt optimistic that the news reporters were wrong, and we would have a great beach day. My parents, Bill, Emma, and I packed up and walked down to the beach (Maddie stayed back with Aunt Yanni). When we got to our usual beach spot at the end of the boardwalk, the entrance was roped off, paramedics were treating injured surfers, and there was NO beach.

Emma's buddy Maggie.

The view of the beach from the boardwalk. Completely washed away.

We walked down the boardwalk further, and closer to the Music Pier you could get on the beach. So we went down to see what it was like. It was such a sad sight. People just lined up along the fence (I forget what it's called), the sand was disgusting and seaweedy and jellyfish were washed up along the water.

This was funny, and a little sad. Ken was left to enjoy the beach by himself.

Grandpop and Emma

Poor kid, all she wanted to do was play on the beach, and she couldn't. We ended up buying her an ice cream cone just so I didn't feel so bad for her (even if it was before lunch).

Emma wanted to go back down and look again at the "yucky beach" so Grandmom took her down one more time.

We ended up hanging around the house and going to a few shops the rest of the day. Some random pictures: