Riverview Beach Park

Riverview Beach Park in Pennsville is a lovely spot situated on the Delaware River with a view of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. It was once an amusement park with rides, and boatloads of daytrippers from places such as Philadelphia and Wilmington would crowd the park daily to overflowing. In the 1950s, the City of Pennsville got tired of the crowds and shut the place down. They removed all the rides and the Olympic sized swimming pool and cleaned the place up. Today it has a seawall with a nice walkway along the river and a dirt/sand/gravel walk around the perimeter of the park where dozens (hundreds?) of folks walk every day.
I was walking Tiger in the park the other day (as I have been doing for more than fifteen years) and as I was strolling along I was remembering some of the things that make the park so enjoyable for me. Tiger and I have met many folks, with and without dogs, on our walks and made a lot of friends. Currently there is an older couple (about my age) who walk their two Basset Hounds, Rufus and Huckleberry, every day and they just love Tiger, both the folks and the hounds (who drool all over him). Over the years, most of my family members have joined me on walks in the park. I recall many walks with Ellie and Micki (when they were about five or six years old) who loved to climb on the toy train and animals on the playground. I pushed them on the swings and spun them around and around on the merry-go-round. A few years later, Jennifer and Ellie introduced Charley to Jennifer's friend, Darah, (a really cute little blonde) at the park. (He was impressed.) Once, when Tiger was just a few months old, he jumped out of the car after I had parked near the walkway and ran after some geese that were a few feet away. The geese were not in the least impressed by him and one of them had rolled him over and was standing on top of him by the time I came to his rescue. It took him awhile but he finally got even a few months ago, he chased some geese again and this time got a mouthful of tail feathers as they ran squawking into the water. Grandma used to take Glen and Jennifer on picnics in the park and took Glen fishing in the pond there. Tiger and I got our picture in the paper after a reporter met us walking in the park during a near blizzard. Of course there is the annual Septemberfest with the parade and then festivities in the park all afternoon culminating with fireworks in the evening. Now Samantha and I enjoy the new playground equipment put in by the recreation department a few years ago. She loves to climb and slide and swing and I've taken a few pictures of her in the process.
There is a fountain near the front of the park with a brick walkway around it. People can purchase a brick, engraved to honor the memory of a loved one, and have it placed in the walkway. I had a brick placed there in memory of my wife, your mom, grandma and great grandma. I think that it is a fitting tribute that she is included among the memories that many of us share of this park and our family.

Random pix slideshow

I added a couple of pictures to the random picture feature on the side of the blog. In case you aren't familiar with it, you can click on any picture in the block and it will give you a large view of that picture and, to the right of the picture is a slideshow prompt. Enjoy.

Baby Ryan Update

Okay, we've finished our classes (parenting and breastfeeding) and we (especially myself) have learned a lot. According to the doctor things are still on schedule and everything looks okay. I recently spoke with Jennifer and informed her (sadly) that Samantha isn't allowed up to the room after we have the baby and therefore, won't be able to see him until we bring him home (about 2 days after the birth). Samantha is getting pretty excited about her 'baby cousin' although I don't think she quite understands that it won't be like one of her 'babies' (her dolls that she mothers). Laura has been getting more and more tired and more and more sore. She has been spending quite a bit of time in bed during the day and quite a bit of time not in bed (wandering around/bathroom/etc.) during the night. She's excited and scared, but I really think that she is ready to have this baby. A brief update, but I'm sure I'll have more news in the coming weeks... C-y'all later.

Football Pool Link

Look right ---->

I posted the link in the 'links of interest section' for the log in page of the football pool... the title of this post should also be a link to it as well.

Side note... am I the only one who can't see the 'comments' link under Jimmy's football pool post? I saw it earlier... if I am the only one, I'm probably having a cookie issue (and no that does not mean a craving for Oreo's).

Labor Day

Labor Day Pix

The family gathered at my house for a cook-out on Monday. Debbie, Glen, Laura, John, Jennifer and, of course, Samantha. We had BBQ chicken, Hamburgers, hot dogs (Glen's favorite), pasta salad, corn on the cob, baked beans and watermelon. We topped that off with a round of frozen Margaritas (iced tea in a stemmed glass for Samantha) on the porch and let our dinner settle. Then we all went for a ride on the boat. We crossed the Delaware River and went about three miles down the canal. We came back to the Salem River and anchored at the spoil island. We hung out there for awhile, John and Samantha made sand castles and we played around in the sand. Debbie and I got some pictures so I've included a few. (Samantha loves the boat, I took her out for a short ride last Wednesday when I was babysitting, just she and I, and she really enjoyed it.) Everyone had fun and we got back to the dock around 7:30. A really nice day.

Site Updates

Okay, I had too many 'site changes' posts so to clarify I am making this summary post and I have deleted all the other posts.

Recent Comments Section

As per a recent conversation with both Grandpa and Diana (via e-mail), the recent comments section is now on the right side (called sidebar). It is in chronological order, with the newest comment being on the top. My original attempts at this had several issues, what you see currently has the least amount of quirks. You will see something like this:

Gleezus:
I saw this and had to show you guys...

If you click on the name it will take you to that person's profile. Not really that important right now, but nice to have nonetheless. If you click on the words underneath the name (actually it is the subject of the post that was 'commented' on) you will be taken to a screen with the post and comment(s). However, while changing codes back and forth, this feature will only be on comments left from this point on. For the old comments you will have to click on the link underneath the post which should look something like this:

6 comments

This should be a minor inconvenience as we won't be looking at what little old comments we have right now anyway. Also, the sidebar can only hold 10 'recent' comments so anything older than that you'll have to use the feature listed below.

One more feature, if you hold your mouse pointer over the link under the person's name for just a couple of seconds a little yellow box should appear with the first few words of the comment (this is handy for short comments like 'yes', 'no', etc.).

Any questions about this just e-mail me. I won't be able to check my e-mail until either Monday or Thursday though.

New Comments

Also, to help people see if there are new comments on a certain post. I have added some code that says if there are any new comments on a particular post. You will see something that looks like this at the bottom of a post where the comments link is:

2 comments - This means you have read what comments are there and none are new (uses cookies to determine this).

1 new comment! - This means that someone has commented on this post and you have not read it yet (does not show the other 2 posts at this point).

3 comments - This is what it will say once you refresh the screen and the site knows you've read all the posts.

Be the first to comment! - You may also see something like this where the comments link usually is, this means that no one else has commented yet and when you click on the link it will take you directly to the 'post a comment screen'.

Pictures

I should have sent everyone an e-mail about this (if you didn't receive a message from me let me know). In summary, you should see a box with random pictures in the sidebar. This is from a website called flickr. All you have to do to add pictures to this is e-mail the picture as an attachment to the e-mail address I sent you. You can title the picture by putting your 'title' in the subject field, and you can put a 'description' in the message field. It updates fairly quickly and you should be able to see your submitted picture within minutes. This is a great place to upload random pictures that don't necessarily deserve their own post, but you still want to share them. Adding pictures to your personal posts on the site has not changed though.

Links and Random Movie Quotes

If you would like to add a link to the site just let Grandpa or I know and we can do that (something that you think some of us might like or possibly something that most of us use).

I saw a random quotes thing on another page and I know that some of you guys are really into movies, so I thought that a random quote generator might be kind of neat. I took a lot of quotes from famous movies and coded them into this randomizer. If you feel I've missed some really good quotes, let me know and I can add them.

'Power Blogger' Button and Hit Counter

These are still here, but due to coding issues they had to be moved back down to the bottom of the sidebar.

Archiving

Archives are now weekly and any old post can be accessed via the links on the sidebar under 'Archives'. Also, the main page shows 7 days worth of posts. This does not mean just a weeks worth, it means that if no one posted for a couple of days the posts on the main page go back until the site sees 7 different days of posts (i.e. posts on 8-25, 8-26, 8-28, 8-30, 9-1, 9-2, 9-3 can all be on the same page if people didn't post on 8-27, 8-29, and 8-31, the site automatically fills in those days' slots by going back furthur).

If you have any questions, either e-mail me or drop a comment here and I'll respond as soon as I get a chance.

Tick Tock...

I know it's tacky... but it's cute.

Baby Shower & Parenting Class III

Baby Shower
This past Sunday was our baby shower. We got all kinds of stuff, clothes, a highchair, more clothes, blankets, towels, stroller, car seat, cradle, pads, stuffed animals, sheets, the smallest socks and hats I've ever seen (we'll see how long until I lose half of those), little shoes, etc. Mom, Diana, Grandpa... from all three of us, Thank You! Laura had her cousin (Erin - a bridesmaid from the wedding) keep track of who gave us what so expect a "thank you" card in the future. Diana, I was going to call you that day and say thanks, but I've lost my phone and therefore your number, so the next e-mail you send me drop your phone number in there for me. The baby shower was fun we ate and opened packages and talked with a bunch of Laura's relatives that I didn't know existed (she didn't even recognize some of them). Samantha came with Jennifer (a little late due to getting lost) and Samantha played most of the time with a girl (I can't remember how old she is but 7 comes to mind) named Carly - Carly (Laura's mom's best-friend's daughter) is extremely energetic and so is Samantha so they had fun together. I filled the van with stuff and Laura has been sorting (and washing) clothes by size since. We got a couple gift cards as well and went to Babies R Us yesterday and bought some soft blankets and some odds and ends that we still needed. Laura's grandmother is lending us a changing table and dresser for the baby's room and her parents are going to help us get a crib. So all-in-all, everything is going pretty well.

Parenting Class III
Well this was another fairly serious class, we discussed C-Sections in depth (and watched a video again - Yippee), we talked about 'drugs for Moms' (epidurals and such), and just chatted a bit until we were taken on a 'tour'. We were shown the room that the relatives get to stay in... not much room there, but supposedly they just broke a record with 40 people in the waiting room for ONE baby. Then we were taken to the 'holding room' - this is the room they put you in if you think you are in labor. If you are in labor they move you to the 'birthing room' which is actually quite large and very nice, the baby has a little room of his own off to the side and they put one of the department store 'don't steal this thing' security devices on the baby's umbilical cord so if anyone (including mom and dad) get the baby too close to the door all the doors lock and alarms go off and a big guard named Bubba comes with his rubber gloves to 'check you' (well all of that is true except for Bubba), which is nice to know that someone won't steal the baby, but I'll be the first one to set the damn thing off just pacing with the baby. The room was very hi-tech but still looked kinda 'homey' which made everyone feel a little more comfortable... there's even a daybed for me to attempt to sleep on if I can sleep the first night. Visitors are allowed up after the baby's born, but we are told to wait an hour for 'bonding' then we can bring people up in twos - Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, and such. We are excited (still nervous, but definitely excited) about the 'big day' and being able to bring him home. It's comin' up quick!

Oh, and we have finally decided on a name (it's the name we've been throwin' back and forth now for about 2 months) and announced it at the baby shower.

Ryan James Waltemire

Ryan (because its the only name we could agree on... I am quite picky about boy names - I didn't want a name that could be shortened or one that was too long... I must've inherited it from Harley's side) and James because of Grandpa.