First run in with the law

So this isn't always the best experience, a run in with the cops that is. However coming out from it, I can now just laugh, and it's a good little story to remember. Plus it wasn't anything too serious. 
So this happened nearly two weeks ago one the 8th of July. We had driven back up from the shore to the house in Pennsylvania because the dog was sick and needed to go to the vet, and Ethan had hockey practice. The vet appointment was at 1pm, and we had no food at the house so I needed to get them something before we went there. I stopped in at Panera Bread which was on the way. Of course the dog had to go with us because we were taking him to the vet, I rolled down all the windows in the car at least two or more inches and we went inside. Now yes it was quite a hot day, but we weren't inside for any longer than 10 minutes. As I walked outside there was a police car parked behind my car blocking me in. I walked towards the car to ask them what the problem was, when this lady who was talking to the police started yelling at me asking if i cared about my poor dog and if I was a dog hater. The police asked her to be quiet so that they could talk to me. Apparently in that 10 minutes the lady had seen the dog in the car and called the police. The officer explained to me that for every minutes the car is left off the temperate inside rises by 10 degrees. All I wanted to say to him was "thanks for the fun fact", but I had to restrain myself. They told me that I shouldn't bring the dog out next time and that I needed to, as a pet owner, be more responsible for my pet. They weren't going to charge me or anything, they just wanted to let me know the risk of leaving your dog in a car.

After taking my name, address, and number they said that I was free to go. When the lady who called the police found out they weren't going to arrest or charge me. She started to come towards me yelling that I was evil and doing the work of satan. This is what was the most terrifying part. The police officers had to hold her away from me and they told me to get into my vehicle and leave. I guess she must be a real dog lover.

So that was my little experience with the police, it's not the most exciting story, but it really got my heart racing for a second. A bonus was that the cop was really cute. Oh and yes the dog was perfectly the fine, he was happily sitting in Preston's car seat the whole time without a care in the world. 

Baby in the Summer time

Ahhh Summer time. A wonderful time of the year. The weather is hot, the people are happy, and the days are exciting. After the dreadful winter that the US experienced it's fair to say this summer was welcomed with open arms by everyone. For me this summer means looking after the boys full time on Jersey Shore (no i haven't seen Snooki yet). My days are filled with looking for cheap or free ways to entertain the boys, cleaning up after them, and running errands like none stop grocery shopping, as the boys like to eat us out of the house on a daily basis. 

Some of our favorite things to do are of course spending hours on the beach, swimming, building sandcastles, surfing - I should really say badly attempting-, and soaking up the vitamin D. We go for long bike rides or walks to Atlantic city, which is roughly 3 Miles away from the house. There is lots to just look at there, but it's hard to stop the boys from asking me for money every five seconds. Morgan loves spending hours at the Apple Store, Ethan in the sporting goods stores, and Preston is just happy to browse around any shop as long as it's not for too long. We often go to the local park which is a short two minute walk away, or even the library, where the boys don't do so much reading but they do pick out movies. 

For me i'm just trying to see this time as a great chance to enjoy the surroundings and be more active. Even though the boys do drive me crazy and I would really love for them to be back at school sometimes. I'm getting the chance to get to know each of them better, and to just have fun with them. Yes of course there are things that their parents want them to do like reading for school, and cleaning the house. But really for me summer is about having a break from all the school stuff and just having time to do what you love most.

Some of the fun things that we did this week were baking some very interesting peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. The boys didn't want me to help them at all, so the end result was a pile of stuck together cookies, smothered in Hershey's Chocolate sauce. Let's just say I didn't eat much of them, but the boys were super proud of themselves. Ethan and his cousin who are visiting wanted to paint my nails Spider-man themed (for what reason I don't have a clue). But I let them and the result was quite hilarious. The boys did the Habanero Pepper challenge, which resulted in a lot of red faces, itchy tongues, and milk being consumed. We made a short film with Morgan, where he experimented with slow motion and sound effects. I got the wonderful role of producer (not sure why) and boom mic holder (yay for me).

All in all it was a busy and somewhat stressful week with their cousin being here. But I'm just trying to look at the positives and the fun that we had. On Monday the 21st it's going to be my 19th birthday. Not a big one in terms of year, but it's still a birthday, and I can legally drink in Canada now, bonus! I love birthdays so i'm really excited for it, but of course I wish I could be with my family and friends back home to celebrate. However the family here are being amazing and making sure that I feel really special. They are taking me out for dinner, and i'm being treated to a mani/pedi. I will do another post all about my birthday.

Until then i'm going to keep enjoying my weekend and hopefully a great week next week.

Traffic

Seriously America? Traffic! I freaking hate traffic. I know that I come from nearly the smallest place on earth, where getting stuck behind 10 cars for 2 minutes is considered traffic. But what I experienced here today was terrible. What should have been an 1 1/2 hour car journey, turned into a 4 hour car journey. Like who wants to be stuck in traffic for that long. It was exhausting and irritating. I don't even understand how traffic like that occurs. Not to mention that as soon as I got to my destination I had to take one of the children to a friends house 30 minutes away. So I ended up being in the car for another hour on top of that. I sure did not sign up of this. 

I honestly put it down to bad roads. Roads here for one a awful, like the actual road bit. They are all bumpy and full of pot holes, which just love to put holes in your tyres. Second, the road system seems completely impractical. There aren't enough lanes to accommodate all the traffic, and they always seem to be doing road works at peak hour, blocking up more lanes. There other issue is public transport. I would be happy to catch the train to my destination. If only the trains actually went more often than every hour or more. Like there is no way that can be practical for people to access all the time.

Anyone I'm probably just from a small town where we don't have these issues. Plus my actual family are normal and don't try and make life harder for themselves by basing their homes, jobs, and sporting activities so far apart.

Well that's my rant about Americas traffic over... for now.