Whatever Works

Making Memories at Jenkinson's: How we do Mother's Day #JenksMemory

Ever since my sister and I started our own families and found ourselves so busy it sometimes hurts, we have been celebrating Mother's Day with my mom on a completely different day.  We find it much easier to celebrate our roles as moms when we don't feel all that pressure Mother's Day tends to throw at us.  It was our mom's idea.  None of us are the "brunch" type, really.  We prefer the beach, some boardwalk food, and watching the kids ride all the rides that we used to at their age.  (We even get on some ourselves.)

As it turns out...This year, I was very happy to have been chosen as a Jenkinson's Boardwalk Memory Maker through Jersey Moms Blog.  They supplied me with wristbands for my family free of charge so that we could go and enjoy our day at Jenkinson's Beach and Boardwalk in Point Pleasant and then report back here with our findings.  The wristbands included access to the beach, the bathhouse, all the miniature golf courses, all the rides, the Funhouse, and the Aquarium!

As you can probably guess, our Mother's Day was a blast.

Point Pleasant beach will always hold a special place in my heart.  Since I moved to the South Jersey shore area, meeting my North Jersey family members at Point Pleasant beach in the summer is perfect.   It's right in the middle of us all. 

We started with the beach, of course.  There are lifeguards everywhere.  We were nervous about crowds at first because we saw about 6 summer camps walking onto the beach right before we got there, but the beach is so big we had plenty of space to enjoy ourselves without being at ALL crowded.

After about an hour of beach antics, the kids went to play mini golf while the moms stayed put on the beach.  Ahhh!  The kids loved playing at the course and came running back to tell us their scores.

Then we all went up to the bath house to clean up a bit before heading to the boardwalk.  I am going to say this with all honesty: that was the highlight of my day.  I had never visited the bath house before and was very pleased!  It was very clean and felt seriously luxurious after all the sand, sun and sunscreen.  I felt like a million bucks walking out of there with fresh clean clothes on.  I will use that every time I go from now on! 

We then went to the Aquarium.  We are no strangers to the Jenkinson's Aquarium.  My kids love visiting the sharks, penguins, seals, and all the aquarium has to offer.  This week (July 6-10), Jenkinson's is celebrating Shark Week, so the aquarium offered a lot of shark information, crafts and games.   Here is my son participating in a game to determine what types of food a shark likes to eat.  He won these cute glasses!

After the aquarium, it was on to the Funhouse.  Not all of us made it in there.  My kids opted to stay outside with Grandma and Aunt Amy.  So I took my niece and nephew in.  It's safe to say that all three of us had a great time, even though our hearts might have been on the brink of bursting at every turn!  

We then had some dinner and went to the rides.  Jenks rides are awesome.  They have something for every age.  Both of my kids experienced their first rides ever at Jenks when they were little: the little clown fish. If I can find the pictures, I'll add them later.  But this time, everyone tackled the "big kid" rides.  The Pendolo was their favorite! ... even though just looking at it made me queasy.  Grandma even got on a few!  

OK, I know this is a sponsored post and you might think I'm about to say is a result of the free wristbands, but I assure it it isn't.  I love Jenkinson's Boardwalk.  It has been a place that has given my family so many memories over the years going all the way back to my own childhood.  My parents took us down at least once a summer to enjoy Jenkinson's beach and have a great seafood dinner somewhere nearby.  My friends and I would drive down from Morris County almost every week once we got our driver's licenses.  I love reminiscing and then watching my kids experience the same things I did in the same exact spot.  I love watching their faces when they win some plush toy after being first to fill the water balloon at a boardwalk game.  I love listening to them talk about how great the peppers smell wafting from the sausage stand.  I love that they just HAVE to get zeppolis and they HAVE to get a slice from Joey Tomatoes.  They are making their own memories and they don't even know it.

So now comes the fun part...

I was given a voucher - that is EXACTLY the same kind  I used - to give away to one lucky reader!  If you are chosen as the winner, you will receive 1 (one) VIP voucher for a weekday visit (Valid Monday-Friday, excludes holidays, Non-transferable) which entitles up to 5 (five) people to complimentary use of the Amusements, Beach, Bath House, Mini Golf, Aquarium, and Fun House.

We want you to make as many memories as you can this summer!  Including Jenks in your plans would be awesome, don't you think?

All you have to do is complete the activities on this Rafflecopter form.  Some are mandatory, but you can complete additional tasks to receive more entries.  PLEASE be sure to actually complete the tasks and not just click the button or your entries will not count.  Good luck to you!  The giveaway will end on 7/16/15.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more information about Jenkinsons Boardwalk, you can visit their website at Jenkinsons.com.  Times, directions and pricing for all the above mentioned activities and amusements are listed there.  You can also follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest in what' going on at Jenks! 

And for more information about Jersey Moms Blog, check them out on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and at www.jerseymomsblog.com 

I don't think we're supposed to go this fast all the time

Today's my birthday.  I'm 41.  It's cool.  I don't feel like it.  

Yesterday I was running and had a whole bunch of thoughts.  A lot of metaphor-like thoughts that compared running with real life and blah blah blah.  Not unusual when I'm out there because the rest of the world is basically background when I'm running.  Some days those thoughts fall away like dreams when I wake back up at the sight of the dishes in the sink or whatever.  But yesterday they were more lasting.  

I thought about how I haven't really gotten any "better" at running over the past year.  I don't go any faster and I don't cover more ground than I used to.  In fact, I've done the opposite.  I think I've actually slowed down.  And that's actually fine.  I wasn't conflicted with myself at all about this realization like I normally would be.  I used to strive to always beat myself every day.  I would wait for my little Nike app to tell me how much better I did than my last run and hope for some famous runner's voice to give me a virtual pat on the back for a job well done.

But it's been quite some time since the line graph has made much upward movement on that app and I'm more than happy about it. It made me think that I need to carry that feeling over to real life.

Sure, I always want to strive to be a better person than I was the day before.  That will never change.  But do I need to try and get there so quickly?  Nope.  

Slowing down to enjoy the process is something I'm going to strive for this year.  Less "convenience", more time. No more doing something a certain way because it's easier.  Because it's NOT easier.  Buying premade items instead of making them myself isn't fulfilling.  It doesn't teach my children anything.  It doesn't teach me anything.  Cramming a million activities into a day doesn't give me more time tomorrow, it just leaves tomorrow open to cram more activities into.  

I can't help but think about our bodies and how I don't think we're supposed to go this fast all the time.  I know we can sprint and I know we can run marathons.  That sprint is supposed to be a short burst.  For hunting.  For running away from a predator.  We shouldn't be sprinting all the time.  

 So if you see me running so slow out there that it looks like I'm basically standing still, don't worry.  I'm ok.  I'm just striving to be a better person.