Jersey Shore...but no GTL!

I admit to being a watcher of certain reality TV shows, but not MTV's Jersey Shore. I have watched portions of the show in passing, while I'm folding laundry or flipping channels and nothing is on, but it doesn't grab me like some of The Real Housewives shows do. I'm not going to get on my soap box and say that it's not a true representation of Jersey, or that only ONE of the original cast members is from New Jersey (now there are 2 with the new girl that joined who insists that the show is a true representation of New Jersey). I will admit to having hung out in Seaside Heights in the past...it was the first true boardwalk I remember my parents taking us to as kids when we would go on vacation for 2 weeks 'down the shore.' In high school, Seaside is where we went and hung out the day after senior prom. I even went with friends a few times to the beach there. But I never rented a house there, nor put foot in any bar or club in the town.

I can't even remember the last time I was in Seaside (or Sleaside, as some jokingly refer to it, and that was around LONG before Jersey Shore started on MTV). This Sunday, a few of us from my hometown met up there with our kids to break up the monotony of the winter. (I ended up not going to Florida for work this weekend).

My friend Denise and her daughter Caroline drove down with us, and met up with some other folks at one of the arcades on the boardwalk - Lucky Leo's. The get-together was planned on Facebook - don't you love social media? I wasn't sure how much Tommy would enjoy it since he's so young, but he ended up having a blast throwing the balls for skeeball, and like kids a few years older than him, Tommy learned how to throw a tantrum to try to get what he wanted. He discovered a glass case of rubber footballs and as I have mentioned, the kid LOVES balls. The glass case, well, it's one of those "claw" games, which I am not very good at - I don't think I've ever won anything playing it, though I know I tried enough times for my niece Alexis over the years when she "had" to have something. But, being the good Mommy, I gave it my best shot. Go figure, I got a ball on my first try! I thought I got off cheap, and Tommy was very excited, but he wanted MORE. Yup, he signed MORE. Oh, and he wanted the BLUE one, not the YELLOW one that I was successful at clawing. At $1.00 a try and 8 tries later...somehow I won a blue one...with a little help from Caroline reaching up into the machine to pull it out since it sort of fell and blocked the opening so no other balls would ever be won if she didn't remove it!

Tommy did a lot of running and Mommy did a lot of chasing, but we had a really good time and it was good to see some friends that I had not seen in quite a while. We might try to make this a monthly thing during the winter months.

We did the obligatory drive-by of the house that the Jersey Shore cast rents. I knew if I told people we went there the first question would be, "did you see the house from Jersey Shore?" Figured it would be easier if I just have to say "yes" than get into a debate over why didn't. But I did not take any pictures of the house. I think we went by a few of the clubs/bars that they hang out in too - is Bamboo one of them?

Tommy wanted to wear his new snow boots that finally arrived, but Mommy wanted him to dress nicer.

Action shot, just after Tommy threw the ball during skeeball. Tried to show him how to roll it, but he decided throwing was a lot more fun and a lot noiser.

That's about as close as he came to scoring some points...and tickets for prizes!

Tommy got very excited watching other people playing, and sometimes would throw the ball up their lane to try to help them out with some extra points!

Tommy and Mommy with the loot we won in the claw game. We need a room just for balls...kind of like a ballpit at an amusement park or McDonald's. Speaking of that, I wonder how Tommy would react in a ballpit?

Hard to tell from this photo, but someone LOVES bathtime...jumps around like crazy while the water is running!

Testing out the water, just like Mommy does...my little copycat!

You looking at me?

Tommy insists that every.single.bathtoy be out of the storage container and in the tub.

One of the things from MTV's Jersey Shore is GTL - Gym, Tan, Laundry - apparenlty that's all the cast really does with their lives, other than hitting the bars and clubs. I was able to sort of get 2 out of 3 this weekend. GYM - well, I didn't go to the gym, but I did do my Zumba DVD two tmes this weekend...only 20 minutes each time, but with a toddler, I was happy to get that. TAN - yeah, that didn't happen. LAUNDRY - did plenty of that Friday night and Saturday morning, and was efficient enough to get it all done before noon, including folding and putting it all away. Most weekends, it sometimes sits until Sunday night waiting to be put away! So that was our JERSEY SHORE weekend!