New York, Part I

Red eye flight arrived early into JFK for the start of a wonderful trip to NY/NJ.  First up, visiting with our former neighbors who moved to Montclair 2 years ago.  Barely awake, we headed to Z's soccer game in the very chilly March weather.  Afterward, we went to lunch at a diner and to Trader Joe's (stickers and lollipops!)

We relaxed all weekend at Z and L's house.  A lot of rainbows were drawn - Gigi's favorite.

Tooling around the 'hood.

Signs of spring - purple crocuses in the yard....or as Gigi said, "Tulips".  I remember when the crocuses came up in Connecticut.  A sure sign that winter was gone and spring had sprung.

The T's painted a chalkboard on their kitchen wall.  So much fun.

A picture of Z, G and L - Love and Peace.

We are so glad we were able to visit and see the T's new home.  Comfy and lovely.

Happy Birthday, Kelli!

Pizza with friends

Nothing like bringing friends over for some pizza making fun.

We each made our own pizza....yum.

More School Fun

 

Gigi was lucky to have a neighbor in her class this year....until they decided to move (not too far away, but not close enough to throw a rock in their yard over the alley).  We had a nice barbecue before they packed it up for PV.  We will miss them!

Almost every morning, we get to school a little early for some milk, a little time on the monkey bars or library time.  This week was Heritage Day and Gigi dressed in her "German girl" costume....Heidi?

This week, when I volunteered, the Rainbow Cafe became the Spooky Cafe.  I was in the Math area where the kids were decorating their math books Halloween style.

The Spooky Cafe...

We love our NannyG

We had a day off from school this week and NannyG helped me and my friend make homemade play-doh.  We mixed it up and added food coloring.

When it was time for lunch, nothing else than Mickey peanut butter sandwich.

And, on Saturday, I was on the porch while Mama gardened, playing with my "Play-Doh".

Our relaxing Labor Day Weekend

We started out the weekend with a beach morning on Saturday.  The waves were huge.

We had friends over for a barbecue on Saturday afternoon, including Allen's famous ribs.

We went for a bike ride (kids) and walk (the rest of us) up the boardwalk to the skate park.  Gigi (and Jordan) were offered to get on the 4x4 police "car" but Jordan was too scared.

We watched the skateboarders from high up (well some of us did)

On Sunday, we went back to Mother's Beach, both the park and the beach and Jordan saw the Water Bus....of course, he insisted we board the bus, so off we went to Burton Chace Park.  Gigi and Jordan gathered up pieces of the trees in the park (they look like snakes).

Of course, nap time is always part of our day.  Jordan just loves his Daddy.

Today, we made our own bubbles to refill our bubble wands.

Here are pictures of our new walkway in the garden and the beautiful garden in bloom.

We picked and ate many raspberries from the garden.

And, there are some habaneros growing but not quite ripe yet.....we were hoping for some jerk chicken this summer but looks like it will be a fall event.

On Saturday morning, we went to a yard sale and picked up all of these "legos".  We built a few houses with them, including a roof on this one.

This afternoon, Gigi spelled a bunch of words on the fridge, including "Cat", "Hat", "Rat", "Bat", "Fat", "Fit", "Hit", "Pin", "Pink", "Zoe" and "Jordan".  She is learning fast!

A perfect afternoon for some painting...

And more letter practice "Lemonade" for the lemonade stand she painted

Little brother got involved in the fun

And, we ended our weekend at the park for an early evening romp, including dinner at the park.