Beach Babies!!

A trip to New Jersey in the summer wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Jersey Shore.  Grandpa, Aunt Amy, Aunt Kim, Peter, Danielle, and I spent the day on Wednesday down at Ocean Grove, a quaint little town with a wonderful beach. 

The weather was just perfect - hot enough to enjoy the water, but not too hot to make sitting in the sand uncomfortable.  Danielle's first trip to the beach last summer was a bit too early in her life for her to really enjoy it.  She showed us this year that she is definitely a beach baby!  She started digging in the sand as soon as I sat her down and she didn't stop until time to pack up. 

It took her a few minutes to warm up to the ocean, but once she did, she loved it!!  Just like Peter enjoyed jumping the waves,  Danielle kept saying "more, more" after a wave would come.  I helped her jump waves until my arms were sore.  Then she enjoyed playing in the water.

Peter's favorite thing about the beach this trip was collecting shells.  There were TONS of mussel shells all over the beach, and more would wash in with every wave.  Peter spent most of his time collecting shells and sitting in a hole in the sand with his collection of shells.

We enjoyed a picnic on the beach before calling it a day.  Danielle threw a fit when I tried to get all of the sand off her hands, so she enjoyed a crunchy mix of Pirate's Booty and sand. 

We finished the day with a walk around town and ice cream.  Danielle fell asleep just as we were headed down the boardwalk and slept until we were ready to go to the car.  The rest of us enjoyed the sites including the tent city that has been there since the late 1800's.

Once home, Peter enjoyed showing off all of his shells, including a mussel shell that still had the mussel inside! 

Here's a little video showing how much fun the kids had at the shore.

Land of Make Believe

We took a trip to the Land of Make Believe on Monday.  It's about an hour away, and we had so much fun!  It's an amusement park geared towards younger kids and a water park.  The first thing we saw was this giant bear standing near the entrance.  Peter gave him a big hug before we walked off to find the rides.

Peter was the perfect age to enjoy most of the rides, and Danielle loved riding the carousel and train multiple times.

The train ride was neat because you got a mini-tour of the entire park.  The conductor told us about all of the fun and exciting things to do which is how we discovered that Santa was there.  Now, for most children, just the mention of Santa's name brings feelings of giddy anticipation to a child.  However, for Peter, it was just exciting to see someone he doesn't see every day.  Santa resides in Santa's Barn, a large building transformed into a winter wonderland in the middle of August.

I find it pretty funny that we have a picture of all of us in shorts and t-shirts (I'm actually wearing my swimsuit) sitting with Santa in the middle of August.  The idea of Santa has been something I think about when Christmas rolls around each year.  When the kids are tiny, they don't even notice him.  However, as Peter has gotten older, more and more people ask him what he wants from Santa for Christmas.  I'm torn because I don't want to teach him that Christmas is about Santa, but I also want to respect other parents and their choice to let their children believe in Santa.  I find Santa to be a good theme for stories during the holidays, but I do not tell my children that Santa is real and will bring them gifts if they are good.  In fact, when Peter asks, I tell him that Santa is pretend just like many other characters that he watches on TV or reads about. 

So, I found it hilarious when this Santa asked Peter what he wanted for Christmas.  Peter thought for a minute, and then, in the most serious voice, said, "What do you have?"  It was just as if I'd asked him what he wanted for dessert and he was wondering what his choices were.  It was so funny!  Santa showed him a toy tractor that was part of the display, so now Peter says he wants a tractor for Christmas.  Santa then gave both kids reindeer cookie cutters (which Peter called a moose), and we went on our way.  We visited Santa one more time before we left because Peter enjoyed the exhibit so much.

Besides the rides, there was a maze, a bunch of candy canes perfect for swinging on, and a balance beam.

Peter's two favorite rides of the day were the frog ride and the ferris wheel.  I loved ferris wheels as a kid, so I was more than happy to ride with him.

After lunch, we finished out the day at the water park.  We spent most of the time in the wading pool, but Peter, Aunt Amy, and Grandpa enjoyed the lazy river as well.  Peter was even brave enough to go on one of the big waterslides with me!  We sat in an innertube made for two people - Peter in front and me in back.  The ride was pretty fast, and I was sure that I was going to have a crying boy at the end.  Peter definitely surprised me, though, when he had a big smile on his face at the bottom.  He loved it!!!

After a carnival game that produced two little fishy prizes and a final ride on the carousel, we headed home.  What a great day!!

Introducing Chef Peter and Chef Danielle

The kids love to cook, and they always enjoy cooking with Amy when we come to New Jersey.  Grandma brought home chef hats and aprons from daycare recently.  The kids made brownies for dessert.  They were delicious!!!

Rain!!

Rain has been pretty much nonexistent at home this summer.  The kids were SO excited to see rain in New Jersey that they just had to go out and play in it. :)

Blogging from New Jersey

The kids and I are in New Jersey for 12 days visiting Andrew's family.  I don't have the cord to my camera, so thanks to Aunt Amy for all the pictures I post while I'm here.  Also, I get to blog a little more here because I'm away from my all of my normal daily duties except for playing with my kiddos. :)

Goodbye Texas - Hello New Jersey!!!

We made it!  9 hours after arriving at the Austin airport, we touched down in New Jersey.  Peter's first statement as we approached the runway? 

Peter:  I see the Hudson River!

Mommy:  Peter, there are no rivers down there.

Peter:  Well, where is the Hudson River?

Andrew had told him to ask Grandpa to show him the Hudson River.  Peter has a friend named Hudson, so he's interested to see the river that has the same name.

The trip was long, but the kids did a great job!!  My grandpa dropped us off at the airport at 9am.  Peter thought it was really cool that he brought us, but he he was a little confused why Poppy had to go back home instead of getting on the plane with us.  Check-in was a breeze, and the security line was short.  Danielle is really into shoes these days, so taking off her shoes to go through security was quite disturbing to her.  She was saying shoes over and over trying to tell me to please put them back on her.  I started showing her how no one else could wear their shoes either.  As I pointed at each person in the line to show her that they were also barefoot or in socks, many of them helped me out and stuck their feet out for Danielle to see that indeed, no one was wearing shoes.  It was nice for them to play along. :)

The plane was delayed a little, so we had plenty of time to explore the Austin airport.  We walked around a bit.  The Austin airport is pretty small, so that didn't take long.  Peter found an area that had a couple of steps, so he spent quite a bit of time jumping and using up lots of energy.  Once we had seen all there was to see, I put the kids in the stroller and walked back to the gate with promises of snacks. 

Upon arrival to Gate 10, we noticed a lady and her dog sitting in the pre-board area.  I explained to the kids that the dog was a working dog - he was helping his owner to see because her eyes weren't able to see - and they should not go play with him.  Well, the kind lady heard me, and she invited the kids to come pet the dog.  The dog was extremely friendly and licked both kids over and over.  It was a neat experience for the kids to interact with a blind person and their seeing-eye dog.

Southwest Airlines just started flying into Newark last March, so we decided to try them instead of Continental.  I was a little nervous about not being able to pre-board, but it worked out just fine.  Southwest boards the entire A group first.  Then they have Family Boarding.  That allows families traveling with children under the age of 4 to board before the B and C groups.  Once on board, seats are not assigned.  For us, this was a good thing.  I wanted the very back of the plane, and we were able to have the back row on both flights!

The first leg of our trip was quick and uneventful.  We were only in the air about 40 minutes total - not even enough time for snacks or drinks!  The plane was packed, so Danielle stayed on my lap the entire time.  The man who sat in our row introduced himself as Mr. Lance to the kids as soon as he sat down.  He was very friendly and didn't mind the kids being a bit noisy.

We had a 2 hour layover in Houston.  We stopped by the bathrooms, explored Hobby Airport, and then found apple juice at a little store and lunch at Wendy's.  Upon arrival at our gate, Peter discovered the cutest little table.  There were several at each gate, and they were just the right size for the kids to eat at.  There were two empty seats already, and a man offered us his seat.  Another family with two boys (elementary age) was also sitting there.  As we ate, Peter enjoyed talking to the boys and telling them all about the free apps they could put on their new iPod touches they had gotten for their birthday.  Everything Peter knows about apps for iPods came from Aunt Amy, and I was really impressed at the way he described various games. 

At one point, they started calling for passengers on a flight to Dallas to line up and begin loading.  I told Peter to stay sitting down so he didn't try to get on the flight.  He questioned why, and I told him that the plane was going to Dallas, and we were going to New Jersey.  He again asked why, and I told him that we didn't have a reason to go to Dallas.  Our family was waiting for us in New Jersey.  He proceeded to tell me that my friend Michelle lives in Dallas, so yes, we did have someone to visit there.  He had a point.

After enjoying the Houston airport for 2 hours, we finally loaded the plane for Newark.  It was a packed flight, so someone once again joined us on the back row.  I don't remember his name, but he was so friendly with both of the kids.  This flight was 3.5 hours, and I was so sure the kids would sleep.  I was so wrong!!  Neither of them slept a wink!!  We stayed occupied by watching LeapFrog, Backyardigans, and Yo Gabba Gabba

We landed in Newark around 7pm with two tired kids and one tired mommy.  We had a good trip overall - I'm really proud of the kids and how well they behaved.  Now for a fun 12 days in New Jersey!!