Egg Hunting, 2013

Here are some pictures from the egg hunt at church this year. Both boys found a ridiculous number of eggs, resulting in an incredible amount of candy. Despite my best efforts, a huge bowl still remains.

Our friends Brooke & Craig hosted an egg hunt at their place. Below, the kids hang out in what used to be 'our tree'... It also lost quite a few limbs during Hurricane Sandy.

Mu-see-ums

 So! I had another one of those moments where I feel incredibly guilty because my second kid is not doing something that my first one did!
(I do not have them that often, but every once in awhile I realize what Ollie is missing...)
On Friday, we visited the Wonder Wing Children's Museum at Brookdale Community College. The museum, which is geared for children under the age of six, is small and hands-on. There is an enormous pirate ship, a huge whale with a slide inside, a raft, some dramatic-play stuff, and even real water (with fake sea-animals in it). Right up Oliver's alley ;)

 He had an absolute BLAST climbing into this blown-up raft and tipping over backwards, effectively jumping ship each time. It helped that Mommy was rockin' it like we were in the middle of a roaring storm.

Then we played hide and seek for quite awhile. Best spot was when Oliver chose to hide in the coat rack. I actually had a few moms say to me "He's in there" because they knew it was odd, and that I'd never find him ;)  He loved climbing up into this tree house and requested that I take a pic and send it to Daddy.
(PS Daddy: Remember, we're building a real clubhouse this spring ;)

 Neat window-walkway, revealing an ornate sand castle below. We laid on our bellies and played I Spy.

 He made a friend who was 3 and did not know how to write his name. So Ollie wrote it for him. They both created chicks. Ollie noted that he didn't want to color the feathers or beak "Because that's what they really look like". Yup.

 Catching a picture of the fish behind us...

***
Now this week is Spring Break for Trenton!
So we headed on over to Jenkinson's Aquarium in Point Pleasant.
It was my first time in Point since Sandy. And each time I re-enter one of these familiar beach towns, the sights take my breath away-- literally. There are still many, many homes that were clearly damaged, some trying to recover, some just throwing in the towel. The boardwalk itself was fixed in certain areas, and still under construction in others.
The aquarium seems to have made some improvements (new penguin tank wall), but otherwise, most of what had always been there was still there.

( Trenton maintains that he is the deep sea diver in the picture above.)

The MOMS Club that I am a member of actually adopted one of these penguins. They have little beads on their wings that note their names, as well as their parents' names, so that they can keep track of them all. Luckily, we were there for feeding time. Trenton made it a point to notice how fairly the fish were spread around. He felt bad for the guys that weren't getting any. 

 There were sea urchins, sea stars, and horse shoe crabs on display for touching.

This is actually what it looked like in our town on Monday morning:

 Hello? Spring? Three inches of snow?
Final picture of the boys playing Telephone with their buddies. We've been having a few playdates this week, trying to keep everyone busy... it is supposed to warm up soon!

Celebrating Easter at Church

 Handsome man was all set for his Easter celebration at school (which is a part of the church we attend).
He was happily singing "Celebrate, Jesus, Celebrate" for a few weeks now.

 Jumping! With his shirt sticking out ;) Singing the loudest, of course.
The Spirit is strong with this one...
Each class decorated a poster that showed a different significant event in Jesus's life. Oliver happily read the summaries at the bottom of the pages aloud. He was very attentive.

On Palm Sunday, Trenton and Oliver were chosen to read a bible verse to the congregation and participated in the Children's Choir.

 Shakin' eggs. I believe this one is called "I Love to Praise Him"

Celebrating Young Readers and Writers

The PTO at my son's awesome elementary school organize a fundraiser/family event at our local Barnes and Noble each year. It is a great opportunity for everyone to come out and hear some teachers read from their favorite books, hear young authors read what they've written in front of an audience, and for the school to raise money for future PTO sponsored events. 

Trenton's teacher had asked a few weeks ago if he would be able to attend and read an original piece of writing. After the principal read a book, Trenton was the first kid to go. Below, his story (see it here):

Also, check out the enrichment math homework he composed the other night:

My favorite is the second one. I really hate impashint drivers that cause acsadents.

I love this little guy's mind!!! ;)

PrEaster Celebrations!

 Jim and Oliver frosting some Italian Easter Cookies.
Ollie concentrates as he squeezes frosting out of the bag... and then is excited to eat it!

 Alex and Michelle, above, at Alex's baby shower. Due in early April, it will be the first child (a girl!) for Alex and Jim's good friend Jonathan. Pickle craving is being fulfilled....

 Konopack Easter Egg Hunt was a success! All 50 eggs were found, although quite a few were put in tricky places. The boys LOVE this tradition.

 I clearly love eating the rewards:

 We had a lovely early Easter dinner, as Jim's folks are soon leaving for their annual trip down south. Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures of the family in attendance... but I did take pictures of this interesting Resurrection Plant that Great Grandma brought to share.

 You place the dried-up plant in a small dish of water... and watch as it unfurls itself and 'grows' (or at least opens up). Can you tell the difference between the two pictures?

When we arrived home today, we were struck by the dozen or so robins on our yard. The boys insisted I take a picture. Happy first day of Spring!!!

Pathfinding

 OK, so we go from another March snowstorm to this: 65 degree weather. So much for the two snowmen, as this is what was left from them the next day (above).
Kids playing with new lasso golf toy, below. Yes, it was that warm.

I had read an article in the local paper about a group that was holding a hike on "Daylight Savings Day". The Jackson Pathfinders promote and maintain hiking trails throughout this Ocean County community. So on Sunday afternoon we found ourselves in the middle of a gorgeous park taking a nice hike with the boys.

 The area that we hiked through had once been the state's largest quail reserve but has since switched over to a state tree nursery. It also housed a "Sugar Shack" where maple syrup was harvested and processed (I can't believe I didn't take a picture), a bee hive community, and -- hold onto your seats--- :

 Oh yes, they grow SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS here!!!!
Jim was over the moon.
They order the spores from some place in PA and then veeeryyy carefully plant them into these logs. They water them or something and hope that they grow the fungi.

 Based on what the guides told us, it was not Sandy that did the most damage in the past few years in this area... it was Hurricane Irene. Displaced trail rocks, shifting creek boundaries... But I'm pretty sure that the tree above was from the Sandy destruction. You just don't get over seeing these ruined trees with the entire root system exposed. We discussed how most of the trees do actually have roots that grow out (rather than down), although it seems that evergreen trees are an exception.

And here you have yourself an enormous, tactile representation of the great Garden State!

We are very excited to come back and experience the Project Learning Trail again. Now that we know it is so close to home, we'll be hanging out/running/exploring around here more often!

Snowy and Stuck

S n o w!!!

Lots of it. Lots of wet, big, wind-blown flakes.

Had to take advantage of that!

Little man was all about having a snowball fight today. I happily obliged. And then we made some awesome snowmen. The one on the right fell down a couple of hours later.

SO. We have been stuck now, without a car, for almost a week. Not exactly sure what the problem is with my truck, but it seems to be transmission-related. We will wait and see if we will either 1) ditch the truck and look for something new or 2) fix the truck and pray it keeps working for a few more years.

My friends are THE ABSOLUTE BEST, though. Several have happily driven me and Oliver to the gym, home again, to Oliver's school, and today... to McDonald's!

There is an AWESOME playplace at one not too far away from here. The boys had a wonderful time. Below, they enjoy their ice creams.

Well-deserved, boys.

Goofballs.

Ocean Grove, March

 Ahh, Ocean Grove.
FEMA says that it won't cover the expenses to fix your boardwalk... because it is technically owned by the Methodists who maintain it. But money is hard to come by, and the summer season is soon approaching.
80 days until Memorial Day weekend, but who's counting?

 Lots of the debris has been removed. Lots of the dunes that were there are still there, although quite a few are not. Most of the homes seem to have weathered the storm just fine.
But not the boardwalk. And Ocean Grove had a nice boardwalk.

One of my favorite Ocean Grove memories:

 It was Chocolate Lover's Weekend and we were childless (!) ... so you know what that means!
On this weekend each year, the beautiful Victorian-era bed and breakfasts/inns open their doors and allow you to take a peek at some of the rooms... and they feed you full of chocolate! For free! Which is crazy and right up my alley! I have been known to carry small children all around town, just to get to as many B&Bs as possible. One year, there was chocolate french toast, all kinds of mousses and puddings, and a few even served nice, warm soup.
But this year was different. Only a few participated, and the chocolate offerings were quite terrible-- store bought and everything.
I'll cut them a break for one year. But by next year... man...!!!

View from one of the rooftop sundecks, with a view of the ocean in the background.

With time to kill, we headed over to the new Hot Sand location in Asbury, on Cookman Ave. They (smartly) moved from the boardwalk out to the main street in town about a year ago, but we had still yet to visit them. A few years back, we had the kids' handprints done, which makes for a beautiful memento.

But this time, it was all about MUSTACHES, BABY.

 Random: got an email this week saying that they were allowing anyone to come in and make a free, personalized GLASS mustache. Um, okay, thanks!!!

 So we made them. Will pick them up next week, after they've been fired & cooled.

 After HS, we had a niiiice loooong luuuunch at Kaya's Kitchen. And then attended the last home men's basketball game of the season at Monmouth. Go Hawks!
An excellent date-day ;)