Squeaking Another One Out...

Yet another gorgeous weekend... we're totally getting spoiled. 

Look! Soccer games! No rain!  Running children! (Trenton is in the middle... nice stride, buddy).
He blocked all shots against him when he was in the goal. It is still tough for them to learn how to 'play as a team'... we were hoping that they'd practice a bit more, but it seems to be raining every Tuesday, which is when practices are scheduled for... 

 Anyway, when we got home, I was completely itching to get to the beach. Made 'em eat lunch in a hurry, pack up, and ship out.
Trenton rode his bike over a mile while I jogged with a ready-to-fall-asleep Oliver in the stroller.
Sun felt great on our faces ;)

When he woke up, they played.

 Shirtless. Because it was hot.
Wearing pants, though, because someone thought it was permissible to put away the summer shorts.

 Da man wit da swaggah...

 The cutie on the slide...

 They love taking their shoes off and climbing all over every surface imaginable.

 Oliver found a few ladybugs.
They didn't stick around too long.

 T even did some exploring under the boardwalk.
I'm happy just to have gotten some great outdoor October pictures ;)

Weekend Shenanigans

We've been experiencing SPECTACULAR Fridays recently. Makes for a great trip to Dorbook, followed by some playtime at the playground... no beach this week. But great pictures, all the same.

 He loves this spiral slide.

 The PTO hosted a Fall Festival at T's school. Someone thought it would be a good idea to put me at the face-painting table. This is what you get.
That's a vampire above and a wolf-man below.
Most kids asked for a pumpkin, or a bat. I can make those, no problem. These were a bit more of a challenge...

 The farmers warned us that the animals were SUPER HUNGRY and that we should dump the feed into our hands before going near them. Trenton freaked a bit and just dumped it on the grass.

 This is what I came home to. A pile of Konopack men.
Here's hoping the floor was clean.

 Ah! And then it was a birthday extravaganza! Two parties on the same day, at the same place...each starting an hour after the next. The kids bounced their brains out... ate pizza and too much cake... and slept like puppies that night. Sweet!

 Great Grandma Wilson gave the boys this game of Tiddleywinks. Although it is not vintage, she said that when she saw it in the store, it reminded her of playing it when she was a kid. Aww.
Both boys are slowly mastering the skill.
And using the chips to filter the light as we take pictures.

Remix Night

Friday nights are remix night on our local pop station. Trenton and Oliver mirror each other and try out different dance moves.
Try to ignore the inappropriate lyrics you hear ... luckily the boys don't actually know that song;-)

Oliver Visits Great Grandma

With Trenton leaving so early, Oliver and I have the good part of the day to go off galavanting. Today, we drove up to Mountain Lakes to visit Great Grandma Wilson.

She had lots to talk about with us: the bear and deer that are constantly coming around, and attracted by her bird feeder and lovely plants... Old games that she still had around that she gave us.... Boxes of colored pencils and crayons...

We had lunch together and took a few pictures. Oliver, my puzzle-loving son, enjoyed the challenge in this photo. Did not nap in the car on the way home....

Final picture: us waitin' at the bus stop on a beautiful fall day :-D

Fall Cooking

Oliver poses, above, with his apple -sauce-juice cupcake. Even has a leaf, stem, and worm ;) He absolutely loves his cooking class. Most days, when it is warm enough, we play on the fantastic playground there, too.

Below, my first pie of the season: peach blueberry (both Jersey fresh ingredients). And a collard/tomato/potato soup. And bread. Mmmm bread.

October Summer

Gotta hand it to global warming. Any time I can get ooone laast summer day (even in October) I'm giddy.

Spent Friday in Belmar with Ollie... napped on the beach... then went home, picked up T from school, and returned to the beach to hang out with friends.

80 degrees.  I got a nice tan ;)

Check out the last two pics below taken thru Instagram. Cool, right? I have to get better about not using the zoom on my camera. I think it just makes it more pixilated... 

Oliver's Fall Class Trip

Today was one of the first days when I did something with Oliver that I remember doing-- exactly-- with Trenton when he was this age.

Their preschool took a trip to Battleview Orchards in Freehold. The kids got to see where the apple cider was made and stored, and sample a bit of cider themselves.

 Oliver was very attentive and outspoken. He asked quite a few questions... until he was given an apple to eat. Then he just sat quietly and ate the dang thing down to the core.

Here he is shining it on his shirt before biting into it. To his left is his buddy Giovanni. 

 After the tour of the facility, and a little lesson on how apples grow on trees, it was off to the "pumpkin patch". I type it as such because this was clearly a small field in which pumpkins are dumped. No signs of gnarled roots and stems here...

 My little Halloween baby...

They had a really nice time. Each kid got two pumpkins and six apples. Afterwards, we went back to the store and bought some cider donuts, which you HAVE to have at this time of year (although none quite compare to those at Curtis Orchard...)

***

Here are some pictures from the fun we had this weekend at the Konopack's house. Trenton is old enough to play basketball (sorta) with the big guys. Both boys enjoyed putting peanuts out for the various wild animals that come around in the backyard. You can see the squirrel obstacle course really well in this picture.

We've been having some really nice days lately. Fall wouldn't be so bad if it didn't mean the end of summer...