A Lovely Walk On Campus!

One day after school last week we decided to go for a walk along Princeton University and holy magnolias they were everywhere! I've never really paid attention to spring on campus but I am from now on because it is absolutely stunning! The kids got all dressed up and of course I took pictures. They are such good sports when it comes to capturing lovely moments like this. We are so lucky to live near Princeton and to witness such earthly beauty. Never again will we take for granted the beauty of magnolias at Princeton University. Besides these photos you can also watch a little tiktok video I made capturing the blossoms here. 

My Mini Central Park.

Autumn is still hanging on in our neck of the woods and to be honest I hope she hangs on for the rest of the month! I love fall and because it doesn't last want it to linger a little longer. Seeing the leaves hanging on to the tree branches gives me hope that she'll stay until Thanksgiving but smelling that cold chilly air tells me that winter is coming. I felt it as I walked the grounds of Princeton University yesterday. I love this campus. It's nostalgic and coming here never gets old.

Princeton University Art Museum.

Last year when I took Noah to the art museum over at Princeton University I was bummed that we didn't bring the girls. Since we moved to Jersey we've always made trips to Princeton as a family, but because they were in school that day weren't able to come. Bummed or not it was always nice to have had our mommy and son dates. 

This past Tuesday we all ventured out to the museum, and because we live closer to Princeton it only took us 15 minutes to get there. Not that I minded the 45 minute drive before, but this time we were able to take our time, and see the museum in its entirety, and the kids even got to play in the fountain. We sure do love this area! 

It was such a beautiful day to walk on the university grounds, and to be surrounded by an artistic environment is such a blessing. 

Lexie was amazed at the artwork, and has really become obsessed with European art. 

Noah was even more appreciative of the art this time around now that he's a bit older. I had to chuckle at some of the questions he was asking as we were walking around looking at the exhibit, and wanted to know the meaning behind the sculptures, paintings, and artifacts. He asked questions such as "why does this statue have one arm?" "Where did it come from?" and "is it real?" 

 I think watching "the Night at the museum"one time too many times has him thinking that the whole museum will come to life!

He was looking at these little artifacts, and asked, "mommy, will everything come alive tonight when it's closed?" I said, "no papa, it's nothing like the movie."

Here he is staring at the mummy as if he's waiting for him to pop out of his casket to reveal itself. It was so cute and funny to see Noah's reactions, and pauses to make sure I was telling the truth. The sun was going down, and no live mummy. Sorry son. 

It was so nice to watch Noah studying, and figuring out what the heck kind of artwork this was. I told him it was Chinese handwriting, and he thought it was different, and so cool.  

 I personally thought these paintings were fun, and loved the bright colors. 

The European part of the museum was amazing. From a distance I thought that this painting was that of Hamilton, and lexie was like, "no mom." So we walked around to see if Hamilton was hanging up somewhere, but to no avail. We sure do love that founding father. 

On our way from visiting the museum the kids decided to play in the fountain for a bit. We figured it was legal since we saw numerous folk sunbathing, and kids splashing in it. Kind a looked a bit tacky for my taste, but said to myself, "who cares, it's hot today!" So I told the kids to go ahead, get in, and have some fun! 

Noah did most of the splashing, and was the only one who completely got soaked. Next time we come here we are definitely bringing towels, and a change of clothes!

We even took a few photos with our "year of the animal." 

 I'm so grateful to be living in this part of Jersey where art is majorly exposed to the community, and because there's so much appreciation for it we too never want to take it for granted.