A Day In Rancocas Woods.

Going a bit backwards in time and seasons here in the new year but I wanted to blog about a hidden gem in south jersey that I found so charming. When Lexie came home from her mission we ventured out to many places. We were lucky to have spent so much time together during the day when Noah and Chelsea were still in school. It was always a good time with her and I sure do miss these moments spent with her. We decided to go to Rancocas Woods and actually get down this time to explore this little town. During the summer we'd go to pelican snow to get snow cones and always wondered about this town and its shops. This was the perfect opportunity to go since we had more time and weren't rushed. And it was the cutest town....

Falling Leaves - Live From Our Backyard In New Jersey!

Fall is quickly coming to an end. We have been raking the leaves in our backyard and instead of throwing them in a bag for pick up the kids put them in a pile and have leaf fights and jump in it! This moment truly reminded me of their first leaf war years ago when we first moved to Jersey. It's a good thing these are fresh leaves that have fallen off from our tree in our backyard and not from a park. It brings me so much joy to see them get along and have fun with whatever they do as siblings. They are five years apart and these three are literally "three's a crowd." If I could write a sitcom I would call it "three's company-siblings of New Jersey." Sure Noah can be a pest sometimes to these girls when they want "girl time" but for the most part they will include him in any outing whether it's going to the library, bookstore, skating, going for a walk, or to the movies. These kids are always together 95 percent of the time (except when Lexie is in college) and that makes my mama heart so happy seeing that they all get along no matter the age difference. I captured a few photos (mostly blurry) of them tossing leaves up in the air and it probably took five takes for me to get the perfect shot of them throwing the leaves up in the air, but alas I got it! When photos don't look clear and precise it's ok. It's always the blurry, random ones that are the happiest! You can watch this little reel of them on my instagram and on my TikTok here. 

Autumn In New Jersey!

Our neighborhood is absolutely stunning in the fall. I never knew how beautiful autumn looked until we moved to this area. There are so many fall photos I want to document and being that it's still November and that fall is still hanging on want to show off how the garden state and Mother Nature get along! 

We live near the Peddie private school and a walking trail which is soooo nice. Temps are pretty cold right now so we haven't been getting our daily walks in our neighborhood but in the beginning of fall we walked along Peddie lake and man oh man just look at all that foliage! New Jersey definitely has her moments and in the fall she is absolutely gorgeous! 

Autumn in Central Park NYC!

Last week on Veterans Day we went to the city to check out the fall foliage in Central Park and one thing for sure when we got there is that New York city is not DEAD!! There were so many people out riding the carriages, artists painting pictures of the bow bridge and San Remo apartments, and I saw about five brides having their picture taken. It was great. The city felt great. The energy was amazing and it felt so good to see everyone out and about having so much fun doing their own thing. It felt like summer in the fall when everyone goes out and ventures to central park to get away and go for long walks. Central Park is the perfect place for it too! Lexie and I had so much fun getting our cardio fix and seeing various parts of central park. Oh how I love this city and all the action that takes place with it. 

Appreciating Autumn In The Garden State.

Lately I have been really appreciating the beauty of Fall in my new hood. I feel that since turning 50 I don't want to take anything for granted. Not my friends. Not my family. Not The Lord. Not my neighbors. Not mother nature. Not the place that I live. We have been so blessed to live where we live and to have the neighbors we have. To have a couple of friends at church we can rely on, and to have a loving God who is there for us to show off his beautiful creations that he has done along with mother nature! And with that Lexie and I have been going on walks in the morning and just the other day picked up Noah after a half day of school to see the carpet of leaves in our town as well as running errands where we stumbled upon a park where the fall foliage was absolutely vibrant! I captured a few photos of my boy, and he is soooooo dang happy to be November baby and that he was born in one of the most colorful months of the year. New Jersey is no New York but in the fall...she's pretty dreamy. Just take a gander.....

Apple Picking At Battleview Orchards!

I don't know if it's because we didn't go picking too much during the pandemic but since autumn started we've been out and about exploring farms and orchards and this week we went apple picking. We've always gone apple picking on my birthday since it's close to the first day of Autumn but since it was my 50th birthday and a very warm day to go to the orchard decided to wait until October 1st to officially begin the fall festivities. 

This year we went to Battleview Orchards which is a favorite. We like venturing out to different orchards and Noah and Lexie had a blast picking their own apples. Noah is getting older and it's so fun to watch him pick his own as opposed to me helping him decide whether they're a bad apple or not! He's becoming more and more independent as an almost 12 year old boy should be and that makes my heart happy. I have been trying to live in the moment without snapping too many pics or taking too many videos but I did do a cute little reel and you can see that on my Instagram and as usual I took a few photos. Just enough for a blog post to remember this day.