Hallmark Channel's Museum of Christmas in NYC!

This past Saturday we cruised up to New York and even though thanksgiving hasn't happened we couldn't help but to go to the Hallmark Channel's Museum of Christmas to have a bit of fun, and be filled with some Christmas spirit. I love Hallmark, and have been watching hallmark movies since like forever.

Summer Days With Sunsets & Ice Cream.

So far this week our days have consisted of going to the park, watching the sun set, eating hot dogs, and eating lots of ice cream. Life with these two is pretty simple, and with Lexie being gone, and Jon working all week it's been, well...different. As much as I love being with these two all day there are times when I miss having an extra person with me so that we can somewhat be equal in numbers when in comes to certain things like playing tennis. I'm sure I sound like a broken record when I say this, but time is certainly fleeting, and in one year these two are going to be the only ones left in the house to be with. So in a sense I am getting used to it, and I hate that! 

Hello June!

Oscar Wilde said, "The best way to make children good, is to make them happy." I whole heartedly agree! The past couple of months have been devoid of major outdoor playing due to April being rainy, and soggy, and even though May had a few warm days that felt like summer they didn't last very long, but June came, she is here, and I'm even happier because that means that summer is right around the corner! There are only 15 days left of school, and I'm already planning on having a lot of outdoor playing with the kiddos. Especially with this kid.

Cohanzick Zoo & Splash Park.

When my insomnia kicks in, or the fact that I had too much caffeine I find myself on pinterest pinning the most interesting things, and I happened to stumble upon this pin where it tells you places to go in New Jersey where admission is free! Of course I clicked on the link anxiously awaiting to read what could possible be free in New Jersey. So I scrolled down, and of course I see that the Cape May Zoo is listed on there (been there done that a ton of times) however, there were quite a few other interesting places that I'd never heard of that were on the list that caught my attention.  

Since my kids are a lover of animals (who isn't) we decided to check out the Cohanzick Zoo in Bridgeton which is less than an hour drive. It wasn't a big zoo...at all, but when you have little kids they don't care and even if they see one live animal their day has been made. 

In this case we saw quite a few...

^^^ this little creature had a stiletto looking fast-darting tounge! ^^^

Including a huge, fake gorilla.

and a lion water fountain that reminded me of a lion slide I used to play on back where I grew up. 

There was also a splash park located just across the parking lot from the zoo. We were a little bummed that the kids didn't have their swimsuits that day. Had I known about the splash park I would have brought them. So the other day we made an effort to go to the zoo again, and this time we remembered to bring their swimsuits. These kids had so much fun going through the water fountains, and having buckets of water splashing all over them. The splash park is not free, and is only 2 dollars per person, and since it runs in two hour increments we made dang sure that we came on the hour it started again so that we could get our whole two bucks worth for a whole two hours of fun! 

And this is how much fun they had! 

^^^ trying to make the water sounds different by stepping on the holes from where the water comes out.^^^

^^^ pretending it's a real piano ^^^

Chelsea just loved getting under those buckets. They're timed perfectly so that she can go underneath each one and have water dumped all over her! You can watch her getting dumped with buckets if water in this 14 second IG video. 

This is another lovely hidden gem in Jersey, and definitely a fun place to take the kiddies. Free fun with an affordable splash park! It is a perfect, simple summer place to go to before summer comes to an end! 

Happy weekend all! 

Blackberry Picking!

Nothing makes me happy than seeing my kids happy, and it's always the simplest of things that do the trick. Looking at this photo with the kids grinning tells me that they were having a good time. Noah seemed a little annoyed that I interrupted his blackberry picking by telling him to get in the picture with me. His little grunt that he makes is a sign telling me (without any back talk), "not now mama." Nonetheless he obliged, and as you can see is smiling up at the sky. 

We drove out to Moods farm yesterday, and for the first time I let him, and Chelsea roam around to pick out the darkest of blackberries on their own. Of course I was supervising from a distance, but still let them have a little bit of freedom. That is until I saw Noah picking the unripened ones! No matter how many times Chelsea and I kept telling him to grab the "black" ones he would still grab the ones that were half red and half dark. He'll get it, and I'm sure next time he'll be better. Chelsea was the same way, and now she is a pro at distinguishing the ones that are ripe from the unripened ones. Last year we came in late July, and I remember the blackberries being super ripe, and not too picked over, but luckily we managed to snatch a few good ones. 

The day was beautiful and sunny, but so very hot. I always manage to forget to bring bottled water, but when the farm is only 20 minutes away you don't really think to do that. I least I don't. These kids are so resilient though, and didn't even think about the warm sun beating on them. They're too busy having fun...and picking. 

We also managed to pick a few nectarines, raspberries, and only picked four peaches. I wasn't in a peachy mood because there have been times where we picked way too many, and they ended up going bad. Besides Noah began stomping on the ground. At first I though he was on the brink of having a meltdown because he had mentioned getting tired at one point, but then I realized that he was stomping on the peaches that had fallen onto the ground! Luckily he wore his boots so that the juices did splash all over his feet had he worn sandals. We picked what we'd eat, and we were satisfied. 

The kids had so much fun today, and it makes me feel good knowing that at the end of every activity, trip, or a simple outing that I'm still pretty good at doing this mama thing in my 40's...especially with a toddler. Summer is definitely a time to bond with family, and these kids have been very good at doing that. There was no bickering, or grumpiness. Just pure happiness, and of course when you have that mixed together with these two our day just goes by so much better.  

Fall season is going to be here before we know it, and when that time comes we'll definitely be back to pick some more peaches, and apples. Now that's the perfect time to be baking (not when it's hot!)

See ya in the fall moods...

and a happy weekend to you!