Noah-isms in March.

Me: "Celeste is coming to stay with us for a whole week Noah! Noah: "I don't want her to stay here for a week! I want her to stay with us for 100 days mom!" 

winter, we forgive you.

It doesn't matter how much snow we may have gotten, or how bitter cold it was this past winter. Living so close to the beach makes it all worth it. This is what we get for living in the northeast where winters can be brutally cold, but at the end of the season when spring comes along my spirit is renewed, and I feel like a totally different person. I sense it in my family as well. Change of seasons  just do that to you. Noah absolutely loves the beach, and hasn't seen how huge the mountains are out west, but being that he's a "jersey boy" so far the beach is his favorite place to be. Can you believe I've lived here for almost six years and still can't come to the terms of uttering the word "shore"? Anyway, yesterday was pretty amazing and while the girls were at school we decided to go for a drive, and take advantage of this beautiful weather because surprise...it's supposed to get colder this week. I know...bummer, but we made the best of our day by taking advantage of every inch of this beach.

Noah was in awe when he saw the kites flying in the air, and I feel like a really bad mom for not owning one! I remember when Uncle Dave gave Sierra a kite when she was like five, but after that we've never had the desire or even thought to buy any. Well, we are definitely in the market for buying a few kites this spring at least for Chelsea and Noah because I know that they would absolutely love it! Especially since Noah's mornings consist of watching Mary Poppins almost every day hinting to us that he would really like to "go fly a kite" Makes me feel even more guilty. So that's on our list of things to buy this week. 

I think Noah prefers this beach over any other on the Jersey "shore" for the fact that they have a playground in the design of a pirate ship! I only snapped this one picture of him because Jon & I wanted to enjoy playing with him. He was also becoming restless, and it didn't help that the wind was getting colder. I'll always remember the first time he stepped foot on this pirate ship, and how he loved running around barefoot in the sand pretending to be the captain always saying, "arghhh."

This was a great day, and I'm so glad we are a spontaneous people who just get up and do things that make our kids happy. When you're in your 40's with a toddler life begins to pass you right before your eyes, and I personally don't want to miss any opportunity and pass on the things that I know will make us all happy. Just as our winter days were somewhat gloomy there were also days where I snapped out of my misery, and took this kid (and his sisters) outside to play in the snow. My days are better when I put my kids first, and for that I am extremely grateful for a heart that tells me to do so. Winters are always forgiven because like I said before...at the end of the season the beach, and all that makes spring beautiful...brutal, cold winters are always worth it. 

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Rockaway Beach

Even though I'm not a true new yorker, a brooklynite, or a born and bred "jersey girl" I really feel as if I'm beginning to feel like a true "east coaster" and have become extremely comfortable around my surroundings. My family and I have developed such a strong love for New York for the mere fact that this state has gone through so much heartache throughout the years. From the World Trade Center bombing in '93, to the 9/11attacks in the year 2001, and the devastation of Hurricane Sandy that occurred at one of New Yorks most popular beaches...Rockaway Beach.

I had never been here and have always wanted to check it out, and if I had the time to help the community of Long Island by cleaning up the mess that Sandy left behind I would have, but Sandy also left a huge mess to clean up in South Jersey. 

It felt surreal being at this beach. I never had the opportunity to go before Sandy destroyed it, and it would have been interesting to see how the boardwalk looked like before Sandy took it apart. Luckily our friend google provided us with a ton of pics to peek at to see how it once looked like before. 

This winter has been a little rough in our neck of the woods, and because of it we have been going through major beach withdrawal. Since the weather was gloriously beautifully this past Saturday we decided to go to the beach, and all that was needed was a hoodie. 

We are so fortunate to live in an area where we are an hour away to south and north jersey beaches. We have always gone to Ocean City or Spring Lake, but we heard Rockaway Beach calling our name. 

There were a few people, but not as many as we thought. I could see that they are still trying to rebuild. This area suffered more, and the destruction was brutal. 

I was amazed at how big the parking lot was. Then again I can see why they have such a big parking lot to accommodate millions of people that live in the new york area! Apparently it was filled up with mountains of trash while cleaning up after the storm. Here is a photo from my friend google, and my oh my I can't believe all the debris... it literally looks like the trash in the movie Wall-e. 

^^^ can't believe this is the Jacob Riis parking lot where we were at
Picture via google. ^^^

The kids had a blast and as soon as we got out of the car Noah & Chelsea ran straight to the playground to release some much needed energy form the 75 minute car ride!

^^^ apparently water comes out of the holes not the rings. Perfect for the kids on a hot summer day. ^^^

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They didn't last too long as they wanted to dig for sea shells, and we all just enjoyed walking down the beach and having fun as a family. Captured this moment when everyone is running away from the tide.

^^^ amazed at all the baby swings they have! ^^^

This day was so much fun, and these kids are looking forward to going to the beach more this summer. 

*****

As I was deleting some of the photos on my iPhone I decided to keep this one. It's dark, blurry and grainy but it truly is one my favorites. It reminds me of the good times I had when my mother used to take my sister and I to the park until it way past our bedtime! Swinging in the swings and catching fireflies in between. Running around from the merry go round to the monkey bars & back to the swings. Because that was our favorite thing to do when it was just the three of us. 

Seeing my family as a whole swinging away warmed my heart...too bad I couldn't get in the photo with them!

It was an old school kind of day, and it is going to be documented as one of my most memorable moments in this blog's history. 

a warm weekend in the winter.

Having grown up in Texas summers were all year round except for this winter. It seems as if my fellow Texans had somewhat of a bitter cold winter, and some snow. By the way...35 degrees is bitter cold to them! haha! I have enjoyed reading all their posts on Facebook, and it's so fun to read the ones that add some humor in it. Especially since they know what bitter cold weather could possibly feel like...you know...like the ones we've been having on the east coast. It got as low as 9 degrees here. Can't get enough of them Nor'easters. 

Luckily we experienced some warmth and sunshine over the weekend, and I can't even begin to tell you how thrilled the kids were to finally soak it up in the sun! All winter long Noah's been constantly telling me to take him to the park. No matter where we drive in South Jersey he knows all the streets that connect to all the different parks we've gone to...and there are a lot here! He wouldn't care less if there is snow on the ground. I explained to him that it's still too cold to play outside, and once the snow is all melted then we can go. At one point I even went to one of the parks, and got out to show him that it was muddy, and slushy, and that the slides were super wet! I don't have that many towels to wipe them down (although I have done that before), but it was too cold to do that this time around. 

This past Saturday was absolutely beautiful! The skies were blue, and the weather was perfect! We went to a nearby park to let the kiddos release some energy. It didn't bother me that there was a lot of people Nahhhh...i'm already used to that. It's crowded like this every year whenever it's the first day of spring, or when the "first real sun" comes out after weeks of having snow. The kids were cavorting as if it was a big party! Running, (not skipping) toward the swings. You can tell some of these kids were cooped up a bit! For once, I didn't really notice any ill-mannered children, and it was nice seeing other kids play nice. 

Noah's favorite, (and I didn't even have to wipe it down) was the sliding down the slide...

And climbing to the top to get to the slide...

^^^ this is some weird contraption. I don't know what to call it, but the kids seem to love getting on it! ^^^

I saw Jon get on the "weird contraption" all by himself, and saw him turning around and around, but didn't get to vine, or record it. I was too busy laughing, and watching him act like a big kid. I then had Chelsea take some photos of us on it together. Don't think we fit, but who cares. Good thing I'm petite, and have small feet, because if I was any taller....I don't know.

^^^ my goofy hubby ^^^

^^^ and i love him! ^^^

This warm weekend really got me pumped up for spring. I am so grateful to live in a place where I can see, and feel the change of seasons. I do love the snow, and it looks like we're expecting some this week, but if it does...let's hope it melts by the end of this week!

Because Spring...we're all ready for you! 

Happy Monday y'all! 

Photos from our Snow day, Part II.

One thing about living in Jersey that tends to annoy me is the fact that school gets cancelled for a few inches of snow. Yes...anything less than 10" is a few to me. I really don't like negativity, but I guess that comes with social networking. You gotta have tough skin to have the guts to go online, and write a simple status about your feelings towards any subject that may be in your heart to share.

happy weekend!

What do you do after spending a rainy afternoon cooped up in the house?

Go for an evening drive towards the city of Camden, get down, go for a walk, and overlook the Ben Franklin bridge. 

And...

take goofy photos replicating High School Musical's well adjusted jumping pose. Well...not quite but I think my kids got the right concept, and the jump for that matter. 

Yes...we're goofy, and were relieving all kinds of stress. 

Sierra leaves for college next week, and Jon is continuing to seek employment without any worry. Well...he does worry, but he's so good at keeping his cool. 

This was the best night spent with our kids jumping, and laughing at the same time. It's not hard to entertain these kids at all, and boy did we needed to laugh.

We really needed this! 

**Thanks kiddos for the wonderful idea, and for providing the inexpensive entertainment on one of the best family night's ever! 

Happy weekend everyone!