2009_06_30 Tuesday

The NY Hardwicks joined us in our new kitchen for dinner. Steve and the kids came over early, and Vicky and Dave took the train here. The kids had a great time playing together. They colored Jonathan's club house (the microwave's box).

2009_06_28 Sunday

Over the past few days, Dave has taught Jonathan how to blow bubbles...and catch them! He's so excited when he actually catches one. It's a riot. And, he's learned to "dip," "drip," and "blow." His blows are with his front teeth over his bottom lip, so it's not all that much of a blow, but he's getting there. Dave said it was really cool to see him realize what he had done the first time.

We just got back from dinner out. I had a martini (weeehhheee!) and Dave a Guiness. What a night!

We spent the day hanging pictures and paintings on the first floor. We also bought two chairs and a large mirror for the living room. That, and the den, are 99% finished now.

2009_06_27 Saturday

We went to the Nature Center today for their FrogFest. What a riot. Jonathan got to show Dave all around and specifically where the froggies are (in the frog pond). He did a handful of activities that involved frogs (jumping like them, chirping like them, and coloring frogs). It was finally a nice day, so we really had a nice day.

2009_06_24 Wednesday

We had our final nature class this morning. We had our normal nature hike, played with some frogs and tadpoles, and checked in our our 4 robins, who are now mostly mature. While we walked, we picked up some colorful nature items for our art project. Jonathan had a great time smashing a rock into the wax paper that held our nature items. Basically, it stained a piece of cotton au natural. Cute and easy to do. Then, we had a story and a short picknick. Jonathan gave Mrs Barbara a hug and said thank you before we left.

Then we picked up his 2nd birthday pictures from the mall. They are adorable...thankfully, after having to go twice! We'll get them out in the mail asap.

He's a superstar with his alphabet and Twinkle, Twinkle now. We're still working on some colors; brown seems to be a real toughie for him. He's mastered swinging a bat at a ball; now we just need to connect the ball to the bat. We also played red light/green light on the way to pick up Dave from the train station...as we dodged more rain drops.

2009_06_23 Tuesday

Today was sort of a blah day. But, we got motivated after breakfast to visit a local farm, Alstede Farm. It was fantastic. Jonathan got to feed and/or pet peacocks, chickens, roosters, piggies, goats, donkeys, sheep, horses, a cow, and rabbits. After that, we actually went into the fields and picked a pint of strawberries. I paid for them (a whopping $1.08!) and then we ate them all and split some ice cream.

2009_06_21 Sunday

Happy Father's Day!!

We got Dave a photo frame with three pictures: one says "Happy" and Jonathan drew all over it, the second is a photo of Jonathan doing the sign for father, and the third says "Day" and Jonathan drew all over that one too. awwww.

After breakfast in bed, we went to the Whippany Railway Museum. They were having train rides on the hour, but they were sold out for 2 sessions, so we skipped it. Instead, we walked around the grounds and saw some cool train exhibits. Maybe we'll try next Sunday. On the way home, we passed the mall, and Dave wanted to take Jonathan on the ride-able panda/giraffe/elephant. We got a couple of good photos of that. We also ran into Sharon/Marco there! And, we had a very late lunch at Applebee's. The boys are napping now, and I snuck out to get 3 yoga VHS tapes from my Freecycle buddies. Will start with them in the morning! wahoo.

2009_06_20 Saturday

We had breakfast at the diner today. Jonathan got to charm the ladies, especially Donna.

Then, we headed off to Jen/Chad's for Cory's birthday party. We were there from about 2-8. It took a long time to get there b/c of the rain and traffic. Glad that I got to drive! ugh. But, Jonathan had a blast chasing after his cousins (Cory, Ryan, Catherine, and Bobby). He's getting really good at catching balls now. Dave threw a ball to him, and he really got the hang of catching it! He also got a kick out of their kiddy work bench, and hammered away on lots of things. And, they had a little trampoline with a handle bar that he bounced on like crazy. That was fun to watch him do since he giggled hysterically when he jumped. I changed him into his pjs before we left, figuring he wouldn't last too long in the car. Sure enough, he fell asleep quickly: sheer exhaustion.