A Trip to the Children's Museum

Today was our last full day in New Jersey. We spent the morning at the New Jersey Children's Museum, a place that Peter really enjoyed the last time we were in NJ. Just like last time, he had a blast!! We were one of the first people there, so he had about 35 minutes to pretty much do whatever he wanted without anyone else wanting to play in the same area. A summer camp group came in around 10:40 or so, but they were really well behaved and didn't cause any problems with Peter being able to see and play in all of the exhibits.

It was interesting to see what he enjoyed this year that he didn't really play with last year. He did a few of the same things (ride the horse, play with the giant lite-brite, sit on the firetruck), but he really seemed to find new things to explore that he didn't seem as interested in last year.

He enjoyed some time in the construction area...

Like last year, he loved the firetruck!

The horse was a hit - he rode it twice. :)

I tried to get Peter to be the astronaut, but he preferred me to try it instead.

He enjoyed the giant lite-brite with all of the colorful lights.

Unlike last year, the kitchen area was empty when we got to it. He cooked some pizza and served it to us.

The grocery store was also empty this time, so Peter was able to shop and purchase a few items.

His favorite exhibit, though, was this castle with toy knights and horses. He spent over 10 minutes just moving the people around and having a great time.

Toward the end of our visit, we saw a puppet show based on "The Three Billy Goats Gruff". I had never read the story to Peter, so today was the first time he heard it. The lady did a great job telling it and got all of the kids involved in making sounds for the characters. Peter sat nicely during the show, but I wasn't really sure how much he really took in until...

We were sitting at dinner tonight and Peter tried telling us that something was tasty. We listed off all of the food on this plate, but he kept saying something different. We just couldn't figure out what he was talking about. A few minutes later, he was able to get it out a little more clearly - "Billy goats are tasty!"

He was repeating part of the song that the troll sang during the puppet show he saw earlier in the day! Amy started asking him some questions about the story, and he was pretty much able to retell the entire story that he had only heard once about 6 hours prior to dinner. His retention is amazing!!

All in all, a very successful day at the New Jersey Children's Museum. :)

The Bronx Zoo

Grandpa took off from work today to take us to the Bronx Zoo. Although it's in NY, it's only about 17 miles away from the house. It took us about an hour to get there, though, because of traffic trying to cross the George Washington Bridge into New York. Can you believe it costs $8 to cross the bridge???

Today was donation day at the zoo, so they let you donate whatever you wish to enter. It normally costs $16 a person, so donation day saved us lots of money! They even gave us a DVD about some of the animals at the zoo.

It was REALLY hot today (hovering around 100), but the shade kept it feeling a little cooler. Most of the animals were out, so we had a good time seeing lots of animals in action. They also had a children's zoo ($3 per person) that had some animal exhibits as well as things to climb on.

Grandpa - Thanks for taking us to the zoo!!

Pizza Night!

One of the things I love about visiting New Jersey is having people around to do things with Peter that he wouldn't necessarily get the chance to do at home. Danielle isn't always willing to just sit in a swing or highchair and be a spectator - she wants to be part of the action! Having a toddler and infant trying to make pizza together isn't really my idea of a fun family activity, so I am so thankful that Aunt Amy let Peter help her make pizzas last weekend. He had a blast!!!

First he helped roll out the dough. He put flour on the dough so it wouldn't stick to the rolling pin. His idea of "just a little" and Amy's idea of "just a little" was quite different, so Amy kept brushing off the extra flour as he kept adding to it!

Then it was on to the sauce!

Cheese time! A little for the pizza . . .

and a little for Peter . . .

Notice the cheese around this mouth? Here is when he decided to lick the pepperoni before putting it on the pizza. Good thing only family was eating this one!!

He made sure each spot had a piece of pepperoni.

Finally - time to eat!!!

The Jersey Shore

I probably should have expected a bit of a crazy day when both kids were awake by 5:45 this morning!!! We had been planning on going to the beach (well, the shore as it's called around here), and Grandpa had taken off work so he could go with us. Danielle was going to stay home with Grandma. After waking up at 5:30am, I figured she'd probably be ready for a morning nap around 7:30am. We had planned to leave for the beach around 9am, so the timing would work out well for me to put her down for a nap before leaving. Um, note to self - when plans involve babies and toddlers, be prepared to change the plans!!



I started trying to put Danielle down for a nap around 7am because she was really acting tired. After nearly an hour, she still wouldn't go down. I was debating with myself whether or not to even to go to the beach at all. She was extremely fussy, and I was pretty sure that if she was fussy with Mommy, she'd be even more fussy with Grandma. Then she decided to throw up. Not just spit up, but really throw up. It's the first time she's ever thrown up, and it was pretty gross! No wonder she wasn't acting herself!! With Aunt Kim in the shower that has the tub, I immediately put Danielle in the kitchen sink to take her clothes off. I told Peter that we couldn't go to the beach today because Danielle was sick. He wasn't too pleased with that, and he kept saying he wanted to go to the beach. I felt bad because we had been talking about the beach so much and how fun it was and here we were telling Peter he now couldn't go - very tough for a 2-year-old to understand.

When Aunt Kim was done with her shower, Peter and I gave Danielle a bath. Apparently throwing up made her feel better because she seemed back to her normal self during her bath. After watching her a few minutes, I told Peter to go ask Grandpa if he still wanted to go to the beach. The weather was beautiful, so we could just take Danielle with us. In the end, all of us (Grandma and Danielle included), spent the day at the shore. Peter said that Danielle felt better because he wasn't homesick anymore. :)

It felt a bit strange at first that I was putting on my swimsuit to go to the beach when it wasn't even 60 degrees at 9am. However, it warmed up into the 70s and felt great by the time we got there. After being up since 6am, Peter was a bit tired and disobedient at first, but he settled down quickly and LOVED the sand and the ocean! He had a great time playing in the water with Grandpa while Danielle and I sat on the blanket.

Then, once Danielle was settled in with Grandma on the boardwalk, Peter and I enjoyed playing in the waves and in the sand. As we walked into the water, he wanted me to carry him so we could go further out. Um, I really don't care to be in the ocean that far out, so I told him that we couldn't go that far unless we were with Daddy. He accepted that answer and we spent our time playing in the water where we could still see our feet. :)

Once we had enough of the sand and the water, we cleaned up and headed to the boardwalk. Danielle put her feet in the sand once just to say that she did. :)

Peter enjoyed playing some games. Aunt Amy tried to convince him to play her favorite game (skee-ball), but he was much more interested in the basketball game instead. He also enjoyed bonking the moles as they came out of the holes.

Then it was on to the rides! For the first time, Peter was actually tall enough to ride some of the boardwalk rides. He even rode them by himself!! He had a blast - it was neat watching him get so excited to ride a bicycle (the motorcycles) and the big frucks!!

We ended the day with ice cream - a perfect ending to a day that started off a bit rough, but finished with a happy ending. :)

Grandma and Grandpa - thanks for taking us to the beach!!!

We had a wonderful time!! :)