Happy Mother's Day!

I got to spend Mother's Day with my Mom, sister and Jackson which was so fun. (Bill was on a trip so we celebrated when he got home). The day with my mom and sister was really laid-back. We brunched, went for a walk and even took a nap! After a nice drive, we ended up at a Buddhist Temple of all places. Unfortunately, I didn't get many great pictures of all of us but here are some of the Buddhas and of Jackson giving my mom and sis a "family hug". 

Happy (belated) Mother's day to all of you fabulous mommies out there! You know who you are...

Beach Day

Last week we took a day trip to the Jersey Shore (Point Pleasant). 

It was so fun and its only an hour away from us. We went mid-week 

so the beach was pretty empty of idiots. Yay! 

Jackson loved playing in the sand and we did the normal 

things you do on the beach like walk the boardwalk, 

dip our toes in the freezing cold water, eat ice cream and find shells. 

He still has that sweet double chin.

See how empty? We only had to move our things once!

(further away from three girls - one with an infant - who

felt the need to discuss feminine hygiene and drop F-bombs. )

Sand is so fun.

Checking out the surf with Daddy.

Collecting shells

(and a few cigarette butts)

My new favorite website

So I am really into this website that you have probably heard of, 

www.freecycle.org.

I highly recommend joining the freecycle network in your area. 

The goal is to reuse and keep things out of the landfills by 

offering items you don't need/want anymore to others. You can 

"offer" items you want to get rid of and also post "wanted" items 

that you are hoping to get (for free!). It is awesome and has really 

been working out for me lately. I got rid of a dozen old picture 

frames and all of our moving boxes within 24 hours of posting 

them. We recently picked up a used (but in great condition) 

jogging stroller from a nice woman who happens to work at 

the Rahway, NJ Harley Davidson dealership, hence the picture 

below. This is Jackson in complete awe of all of the "moto-bikes" 

lined up outside. This place is also right next to the train tracks 

so he was in his glory as you can imagine...

Boys Love Dirt

...and this is proof! 

Grandpa George let Jackson play in this dirt pile

and he obviously loved every minute of it. 

Grandma Carol & Grandpa Rick Visit

Grandma Carol and Grandpa Rick came from Steamboat to see us and were with us on Jackson's actual birthday which was really fun. We had great weather and showed them all around Westfield. We hit the best parks, bummed around town and had lunch at Vicki's Diner. Rick made a yummy trout dinner on the grill which was inspiringly easy. Jackson loved having them here and had so much fun with his grandparents from "Col-rado". Thanks for a great visit!

More Birthday Pics

Instead of having one big party for Jackson, we had 3 small 

ones (to make sure we had enough cake of course!). 

Thank you to all of the grandparents for the parties and gifts.

Jackson is lucky to have all 6 of you!

Another train cake at the party at Papa & Bernie's!

This one looks a little more "professional" than mine...

Jackson and Bernie

A shiny new red bike from Grandpa George and Nana!

Jackson, PaPa and Jackson's Great-Grandparents

(Cara's Noni & Papa)

A common request from Jackson these days:

"Play trains!"

That's Grandma Carol playing too. 

Jackson is 2!

Our baby boy is 2 today!

 We are so lucky to be the parents of this sweet little guy!

More birthday pics with the grandparents to come...

Here is the train cake that I made him. It was so much fun to make.

We celebrated last night with Bill's parents who were in town

visiting and had this cake. The first thing Jackson said to me this 

morning when he woke up was "I wanna eat the train".

The aftermath

The after bath

One year ago today...

Here is Jackson on his 1st birthday.

Minnesota Visit

We just spent 4 days in Plymouth, MN visiting Bill's brother Jim and his family (wife Meaghan and kids Matthew and Catherine). It was an action-packed trip for sure. We visited the Children's Museum, Jackson got a haircut, played with the millions of toys in the downstairs playroom, ate cake for Meaghan's birthday (Happy Birthday Aunt Meaghan!) among other things. Jackson LOVED playing with his older, cooler cousins and we can't wait to see them all again in July out in Steamboat. Thanks for a great visit, guys! Do you miss us??

At the Children's Museum with Catherine

Catherine on the Ant at the Museum

Matthew, Catherine and Jackson pose for pics

Catherine is a free spirit and loves to play 

with princesses AND trains.

Matthew is totally into sports and is really good at them.

At the Salon...

The "Matherine"

Getting silly

REALLY silly!

Had to cut the photo shoot short b/c

they started jumping on the bed.

Fun with the Grandparents

Last weekend Jackson had fun with the NY / CT grandparents. Can't wait to see Grandma Carol and Grandpa Rick from Colorado who are coming to visit for Jackson's birthday next week!

With Papa at the Danbury Mall Carousel

"Helping" Grandpa George

Wow! That was hard work...

Playgrounds!

We've been hitting the playgrounds of Westfield pretty hard lately and there are several great ones within walking distance of where we live. Can't wait for spring to REALLY be here!

Easter 2008

Nana came down for a visit on Easter Sunday. We had an egg hunt and then went to check out a playground we haven't been to before. It was great! In addition to the playground there was a large pond with geese to check out. Even though it was in the 40's, we saw the first ice cream truck of the season!