Blessings

Wow Hanukkah and Christmas came and went. Now the countdown to NYE!

We are so blessed to have a wonderful and wacky family to share the holidays. Just hope to see the rest of my family soon.

Now it's time to entertain my parents for the next week in the Big Apple

Holiday Time

(Tree at Rockefeller Center)

Wow can it really be December 20th?

(Macy's Herald Square Window)

We have been so busy, but loving city life especially with the holidays coming up.

(Santacon)

Lots of family coming up this week so I will make sure to make a post with lots of photos!

Until then
Happy Holidays!

6 Months

So we passed our 6 month mark of living here in New Jersey at the end of October. Wow 6 months, on one hand it doesn't seem that long ago but on the other hand we've done so much and covered quite a bit of land in that amount of time.

It is pretty magical up here already for the holidays, and we don't even have the super cold weather YET. We passed Macy's last weekend and they were setting up their holiday window displays.

We went to Bryant Park for ice skating and family day last Saturday.


Matt was the only one who had real experience and at one point Matt was trying to keep up both kids along with keeping himself up. While it was hysterical (to me) we decided that wasn't the best situation so Mason was getting the hang of it and Madeline and I just clung to the wall.


After ice skating we got kettle corn, colored at a craft table, sang ice karaoke for Columbia's Freezer tour and the kids won hats!

Bryant Park has really cute temporary glass shops set up for the holidays so we peeked into a few of those as well.

I am not sure if Matt will brave ice skating with us again, but I am really looking forward to trying again.

Here goes to another memorable 6 months!

Halloween Fun

Wow we had an action packed Halloween weekend!

It started off that Mason's school had a school dance on the Friday before Halloween. I helped set up and the dance was AMAZING!

Friday night Matt and I went to the Metropolitan Opera and saw Anna Bolena.

Saturday we had breakfast in Hoboken with Scott and Maj who arrived just in time for SNOW!!
We then headed to NYC to show Maj around in the snow.Sunday we had three events!
We first attended our neighborhood costume contest.

We then went to a Fright Festival put on my meetup group.
After that we headed over to Trunk or Treat also put on by my meetup group.
We had a blast!

Monday Mason wore his costume to school, Maddie and I went to see him in his costume parade.
Following school the kids and I headed to Hoboken for Trick or Treating and a parade.
When Matt, Uncle Scott, and (soon to be Aunt) Maj got to our house we sat on the stoop and handed out goodies for a bit then we went trick or treating around our neighborhood.

Farm time

With fall comes festivals.

We've attended two farm festivals and both were cute in their own way.

We went to Terhune Orchards in Princeton, NJ, and it was so picturesque. They had a little bit of everything to keep the whole family happy.

We of course had to go to the pony/miniature horse riding area for Madeline.

Following our big purchase of candy and caramel apples, the group headed to the Corn Maze.

Of course we had to do a hay ride to the pumpkin patch.

(not hayride just a cute tractor, didn't get any photos of the actual hayride)

After picking out our pumpkins we painted them.

On our way out of the festival we stopped in the store, where we couldn't refuse the pie, cider and apple butter.


The kid's and I went to Wightman Farm in Morristown for Mason's field trip. It was a simpler set up, but had a great home made playground for the kids.


We started on a hayride all the way around the farm, ending in the pumpkin patch.

Picked our pumpkins and went over for snack.

(Cut out the other two cute kids since this is public)

What did we have? A doughnut and apple cider! The kids then got to play on a playground that included a hay maze, tunnels, haystack slide etc.


I am sure we find a few more festivals to go to.... until then we will enjoy our delicious apple butter!

Cold Weather Newbie

So many people will laugh at me but I am sort of freaking out with this whole winter wardrobe thing. I know it should be common sense as to what I should dress my kids and myself in for the cold weather but I've come to find out I am absolutely clueless.




We did get the kids some great coats which represent their style. Madeline's is a bright pink and ruffles, like the rest of her wardrobe.Mason is all about that neon yellow/green color, so this coat was definitely meant for him. It also has another light weight jacket that can be weather proof or a fleece.

But I still need HELP! So give me your best tips for staying warm. Favorite winter must haves, stores you recommend for good quality winter products and so on.

We need:
Hats
Scarfs
Gloves
Shoes/boots
Long johns
Sweaters
Coats
Snow pants
etc.

My list is getting longer and longer the more I realize we have nothing to keep us warm and dry.

My family is amazing

Well we made it through back to school season!

New to this year-
Mason started 1st grade.
His school has uniforms, and boy does it make it easy getting him ready in the morning.
He is learning Spanish, which is new to him.


Madeline started ballet. She is loving it, but took her a few classes to warm up to it completely.
We've attended a few meetup playgroups which has helped us meet a few new people.


Matt is doing amazing at his job, he officially was promoted from assistant director to director today. Director of what? I will have to ask him again for the official title, but YAY MATT!

I convinced Matt and the kids to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art last weekend, not only one day but TWO DAYS at the Met!

I haven't uploaded our photos from the Met but when I do I will do a whole blog about it of course!

Thinking of my Tallahassee family right now, my uncle Bruce is in the hospital and hoping he is okay. XOXO to everyone!

Six Flags Great Adventure

Last Saturday Matt's company had a special group deal for Six Flags Great Adventure. You better believe that while my parents were up here we had to go to a theme park!

Everyone knows how Disney obsessed we were last year, why not it was in our backyard. So after having some withdrawls we finally got to go to a theme park again.


Along with a Disney obsession I also have a love for roller coasters. Well Six Flags are known for their roller coasters...

Matt's company group special also included the opportunity to enter the park an hour early to ride their newest ride the Green Lantern before the park officially opened.

Since my mom is the best (and not a roller coaster rider) she watched the kids while Matt, my dad and myself went on the Green Lantern.

We (minus my dad) then got to hop right back on but switched to the front row. We could of done this for a full hour (aside from us being late) but we decided twice was enough.

My thoughts personally on the Green Lantern, the position in which you stand with a bicycle seat between your legs is uncomfortable and for those shorties like myself your head gets battered around in the top harness. I couldn't keep my head from rattling around. The rollercoaster itself was fun but not great.


Later we got to go on Nitro, and both Matt and I really liked it. Much smoother, great drops and long enough to not think that's it?!

I really wanted to go on Kingda Ka but it was closed.

As far as for the kids, there were a ton of great kiddie rides.
Maddie of course made us ride on the carousel.
Mason took us into Bugs Bunny's Fun factory which was this tent full of soft balls that you could shoot with air, drop all over the place from baskets and for the parents... vacuum up so they could do it all over again.
They also rode Bugs Bunny's Ranger Pilots, Daffy's Deep Diver, Pepe Le Pew's Hearts Away and numerous more!

On our next trip we still have a lot to see at Six Flags Great Adventure but especially the drive through Safari!

As far as my personal favorites Sheikra from Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and The Incredible Hulk from Islands of Adventure in Orlando still hold the top spots for roller coasters that I've been on.