Every Superman has his Kryptonite
Despite all the protective coverings on the chairs and floor, Lachlan’s still catches him out occasionally.
Spring!
In Sydney, the seasons pass without too much notice except people getting progressively more crabby through Winter. Here, it really does “Spring!”. Changes in the flowers, trees and weather from week-to-week, and even day-to-day really is a sight to see.
I finally understand the obsession people have with checking the weather – it’s a much more integral part of life.
It was 28C yesterday with the kids in shorts, t-shirts and summer dresses. No more snow clothes now!
It’s “on the boat”
Our temporary accommodation is nice, but our new house looks totally fantastic with all the great renovation & preparation work that Mummy has done while waiting for her work authorization to clear.
But unfortunately, our stuff is still “on the boat” after a 1-week delay in Singapore and being flagged for customs check 😦
Life is coming together really well here, but we can’t wait to complete this big milestone in the process!
Birthdays New Jersey Style!
Today I went to my first birthday in New Jersey at Bounce-U in Bound Brook. It was one of my mates Mark’s fifth birthday party.
I had a ball!
I climbed, played basketball and slid…
Tried out the hurricane simulator with mum and Emma.
Followed by pizza & cake.
It was super cool. Thanks Mark – I had an awesome time 🙂
Richard Scarry books
We got a surprise at our new house today when Grandpa & Grandma had sent us a pressie – Richard Scarry books!
Dad is going to have hours of fun reliving his childhood love of these 🙂
Day care in America
We love our new day care center in America. The teachers are incredibly interactive & helpful, the kids are friendly and the facilities / food are great!
Lachlan settled in immediately and is likely to run away yelling “never! ever!” when it’s time to go home. (Note from parents – things at home are good too – really they are ). He has a strong set of best friends that he talks about constantly.
Eli is learning letters and doing lots of drawing. She loves the drama / dress up room and often makes us stay in the afternoon to hear the end of stories.
Things were quiet this morning so Elimena took us on a private tour of her Polar Bears room.
Here is a great little garden she built with her friend and was so proud to show us.
Here are some shots of the indoor play area – particularly given the cold weather. This is just one small part of the center, there is a huge outdoor play area too.
Girl’s Afternoon
This afternoon while Lachie was sleeping, us girls snuck out to have some time girly time together.
We got dressed up:
We met up with Tracy, Samantha & Emma and went to Morristown.
There, we went to see the NJ Ballet production of Cinderella. It was magical!
With seats in the middle of the front row of the balcony we had a perfect view and didn’t miss a beat 🙂 The outfits were gorgeous! The dancing graceful! The music beautiful! We had an awesome time!
A morning at Wegmans
We’ve said before how everything is big … Well here is an example – Wegmans (supermarket).
After avoiding the floods, you drive down a big highway to the shopping complex, which includes Wegmans, Home Depot, Sleepy’s mattress store and many restaurants. There is always lots of parking, so driving is easy.
Next you get your superkids car trolley. Superman (or Spiderman as Lachie calls it) and Princess outfits are optional, but recommended for lots of friendly smiles.
Entering the market, you are greeted by huge areas including veggies (yuck), lollies (yum) and lots of aisles. We don’t have photos here, but there are huge meat sections, bakery’s, in-store cafe and more.
There is a liquor section, including Penfolds Bin 128 for $20 (~$35 back home), a full in-store Florist and they even sell furniture.
Driving around in the trolley car is OK, but it’s much more fun to spend time in the kids care area. They have toys, videos, drawing, video games and much more – all free :). (Sorry no photos, that didn’t seem appropriate.)
They even have a big suspended model train driving overhead. Lachlan loves this and did a 50 yard dash to find it at one point … Picture Dad trying to weave through the aisles and shoppers with the huge trolley-car in excruciatingly slow pursuit!
You then choose one of the 26 checkout aisles and make your way home.
To be honest, this post doesn’t really do it justice. But, this was our activity for the morning, giving you a sense of how much there is to explore!
The River Park – Usually park, sometimes just river
Until our stuff arrives on the boat from Australia (8 weeks and counting!), we’re staying at an apartment complex called the River Park. Staying here during the winter thaw and Spring rains, we’ve learned why – the river across the road regularly floods.
Thankfully, we’re on the 4th floor and there is a back exit for our car!
Here is our front lawn and road:
And here is the bridge across the river:
A shopping shipping frenzy
As we’ve mentioned before, one of the great things about living in America is online shopping and delivery. The shopping is fast & cheap and the delivery fees very low, particularly once you have free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime.
This week, we have appliances, beds, furniture, curtains, phones, clothes, diapers and countless other items all in simultaneous transit. Every day brings new boxes & packaging!
As always however, no matter what the item, the boxes are always more fun! (Or so it seemed, until today when Dad got his first iPhone <grin>).
Wallamble 