Bottling Beer, Big Boy Chair, and New Jersey Trip Fun!

On this cold day in January, here's a little photo dump from our summer adventures.  :-)

I looooved our little garden that we had this past summer
(especially since I didn't have to buy cucumbers or
cherry tomatoes ALL summer long!).  However,
when I went to harvest one morning, I was greeted
by this guy!!  Needless to say, I wanted to grab my nearest
flame thrower, but instead, avoided the cucumbers for that
day.  :-/

Our happy and proud boy on his balance bike!

William snuggling with his monkey, dinosaur,
and Elmo.  So precious :-)

Woo hoo!  Thank GOODNESS for the
double cart with steering wheels at Wegman's.
This delightful invention makes it possible
for me to go grocery shopping with both of the
boys in complete peace.  They love it and are
cracking up the entire time.

On August 29, 2014, Alex and William had their last day at their daycare.  This was a very bittersweet day because Alex had been going to this daycare since he was 4 1/2 months old.  This school and its amazing staff have known our boys since they were tiny infants and it was definitely an emotional day for all.  Big thanks to the incredible staff at the boys' former school.  Thank you for giving our kiddos a good education, making them feel safe and loved, and giving these two (initially nervous) parents some piece of mind.

Alex and William ready for their last day of school at their old daycare.

Alex holding his "graduation" certificate
from preschool.  This big kid would be
entering Pre-K in 2 short weeks.  He was very proud.

William and Alex putting on their shoes at their old school.

William's little cubby.

*sniff sniff*  The school was nice enough
to keep the boys the whole day so that
they could celebrate with their friends
and share a special going away snack.

Alex with his cubby.

Fun times!!  You know that beer that we made at Hopster's?  Well, two weeks later, we had to go back to the place to put all of the beer into bottles.  So, we made a nice weekend activity out of it.  We took the boys there for lunch (because their food is FANTASTIC), and hung out while Joseph bottled about three cases of beer.

The handsome men in my life :-)

Joseph and his mini me, Alex.

Joseph, hard at work bottling the beer.

On August 30, 2014, we said, "Good bye!" to William's baby high chair, and, "hello!" to his booster seat.  Oy...this kid is growing up so fast.

William's first reaction to his new "special big boy chair."
Somewhat lukewarm...

Ok, he loved it!!

Little man was very proud of his chair upgrade.  :-)

In the beginning of September, Joseph had a tough week of work where he wasn't going to be home that much, so I decided to pack the kiddos in the car, take the dog to the trainer's house, and head to New Jersey to visit my aunts and uncles.

Here's my Tito Bee-Eye, lifting Alex up into the air.
He is an amazing cook and asked me what foods
I wanted when I got there.  He made me
INCREDIBLE chicken adobo and lumpia (Filipino egg rolls)
from scratch and dropped it off at my Tita and Tito's house.
Yum, yum, yummy!!  Thanks Tito!

The next day, both of my Titas took me and the boys to an incredible zoo in Livingston, New Jersey called "Turtle Back Zoo."  It was a really great zoo that had lots of interactive things for the kids to enjoy. 

William and my Tita Rachel checking out
a capybara.

Alex with my Tita Rachel and Tita Ging.

Yay!  We got to feed the budgies!!
That's Alex's little hand holding the seed stick
and feeding the birds.

Alex thought this was so cool!  The budgies had no fear.

Alex feeding the budgies.

Beautiful budgies perched on branches

I helped to steady Alex's hand when the birds
got a little aggressive with the seeds.

Alex was so tickled when the budgies jumped
onto his shoes.

Kangaroos and wallabies!! :-)  So cute.

Alex feeding the goats.

Train ride time!  Allllll aboard!
Here's my Tita Ging, Tita Rachel, Alex,
and William getting ready to ride the train around the zoo.

Alex petting some sting rays.  This zoo had everything!

Alex on a gigantic snake in the entrance.

After that, we went to my Tita Rachel's house to have lunch.  We were quite re-energized, so we ventured out to Imagine That! which is a children's museum that had lots of different, hands-on rooms for the children to explore.

Here's William, exploring some sound boxes.

The boys HAD to ride the train once they saw it.

William loved pushing the buttons in the train room.

Alex, at the cash register in the grocery store section.

William was grocery shopping.

While Alex was busy making important phone calls.

William with my Tita Rachel in the grocery store.

Here's Alex, being a news reporter and
giving the weather report.  He donned
a blazer and spoke clearly into a microphone. :-)

Magnet fun!

Watch out everyone!  Alex is flying a plane!

And William is driving a motorcycle!

My Tita Ging and William, ready to drive the fire truck.

There he goes!

What a little stinker! :-p

William climbing the staircase to the pirate ship.

And now he's digging up the sand at the beach!

The boys ended their adventure at Imagine That!
by taking a quick look at the aquarium.

Alex (or Donatello), wearing his Ninja Turtle outfit.

We took a rest, and the next day ventured to Langhorne, PA to visit Sesame Place!!  Tito Tito and Tita Rachel squeezed into our little Prius and we drove about an hour to get there.

Alex, William, and Tito Tito at the entrance of Sesame Place.

"Mommy!  I'm SO EXCIIIITED!!"

Alex and William on the curb of Sesame Street!
I remember being Alex's age and taking the same picture
with my sister years and years ago in the same place.  :-)

Alex ran up to Bert and Ernie and immediately began to flex his muscles for them.

Bert took Alex's hat and wore it.  Alex thought that was hilarious!

Picture time with Bert and Ernie.

And now it's time to ride some rides!

Tito Tito loved riding the rides with Alex.

Annnnnd they're off!

Alex and Tito Tito ready for the next ride!

I think Tito Tito was starting to tire of the rides.

So I got both of the boys on the next ride while he took a break.

Wheeeeeeeee!

Me and the little ones

Tita Rachel took Alex on the carousel while I
got in line for the Elmo show with William.

William, Alex, and Tita Rachel at another show
in the park.

William was clapping and saying, "Hooray!"
the whole time.

He loved every minute of it.

He was captivated.

Tito Tito, William, Tita Rachel, and Alex ready to
rock out at the Elmo Rocks! show.

Check out the little groupie in the green shirt
and blue hat by the stage.  It's William! :-)

William was in awe of the performances.

The boy in the red shirt dancing his heart out was
Alex.  Our kids love to dance!

Alex, getting ready to get a high five from Cookie Monster.

There he goes!

Getting ready for the Elmo Rocks show!

Dancing time!

Time for more rides!  Tito Tito with Alex in the first car...

...and me and William in the car behind it!
As you can tell, William was apprehensive about the ride.

But then he got excited!

William riding the ride.

Me and our little speed demon.  He couldn't
get enough of the rides.

William and Tito Tito bowed out of this ride.

Even the bushes and flower pots were decorated
Sesame Street style!

Alex and a shrub of Cookie Monster

Alex with the Elmo and Big Bird shrubs.

Alex and Snuffaluffagus!

Me and Alex ready to ride the Super Grover
Roller Coaster!!  He rode it 3 times!

Getting ready to go!

We made it!  Let's go again!

William playing with Tita Ging at the window while Alex exercised
his Ninja moves.

Donatello's in the house!

A few snuggles before we go!

Alex, William, and Tita Ging hanging out at Tita Rachel and Tito Tito's
house before we left.

Some deer bid us adieu in the neighborhood
as we ventured back home.

The next morning, I enjoyed an incredibly delicious
Longanisa and egg white sandwich....it was to die for.
Whenever I leave New Jersey, I'm always sent home with
a week's worth of incredibly delicious Filipino food.  Definitely food for the soul.

We had lots of fun in late August and early September of 2014.  It was so lovely to see family and to be able to take the kids to places that I visited when I was their age.  Thanks so much for a wonderful time, Titas and Titos!!  We look forward to visiting all of you very soon.  Until next time...

Love and kisses,
Nikki

P.S. - Happy New Year!!  I will do my best to keep updating...I just have a couple more months to catch up on.  :-/