Sesame Place

This is such a delayed posting~We actually went a couple of weekends ago). Thanks to Grandma for such a great outing! We had planned to go in Sept. to avoid the crazy summer crowds, then the weather turned cool and rainy. What to do, what to do. We hummed and hawed, then finally decided to take our chances and go. It turned out to be a wonderful, dry, albeit chilly for being in the water, day.

Alette was surprisingly brave-her first choice of the day was to ride the roller coaster. She LOVED it! So of course, I had to go on two more times for the other two girls....and then the teacups, and then the swings, and then....I was feeling rather dizzy by the end of the day. Abria loved the roller coaster but freaked out on the moonbounce and ropes. Imagine trying to descend the rope canopy with a freaked out 3 year old clinging to your chest...The girls all had a great time in the water despite the cool weather. Both Grandma and I sacrificed ourselves and took them down the tubes-then opted to supervise their play from a drier location.

What a great way to end the summer!

A Beautiful End of Summer Day

There is nothing better than taking a break in the middle of the day for a splash in the fountain! This is my favorite time of year-the weather is great and it is so nice to get outside without sweating up a storm. The fountain at Whitman Park is still operating, much to our delight. It's hard to pull them away-usually it takes the promise of a pretzel to lure them from the water.

I'm not doing school

Abria is still adament that she is not going to do school this year....but happily joins us for whatever art project we have going on. Which is basically what school looks like when you are 3.

First Day of First Grade!

Despite Abria's brilliance (I'm her mom and allowed to say such things) she is not starting first grade. In fact, she has emphatically stated that she is not doing school at all this year. Despite her initial protest, she has happily joined us for stories, our homeschool co-op, our science class and even sat through a couple of Alette's geography lessons.



This picture looks like a set-up. After all, since we homeschool, where on earth would we go on our first day of school. We actually had to drive our foster daughter to Pre-K for her first day, then came back to start our school day.



Alette's first day! Our daughter has sprouted-There are times I catch myself looking at her in amazement....how did the past five years go so quickly?

How Much Are Those Nectarines?

Abria and the girls loved the spraypark, and the weather was perfect for getting wet. Unfortunately I forgot to pack dry clothes so we all went home rather soggy.



The girls were directed to pick the reddest nectarines-a concept completely lost on an excited group of girls. They threw in whatever fruit they could reach...I felt rather bad but discreetly removed some of the worst looking ones.



Neither Miss Z, nor Ganiyah had taken a hayride before-everyone squealed in delight at every bump, turn and twist. The lady driving the tractor was badgered with about a million questions....which she was oh so patient about answering.




So, the nectarines were only 1.69/lb but we also had to pay for the ride to the orchard, then of course, we picked corn. The play area was 1/2 price (with a paid hayride), drinks were $2 each...I felt like I was NYC, not south Jersey. Was it worth it? Absolutely, we all had a great time. I wish I could say that the nectarines taste much better than those in the grocery store, alas, they are merely okay.

A week with Ganiyah

Ganiyah has been a wonderful friend to the girls since the moment she was born and we are always delighted to have her over. Her daycare was closed for the week so we happily included her in our week's activities. The girls had a great time dressing up and performing their dances/songs for me. What Alette and Abria lack in talent, they made up for in creativity and enthusiasm. I've been going through some old pictures and couldn't resist posting this one of Ganiyah and Abria.