VBS 2009

Two weeks ago Jordan and Jaron started VBS at Dutch Neck Presbyterian Church, right down the street from their school. It's an old, old church......I think it was established in the 1800s......it's white with a tall steeple and a cemetery behind it. I have always enjoyed driving by it. I am not really sure why, I am kind of weird about that kind of stuff. If I don't like the way I feel when I drive by a place, then I will find another way to go!!! But fortunately it was not that way in this case.
I have to be honest and tell you that the kids did NOT want to go to VBS. Sunday night, they complained about it all night. They said they wanted to stay with me. But being the wise mother that I am, I got them up bright and early Monday morning and told them they would probably really enjoy it. And guess what.......when I picked them up, the first thing they said to me was, "I had sooooooooo much fun! Do we have to go home now?"

The theme for the week was "Camp E.D.G.E.". Experience and Discover God Everywhere. They did not like me calling it VBS, they insisted it was Camp E.D.G.E. They had a really good time learning about stories from the Old and New Testament. They made an ark of the covenant. Jaron eventually used it to store his "G-Force" cards. They made a pencil case the next day, but none of us can remember what the story was!! They made a star mobile for the story of Jesus' birth...they hung them on the window in the living room. They painted a poster by rolling a marble over posterboard. And the last day they colored a cross puzzle.....the puzzle is actually in the shape of a cross. It took us forever to put it together!!! Jordan's was a thousand different colors, and Jaron, of course, only used his favorite color.....blue. They had fun snacks, which Jaron amazingly ate!!! They had water games day on Thursday. And Friday they got to wear their Camp E.D.G.E. tshirts and sing some of their songs for us. These pictures are all from that day.

Jordan made sure to tell me, just about every day, that she wanted to go to VBS again next year. I told her that would absolutely be possible!! I am so thankful they got to have such a fun week. Chris and I were so proud of both of them, quirks and all!!!!!!

I Just Had to Share This

Jaron is one crazy little dude. Watch out kindergarten, here comes Jaron!!! He LOVES to wrestle with Daddy. Wait, I mean, he LOVES to beat up Daddy!!!! And Daddy usually fights right back :) We had alot of fun watching and laughing at Jaron :)

Central Park Zoo

Every once in a while, I get a notion to take a little "day trip" with the kids. Last Saturday, I decided it was time for us to go to the Central Park Zoo. If you ever find yourself in New York City, whether you have kids or not, check out the zoo. It's the perfect size for just spending a couple of hours walking around, it's very beautiful, and the admission is a steal.

I can't remember the name of this bird............


.................or this one........but they were all flying around freely in their building they stay in.

These are little marmoset monkeys...they were so cute!!

This looks like a fancy dove/pigeon to me........it freaked the kids out because it had red eyes, they said it was evil.

The lemurs were cute too....................King Juillian!!

Snow monkey

The black stork...


The kids are standing in front of one of the polar bears.

That wad next to him is his blankie!

He played with it for us :)

We watched this fur seal swim back and forth in front of us for several minutes. It was very relaxing, he even made eye contact with us several times.

This polar bear was enjoying a nice swim too. He was absolutely huge!!!

We took a break, got some ice cream and watched the sea lions for a while.



The first time we walked by the snow leopard exhibit, she was sleeping and we couldn't see her. We stopped by one more time before we left and got a good look at her.


Showing off their souveniers. Jordan had a little bit of birthday money left to spend, so she got a stuffed red panda. I told Jaron he could spend $5, and he got a sea turtle to add to his collection.

This is the Delacourt Clock, I think it was in "Madagascar". Just as we were walking under it, it was playing its hourly song.

The path under this bridge took us over to the Children's Zoo........

where Jaron hopped across the lily pads..........


and Jordan hatched out of her turtle egg..........


they peeked through knotholes...........

and did some bird watching.

Jaron's favorite farm animal, the guinea hen, pranced by............



and they visited with little cottontail friends.

Jaron did some basking in the sun...........

so did Jordan...........

and they basked some more!

To finish off the trip, they spent a few minutes on the huge spider web that I am sure Spider-man spun just for Jaron.

After our trip to the zoo we caught the subway down to Chris's theater. We grabbed a sandwich and hung out with him in his dressing room for a little while. It was a very nice day...we had a great time!!!

4th of July Weekend

Yes, I know. I am a little behind.............but, better late than never!! We had a fun 4th of July weekend. Thursday night Princeton had their annual fireworks show. We got to sit on the practice fields, next to the university stadium and just kick back!! It was very nice..........

Our friends Robbie and Emma went with us.


What a bunch of cuties :)

It's hard to capture fireworks with the camera, but they were really cool, these are some of the better pictures we got.


This is my favorite.


On the 4th, we got up and rented a canoe in Princeton and went down the Delaware Raritan Canal, had a picnic lunch and then canoed back.


Chris and I were worn out!!!!! And it honestly wasn't the best thing for his back, but he did get over it. It was a good, funny, interesting experience!!!!! We will definitely do it again soon.