Re-Surfacing

We've been under the weather for the past couple of weeks but we hope to return to health and our daily activities next week! Isabella had a mysterious fever to deal with early last week then the painful emergence of a top tooth or two and most recently a stuffy cold :( Regrettably we've had to cancel on some fun stuff including trips to Nanuet, dinner dates, playgroups and the like. We look forward to catching up with everyone real soon!

In other news, how about that Noreaster that ransacked our area earlier this week. Many local roads were closed and even at the writing of this blog some families continue to be without power. The storm left Isabella and I stuck on Route 517 for 2 hours behind a line of cars who had already spun out. Thank God for our guardian angels who amazingly escorted us through the treacherous weather safely to our home. Long Valley schools were closed for 2 consecutive days due to the road closures and power outages. Snow in October? It's going to be a long winter.

Storytime

Isabella and her daddy spend lots of quality time reading together. Dave is the best at narrating the animal sounds, teaching Isabella how to say, "BAAAAAAAAA" and "MOOOOO". Our children's librarian, Ms. Pat, at our local library would be proud of Isabella's reading time! Afterall, she is the one who introduced Isabella to her first books when she was only a few months old. The Hackettstown Library has a great Baby Storytime. Here is the link in case you are interested. It is truly the place to be on Tuesday mornings! http://www.hackettstownlibrary.org/childrens-programs

Apple Picking

We finally got to go apple picking this past weekend and had a blast. My friend, Sue, told us about Long Meadow Farm in Hope, NJ so we decided to give it a whirl. They had 12 varieties of apples and let me tell you that Dave and Isabella sampled each kind. Isabella took her pumpkin picking responsibility very seriously, selecting the most perfect one. Dave was nervous watching all the other dads struggling to carry 10+lb pumpkins to their minivans. I must say that he was quite relieved when Isabella patted a little 3 pounder, calling it her own. The pumpkin was the perfect addition to our festive mums. If I get adventurous maybe we will do something nutritional with the pumpkin (i.e. toasted seeds, pie, etc). So besides our mums and pumpkin, we now we have a ton of apples, which are fine to munch on by themselves. I did attempt to make apple spice muffins today, however the baking powder poured out a bit too fast and the result was less than appetizing. The fact that Dave refused to eat the mufin says it all. Oh, well, tomorrow is another day! Oh, here is the link for Long Meadow Farm if you want to check them out www.longmeadowfarmnj.com

Van Saun Park

We had a wonderful weekend enjoying the fantastic weather of the Fall season. Isabella had an incredible time at Van Saun park in Bergen County, NJ with her grandma on Saturday. My mom tells me that she would take my sister and I there all the time (way back when of course) with her girlfriends and their kiddies. She jolted my memory and I actually do remember some of our trips to Van Saun. Anyway, it was Isabella's first time visiting and she absolutely LOVED it there. We explored one of four different playgrounds (all based on age), rode the Choo Choo train around the park and zoo, and hung on to a panda for dear life on the carousel. I highly recommend visiting this park with a bunch of other moms or making a family trip out of it. You can easily pass the whole day there. Don't forget to pack a lunch! Here is the link for some information about Van Saun park in case you are interested. http://www.co.bergen.nj.us/parks/Parks/permits/Van%20Saun%20Information%20Sheet.PDF

Almost home...

Nana goes home on Friday. Yeah! We went to visit with her yesterday and enjoyed some fresh air, Posa Posa white pizza (they have the best hands down), and homemade apple pie. Yummy! Isabella wasn't interested in Mommy's apple pie which worked out better for the rest of us who really had our fill. The apples were from Best Fruit Farm - they have the best. Next time we see Nana, she will be home sweet home.