Tamaques Park

I've started a new on-line photography class so it was time to take my favorite subject outside for a photography assignment.  We didn't go out until about 4 pm and it was a bit brighter than I expected.  I can't say that these photos are technically great but I still love them.  In the photography world it's called mommy goggles :)  

Even though I probably took 50 or so pictures, Quinn still had alot of fun doing his boy stuff involving rocks, stick, sand, mud, and water.  Tamaques is a great park with a .8 mile walking loop, a big kids playground, a little kids playground, ball fields, and picnic shelters all in a very natural setting.  We had our Holistic Halloween Party there last year.   

This is my favorite from the day.

After a fun afternoon of play for Quinn and Don's %#$@$#%  mandatory Tuesday 5 - 7 pm staff meeting, my two favorite guys were wiped out.

What Do You See?

What do you see in this picture?

A little 3 year old boy sleeping in his own bed?  

Why yes, that's exactly what you see.  Quinn took a 5 pm nap on the way home from the aquarium on Saturday so he and Don stayed up late.  They talked about Quinn sleeping in his own bed and he was very agreeable to it.   Don had to do his usually wrangling to get Quinn to sleep but he spent the whole night in his own bed.  Imagine my panic when I awoke at 4 am and couldn't find Quinn in our bed!!  Don briefly explained, I went and checked on Quinn, and then laid there an hour or more until I finally fell back to sleep.  I ended up waking Quinn up at 11 am and he was pretty happy about having slept in his own bed.  I hope this continues!

And an extra picture of our fabutastic boy!

Adventure Aquarium

We took a drive south down the NJ Turnpike to visit the Adventure Aquarium in lovely Camden, NJ.  We got our tickets and rushed in to see the 4-D screening of Diego & Dora.  We had seen it previously at the Bronx Zoo but Quinn could watch it many times over.  This go around he left his glasses on for the whole movie and was reaching out to grab some of the 3-D objects floating our way.

 The aquarium is very kid-centric and there were alot of areas to touch the animals and get your hands wet.  This exhibit had little nurse sharks.  Most of them were sleeping but Quinn wasn't crazy about touching them anyways (although he's always up for splashing).

 There was a large tank with turtles, sharks and rays.

 In Stingray Beach Club you could reach down and touch the baby rays.  Again, Quinn took a pass.

What did Quinn not take a pass on?  Turning this penny souvenir machine every time he saw one.  Which was like every 50 feet.  This was definitely his favorite part of the aquarium.  

 My favorite part was the hippos and their underwater dancing.  I could have sat and watched them forever.  There were 2 in this tank.

 Quinn touched a starfish!  I'm not sure why that lobster in the background is BLUE!  I know they are typically blueish but this one is crazy.

As vegetarians and animals lovers we really wonder if zoos and aquariums are right for our family.  I can appreciate that zoos provide education on animal conservation but what a horrible life these critters must have living in small tanks being touched by humans all day long.  I guess we'll see where these thoughts take us the next time we consider a trip to the zoo.

Our Friday

Friday included a little boy sleeping in until 10 am, a trip to Starbucks for caffeine and sugar, running around the playground, and having fun with my camera settings.  

btw, Q can easily climb to the top of that 'rock' wall by himself.  I had to grab his ankles a couple of times because I was worried he was going to go right over the top.

Boys Love Ladders

Jumping Jack Quinn

Quinn said 'can you jump and clap your hands?'.  I think he was doing a jumping jack.  Here he is demonstrating for me.

I Should Know Better

I should know better than to give Quinn a Berry Popsicle and walk away.  Enough said.

CPZ

Last May we bought a family membership to the Bronx Zoo which also allows you to visit the aquarium on Coney Island and the Central Park Zoo (CPZ).  We want to get the most from our pass so on Sunday we went to The Central Park Zoo.   It was a cool but sunny Spring day and the park was full of people out enjoying the day.  Flowers were starting to peak out of the group and Spring was in the air.

At the zoo our first stop was at the Snow Leopard exhibit.

Then on to see the polar bears.

The Zoo is on the southern end of Central Park and it is pretty amazing to look up and see that you're smack dab in the middle of NYC.  

The zoo also has a small children's zoo which was alot of fun for Quinn.

Both the CPZ and the Children's Zoo were small enough that we could navigate them easily on the same day although Quinn crashed on the way back to the car.

Bedroom Makeover

When Don and I first saw our house in NJ we loved almost everything about it.  We seemed to share a similar contemporary style with the previous owners so we immediately felt comfortable in our house.  One thing I was never happy with was the mustard color of the master bedroom and the avocado color in the master bath.  In the bath even the ceiling was painted green so it had a dark, cave-like quality to it.  I finally got around to making some changes and am pretty happy with the results.

Here's our bedroom before.

And here is the after.

I really love the softer, quieter colors.  I was inspired by the colors in the duvet cover from West Elm.  From there I picked the paint color.  The art work above the bed is from a Seattle artist who I found on etsy.com.  The art is a photograph of a rocky beach, Golden Gardens, in Seattle.   I love the non-matching lucite lamps from Target.  I also found the curtains at Target -- I only had to go to 4 Target stores to find 3 sets.

In the first picture you can see a peak in to the bathroom.  It's painted a grayish blue to accent the colors in the bedroom.  And there you have it.  Our bedroom makeover.

Goose Egg

Quinn must be going through a growth spurt because his brain just can't keep up with his body and he seems more accident prone than ever.  On Monday we went out to the mall to get rid of some energy.  On our way out he tripped and fell and skinned his knee.  That night we were hanging out in the living room and he did a face plant right in to the corner of the ottoman.  He hit his forehead right between his eyes.  Ouch!

Sorry for the poor quality photo.  Does anyone else see alot of Don in this photo?