Auntie Awison

Not a day goes by that Stellan doesn't ask for Auntie Awison. I've tried telling him that she has gone home but he doesn't seem to grasp that. In fact, in his little mind I'm sure he thinks Allison is still on the train just riding around. He must think she lives the life of luxury. I half expect him to look for Allison to step off a train the next time we go to the station. Poor little guy. I know Allison's heart melted a bit more when I told her the story. :)

Time to go home... :(

It was the day Awison (that's how Stellan pronounces it) was scheduled to leave. She was good enough to take public transport back to the airport to save me the scary drive into New York. I thought we should do something nice in the morning before I had to take her to the train station. I had read about the Delaware Raritan canal and decided it would be a great idea to go for a hike. I headed out on Rte 27 hoping I'd find a way down to the path. I headed down Church St, an adorable little street just off Rte 27. Surprise, it didn't exactly take us to the walking path. Well, I turned down another street hoping to find the path. I lucked out, not only did I find the path, I also found Rockingham; the last residence of George Washington during the Revolutionary War. Pretty cool. We didn't go into the house but we did head down to the canal. So breathtakingly beautiful. The colours were spectacular and the weather was cool but beautiful. It was a bit of a trek downward and Jameson kept falling. What a trooper though, he just got up and kept bouncing down the path. I think he did manage to fall in some horse poop once though. Maybe he just stepped in it but he did have a bit of stench about him. Lovely.
We got down to the canal and the boys immediately started throwing acorns into the water. Amazing how much fun that is for them. We walked down the path along the water and then stopped to throw more things into the water. It was absolutely picturesque. There was no wind so he canal was smooth as glass with colourful leaves dotting the surface.
We headed back up in order to get Allison to the train station on time. The boys were so excited to see the trains. We walked Allison to the platform and waited for her train. At one point an express train came roaring through the station. OK, I'll admit, I was a bit startled. The boys, on the other hand, were thrilled. I don't even think they batted an eyelash. Go figure.
Jameson was given strict instructions to stay behind the yellow line. Sure enough, he tried to put just his toes over, all the while looking at me to see if I noticed. One warning that if he did it again that we would immediately head back to the car made him stop.
When the train came Allison hugged the boys good-bye (me too!) and away she went. The boys were so amazed with the train. we waited for one more train and then headed back to the car where I promised the boys we would wait for another train. Little did I know that it would take another 20 to 30 minutes for a train to arrive. In the meantime the boys started picking on each other. After a few warnings I followed through and left the station. Much crying and screaming followed but I'm hoping it was a lesson learned. I did promise that we would come back someday if they had good behaviour. I was quite disappointed to see the train in my rearview mirror as we pulled away. If only they had lasted a bit longer....maybe next time. I now have another way to spend some time on rainy days; sitting in the parking lot of the train station.

Cranbury

We headed out to Cranbury to visit the cute little Americana town. We drove through the town and decided to park and walk a bit. Out came the gigantic stroller; just can't risk having the kids running free, too dangerous. Well, it might have been a bit of a mistake. Cranbury is an old town with old buildings. Old buildings with no ramps and narrow passageways. We were quite the sight as we hauled the stupid stroller up the stairs and through the doors. We ended up leaving the stroller and having the kids walk through the used book store. What a store it was! Hundreds and hundreds of used books. When Jameson walked in he commented that it smelled like *&%%$#'s house (name hidden to protect those who are unaware of their musty smelling home). Quite funny. Allison was on the hunt for a specific book, I was on the hunt for a way to keep the kids out of trouble. We headed to the rather dinky kids section. Pathetic kids section actually, so tiny! Jameson needed to go pee. Lovely. We headed to the disgustingly dirty bathroom. I tried to turn a blind eye to the filth but it was difficult. I dreaded having to lift the seat, who knows what hides beneath....yuck! I tried to convince Jameson that he didn't need to lift the seat but old habits die hard. Holding back the gags, I encouraged him to finish quickly. Even the sink was dirty. Is their a point in washing hands in a dirty sink, does it do any good? We did it anyway, hoping for the best.
Allison found her book and away we went. She also bought the boys a book about a snow plow, reminiscent of her childhood. No wonder she's their favourite honorary auntie.
Since New Jersey is the unofficial diner capital of the States (I bet no one else knows that fact besides myself and the author of the book I read it in), we decided to head to the Americana Diner. What a huge place with yummy food. I have to admit that Bubi's still has a better Greek burger but this was still tasty.
Headed home for nap time. Gotta love nap time. :)

Adventure Aquarium

The plan was to go to Adventure Aquarium in Camden, about an hour south of us. It worked out quite well because it was cool and rainy. When I got up in the morning I had a nagging feeling that we were going to get lost on our way to the Aquarium. I had never been there but we did have very detailed mapquest directions. Still, that nagging feeling was telling me we were going to get lost. Well, maybe it was the voice of experience. Allison and I have quite a history when it comes to driving and getting lost. (Some people might remember these stories)Hmm...Mansfield and the Hemiter's; at least 6 visits to my sister's and 6 different ways of getting there, not on purpose; Niagara Falls; the list could go on and on.

We headed out on the long drive. No problems, Stellan fell asleep and we were finding our way just fine. Then it happened. We got lost. I can't exactly tell you what happened or how it happened but we did end up in Philadelphia. For those who are geographically challenged, that's in a totally different state!!!!! We left New Jersey and ended up in Pennsylvania. Now, it wasn't such a shock, the fact that we drove over the Ben Franklin bridge and saw a sign that welcomed us to Pennsylvania were definite clues that we weren't on the right path. But the problem was that we couldn't do a u-turn on the brdige, it was too late.

We got over the bridge and eventually found our way around Philly and back onto the bridge to head back to Camden. Sheesh. Thankfully Stellan slept through all of it. Once we were back in Camden the signs were quite clear directing us to the aquarium. We found parking and headed in. What a fantastic aquarium!! The kids absolutely loved it! We ended up staying for 4 hours! The shark tunnel was a big hit with Stellan and Jameson seemed to be particularly fond of the seal show. They loved the place so I ended up getting a season pass. What a great way to spend dreary winter days!

Princeton University

We decided to take advantage of the absolutely beautiful fall weather and do a tour of Princeton University. We walked around a bit before the tour began. We wanted to learn a bit about the history of the university and see some of the gorgeous campus. Uh, not so. Instead it was geared toward prospective students. I told the guide that it was a few years away but we thought we should check it out. Uh right, not going to happen. Tuition for one year of undergraduate study is approximately $46, 000. (gasp, cough, choke) I didn't pay that much for 4 years of undergraduate study. Heck, I didn't even pay that much with books included, plus school supplies, plus gas for my commute,..... you get the point. That's ridiculous!!
We left the tour after a while because it just wasn't what we had expected. We walked around a bit before heading home for lunch and nap time. We did stop at Witherspoon Bread Company for a tomato and fresh mozzarella sandwich, yummy!

Daylight Savings

We were a bit concerned with Daylight Savings time since Stellan had a bad habit of getting up at 5:30 on the old time. 4:30, dreadful! We put them to bed a bit later than normal hoping it would offset the clocks being turned back.
Well, we were pleasantly surprised, he slept in until 8:30!!! Wow! It was incredible. Jameson slept in relatively well too, what a blessing. :)
We spent the morning at church and then headed home after lunch. Allison and I wanted to spend some time in Princeton and this was our only chance to do it without the boys. The two of us headed into town and grabbed a quick coffee (Small World Coffee, yummy). We moved onto Palmer Square. Unfortunately we noticed that the stores closed at 5:00. Allison looked at her watch and realized it was already 4:30. Time to make the best of the time we had, we shopped and kept shopping. We shopped for quite some time actually. Allison made several purchases and I did a lot of looking. Stores seemed to be staying open long past when they should have closed; bonus! After our last store we headed to Teresa Cafe for dinner. Yummy meal! We got home and realized it was only 8 o'clock rather than 9 o'clock as we initially thought. Ooops, Allison forgot to turn back her watch. No wonder those stores were still open.

Looking back...Halloween

I was taking the boys to a Fall Festival to celebrate Halloween. Didn't really see the point in dressing them up and taking them to the neighbours that we don't know in order to get candy that I don't want them to eat.

I had planned on dressing Stellan up as a bumble bee, using Jameson's costume from last year. I knew that Jameson would be quite upset but hoped that his train conductor (or "dunductor" as he says it) outfit would appease him.

I told Jameson that it was Halloween at breakfast. He was so excited, he couldn't wait to see Halloween (OK, a bit of confusion but he knew what he meant). After nap it was finally time to get dressed. I decided not to bother with a possible costume meltdown so I dressed them both as train conductors. Did they ever look cute! They loved their outfits and happily went to the Fall Festival. They had a great time there and gathered a few candies and small toys, so much more practical!