Our Reptile Adventure!

Boy we were in for quite a surprise when we went to the reptile show at our local park yesterday! Erik's Reptile Edventure was an enthusiastic, educational adventure (hence Edventure!) for the children of our community to enjoy.

Erik's passion came across the first moment he began he show. He excitedly spoke about each reptile, explaining where they came and what they ate. Some of his stories were both hysterical and crazy like the one where an animal urinated on him while holding it close to his face- burning his eyes for hours!!

He started out with small reptiles showing the kids tree frogs and allowing time for each child to touch them & high five them! I was surprised Chloe happily partook in the touching!

He moved quickly along to the bigger reptiles like Ms. B, a Water Monitor Lizard. The parents and kids were taken aback when he whipped this lady out! Chloe quickly ran away and hid behind me!


The craziest part of the show is when he fed Ms. B a rat! My kids stood there in awe...or maybe they were a little freaked out! Watch the video below!

Crazy, right? I guess they weren't too freaked out because both Max and Chloe keep replaying this clip over and over!

Erik does birthday parties as well!

Your a skunk, Ma!

I know all kids say funny things. My kids- they say the weirdest things! I have no idea where they come up with most of it! My son suddenly started saying EEEEEEEEE Skunk....EEEEE skunkety, skunk. He says it all the time and now refers to me as skunk- mostly when I say something he doesn't like. For instance, stop kicking Murphy (our dog), Max. "Your a skunk, Ma". Max, time for a bath..."your a skunk, Ma". Todays 6:30 am "your a skunk, Ma" was both unexpected and unwarranted being that I was sleeping. I also didn't find waking up to it as funny as I usually do!

I have to say though- for two years old, hes quite the innovator. EEEEEE Skunk now has it's own

lullaby renditions.

You are my skunky

my only skunky

you make me happy

when skies are grey

you never know skunk

how much I love you

please dont take

my skunky away 

And then there is "This little skunky"

This little skunky went to the market

This little skunky stayed home

This little skunky ate roast beef

This little skunky had none

This little skunky was a sad little skunky

and went wee wee wee

all the way home

Hes starting school this Fall. Hopefully he outgrows EEEEE skunk by then or his teacher finds him as witty as I do when he calls her a skunk!

Will keep new songs coming as they are created!

Sorry...we are having cereal!

Why is it, "sorry, we are having cereal for breakfast"?

I love cereal and can even eat it for lunch or dinner and not feel disappointed. I also love watching my almost 3 year old son eating cereal- it must be what a caveman would look like eating with a utensil for the first time!

I have conditioned my family to expect all out breakfasts such as homemade pancakes, french toast, omelette's - all accompanied by fresh fruit of course- EVERYDAY.

Surely, I must be BUGGIN.

I have to stop planting these high expectation seedlings in their heads. I fear I may already be in too deep.

For example, we came home from a birthday party Saturday - one where both of my kids didn't eat the pizza ( they are mini food connoisseurs and only like "their" pizzeria! Can you imagine? This is what happens being a New Yorker.) Of course they were hungry. I whipped up chicken cutlets, rice with chopped up hidden broccoli and sliced up a cucumber for them to share. I mean- why do I do this to myself? I am setting the standard way too high.

I should have given them a damn bowl of cereal. They would have been just as happy and I wouldn't have had the cleanup I had.

Lesson learned. Even though cereal is awesome and shouldn't be looked at as a compromise - cereal prevails in the future! For breakfast, lunch & sometimes...even dinner!

A Day Out With Thomas

Max loves him some Thomas! When I saw that A Day Out With Thomas was going to be in New Jersey (we live in NY), I knew we had to take him. He was so excited when I showed him what we would be seeing on our adventure.         

The location at Phillipsburg, NJ was completely different from those pictured on You Tube. The trains I saw and envisioned myself taking my son to, were on train platforms. The train tables for the children to play with were set up on concrete. We were in dirt, on dirt... dirt was up my nose and in my eyes. It wasn't horrible- just unexpected...and the 100 degree weather didn't help matters! Dirtbags and all, it was still worth seeing the smile on my baby boys face. Max liked playing with the train tables more than anything else there. We drove two hours that Saturday- in 100 degrees ( I don't do 100 degrees) to see Thomas and take a 25 minute un-air conditioned ride on Thomas himself!  Max was thrilled when we got there. There were tons of Thomas paraphernalia for us to get ripped off buy. The ride itself was approximately 12 minutes forward to nowhere and 12 minutes backwards. Music from the Thomas episodes played in the back while we rode along. I was thankful that it wasn't longer in that heat. I also think it was more than enough for my almost 3 year old to handle.

He bopped his head along to the music and tapped his little fist to the beat on the windowsill as we rode along.

He met Sir Topam Hat and took a photo with him...he was intrigued by his large shoes- me by his ability to survive in 100 degrees in that costume!

My little boy was so happy- red cheeks, filthy feet, sweaty little self and all. It made the unbearable heat worth every uncomfortable moment! I cannot stop looking at the pictures and watching the video of him bopping happily along to the music.

I was filthy, I sweat my ass off and would do it all again to make my lil man happy.

Him telling everyone of how he rode on Thomas makes me forget of my near heat exhaustion experience!

Ahhh...the things we do to make our children happy!

If you live close and it's not 100 degrees- definitely go for A Day Out With Thomas if your son is a fan. He will love it if my son did  under the circumstances we went in!

We made the best of it!

Mrs. Roper remix!

The warm weather makes me all sorts of crazy- in a good way. It makes me feel so alive! Being a New Yorker, the winter can be draining. The trees are stark, the sky is grey, the streets are barren. And...it's so damn long.

When the warm weather begins and the flowers start to bloom, its like a new beginning for me. I feel refreshed, rejuvenated. This feeling makes me want to be outside as much as possible so I can soak up the warmth while it lasts. Suddenly I find myself at happy hour with my girls, dinners with the hubbie, outdoor excursions with the kiddies- especially the beach.

Of course for all of these outings- one needs the perfect outfit for each! I love summer clothing as much as I love feeling the sun on my face. The colorful and vibrant color palettes reflect just how I'm feeling. I am definitely a risk taker with my attire at times and the summer is no exception- especially when you aren't hiding a great outfit under a heavy jacket.  

Since we are at the beach most days, cover ups are a must have. I came across this Mrs. Roper-esque cover up that I fell in love with and snagged for $17 bucks from $49! So not only am a rockin a Mrs. Roper remix- I got it for a price she would have paid as well!

Come and knock on my door!

I hope to make Mrs. Roper proud...I think she'd love it and want one of her own!

If you suffer cover-up envy like Mrs. Roper, go to Gap and get your own!