We Bought a Farm

Nah, we really didn't buy a farm, but it seems like we live on one!  Our baby chickens hatched the Saturday of Mother's Day weekend.  They made Olivia a mom after all!  At 6:00 am Saturday morning, we woke to "Mommy, Daddy!  Our chickens are hatching!"  Sure enough, as we stumbled downstairs, two chicks had hatched and another was on his way.  As the day progressed, we had ten chicks hatched.  One tried, but lost the fight as he pecked his way out and another didn't open up at all.  All in all, we had ten happy, healthy baby chicks and many happy kids in our house and others who came to visit the newborns.

On Mother's Day, the kids and Dave delivered breakfast in bed (so sweet) and in turn, took off for a 3 hour drive to his mom's house in upstate New York.  I stayed home to relish some down time and move the dried chicks one by one from the incubator to the brooding box.  Kobe was with me every step of the way.  He was very interested in these new little beings in our household.  As the days progressed, these little things became a bit more vocal and ate non stop!  I couldn't keep food or water in their brooding box fast enough.  They grew exponentially over the seven days we kept them.  It was quite sweet to come home to chirps, but it was also quite gross to clean the incubator out as well.  I almost lost my lunch three times during the clean.  That's one of the many reasons I do not own a farm!  I have experience (from childhood friends) and that will suffice, thank you.

All in all, it was an incredible learning experience for all of us.  Thank you to Abna's Farm for allowing us this opportunity and for taking those eating, pooping, chirping fluff balls off of our hands.  I, of course, had to ask, and yes, they will be used for laying eggs going forward....unless, they are needed for other purposes....so is the circle of life.
What's for dinner?

 

NYC Theater and weekend fun

One of the things we love about Wyckoff is the pond in walking distance from our house.  When the weather was nice in April, the kids started fishing Zabriskie Pond.  Olivia and Dave went one weekend morning while Zach was at a birthday party, which resulted in six fish.  All of which were catch and release.  Zach was part of the return trip that evening and Kobe was privileged to go on both trips.  Oh, how Kobe loves to stalk the geese!  I love this picture of my fishermen/women.

Zach also spent many afternoons outside making and remaking chalk tracks for his plasma car.  He raced in the morning, all afternoon after school and wee into the night.  We had to watch him out the window as he raced in his pajamas.  He's dedicated to say the least.

Olivia, on the other hand, spends plenty of time in this tree in the front yard.  Blankets, broom sticks, umbrellas, snacks, they all make their way outside to her mini-tree house.  She had a couple of friends over playing this particular day.  I think they were impressed with her imagination.

Another thing we were excited about by living so close to NYC was the ability to see plenty of Broadway shows.  Until a few weeks ago, we hadn't enjoyed that part of NYC to it's full extent.  Suddenly, we saw The Book of Mormon and One Man, Two Guvnors (the latter being nominated for multiple Tony awards) in two weeks.  Two Guvnors is a hilarious British play.  I thought they were going to ask me to leave, I was laughing so hard.  The Book of Mormon is one of the hot tickets in town, so when we arrived to seats five rows back from the stage, I was in awe.  Both were great evenings in the city with Dave and I hopeful that we will be able to see many more!  Here's to Broadway and all the great things it holds.  More please, more please, MORE!

Zach's class followed eggs being incubated at school.  For some reason, Olivia grade did not get to take part in the chick project.  So, after much begging and research, we found that Abna's Farm down the road  had incubators.  So, an incubator, 12 fertilized eggs and a packet of instructions later, we started 'growing' chickens.  Everyone has stopped in to check on them and we are looking for a high success rate on hatching.  Cross your fingers.  Yes, we will give the chicks back to the farms a few days after hatching.  I'm all for organic, but we're not set up for chicken farming just yet.  

On our way to look for chickens, we stopped by Goffle Farms (yes, lots of farms in the area).  You may not want to read this, so beware or skip:  Goffle sells fresh chicken meat, whole chickens, rabbit, and any other odd meat.  After we petted the bunnies above, one went into the shop and was delivered in a bag across the counter on our way out (to other people).  Directions on cooling the meat and how to prepare it for dinner.  The couple said, "mmm, rabbit for Sunday night."  Gross.

Olivia proudly displays her eggs.

21 days incubation

Misc. photos:  Dave was given a really cool cookie designed Jaguar, and Zach enjoyed every last bit of it.

Zach won his 1st grade class spelling bee!  He was part of the school's spelling bee.  Lucky 1st graders got words that 5th graders were given as well.  It got harder as the Bee went along.  Ambush was a word Zach stumbled on.  More so because he was worried about the 'time limit'.  They told the kids they only had 30 seconds, so he would spout out his answers quickly.  He knew the word.  Oh well.  His word for his class bee earlier was "Incubator".  Kind of tough for 1st Grader, but they were all champs!  Way to go!

Olivia told me Mark likes her, so of course, he is sitting next to her:-)  She pointed to him and gave me the Justin Beiber heart shape with her hands to let me know who he was.  Sweet.  As I type this, another one, Jack, just today make sure to directly hand Olivia an invitation to his birthday party.  He is not in her class, but sits with her at the Nut Free table at lunch.  He was so cute to and shy went her gave her the invite.  I'll make sure she goes:-)

Olivia was upset after Zach got a new bike for his birthday, that he bike was a 'baby bike'.  Barbie used to be cool....but Barbie is SO two weeks ago.  She was so adamant about it, she used her money to buy herself a bike!  Impressive, Olivia.  She's also learning how credit cards work...meaning she has to pay Daddy back because it was charged to his credit card (it was an online purchase).

Let the Games Begin!!  Not the Hunger Games....Baseball in Wyckoff!  It has been rather chilly and rainy since baseball began two weeks ago, so we are 50/50 on games being cancelled.  Last Saturday's game was really good.  The boys are actually figuring it out and making it an enjoyable game to watch!  

Good game, boys!  

We've been holding down the fort since Dave left for a 9 day trip to Germany (driving the Nurbergring with the new Jaguar) and England.  I'll sum up what Dave has missed in early May....rain, overcast skies and more gray than anyone wants.  It's New Jersey, not Seattle.

This past weekend, after baseball and tennis for Zach, we hung out with our friends on Sunday.  The sun actually broke through!  The girls went to Greenwich, Connecticut to shop (middle school graduation for the twins, so they need dresses).  Andy took Zach and Tom to the driving range, which they all love (so do I) and out to eat at Brady's.  Not bad for a Sunday.  So happy to have them around:-)

Avon-by-the Sea - Spring Break part deux...the beach

Home from Montreal, we stopped by Wyckoff to pick up Kobe from our wonderful neighbors.  It was time for Kobe to have a Spring Break at the beach!  Needless to say, he was happy to see us.  Dave was  able to stay for a day in Avon, but had to fly out extremely early for a Jaguar event in Phoenix, AZ.  Unfortunately, it was still very windy and chilly.   I needed warmth for Spring Break; I guess I should have traveled South:-)

Riding to and from the beach on bikes.  Kobe was a bit spastic, so I couldn't bike and take him along.  We traded out walking and biking to the beach.  

Fabulous dinner at a Latin restaurant...the kids were not on their best behavior, but we filled our bellies none the less.  This restaurant was in Asbury Park (think Springsteen) and was quite an interesting little town.  Lots of musicians got their start in the bars and music hall.

This is also in Asbury Park.  It looks like a movie set, but it's just an old casino:-)

The kids and I spent ages on this puzzle of shipwrecks.  Zach is fascinated by this puzzle and asks me about it every time we are at the beach house.  It also happened to be the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, so that was on his mind.  He was worried about what would have happened to us if we were on the ship.  I said, "don't worry, they made sure women and children got on lifeboats".  Dave was in Phoenix, so I wasn't really thinking about him, but Zach said, "what about Daddy?"  Oh my, dear son, let's move on to another subject!  He asks the hard questions.

Guess who is making a racetrack in the sand...none other than the famous racetrack designer, Zach Pryor!

Olivia with her sled dog, Kobe.  This dog loves the beach as much as the kids.  Of course, he was given plenty of attention by all the kids around as well.  Spoiled doggy.

We were all such lazy bums, but also read books, worked on puzzles together, and snuggled.  Ahh, snuggles...  Olivia went through 4 sketch books with her drawings.  I have to admit, she is quite good.  She surpassed our drawing skills ages ago.  The kids are currently working on a book competition at school; Olivia is illustrating, Zach will write.  Pryor teamwork!

School starts back and we have 10 weeks to go!  Yes, 10 weeks our Atlanta peeps.  :-(
I have a feeling we will be very busy...Here are the things the kids will be doing from now until the end of June.  Baseball, Guitar, Golf, Tennis, Boy Scouts, Art, and Horseback riding lessons.  May the force be with us!

Chilly Spring Break in Montreal

Montreal!!  As school was out for Good Friday, all four of us were able to start our Spring Break early.  We found a great log cabin in St. Sauveur, north of Montreal, Quebec.  Luckily, Dave worked his driving magic as we made it north of Montreal in 6 hours instead of the 7.5 which we thought.  I secretly love long drives with Dave because I get to take naps along the way.  Upon arrival, our mouths dropped open.  For last minute accommodations, the place rocked!  The log cabin was nestled on a lake in St. Sauveur with exquisite wood work in every room.  Olivia and Zach flung themselves down on the bear rug and writhed around, saying "this is the best place ever!"  Unfortunately, I had the idea of a warm Spring Break, but this was one very chilly week!  The lake was frozen over, so our thought of fishing off the dock went out the window.  As the week progressed, the lake thawed and the paddle boat had a larger area to explore.  At one point early on, Dave and Zach resorted to hacking through the ice to make more room to paddle around.  That's tough work (must be a guy thing).  

We immediately played a game of foos ball and Dave and Zach were regulars on the pool table.  Dave taught him 9-ball and 8-ball; Zach could not get enough.  I think Olivia was either frolicking around on the bear rug or playing on the queen sized bunk beds with her animals.  Over the course of the week, we finished a puzzle and tried to stay off of the iPhones (unfortunately we are all addicted to various mind enriching games...I'll tell myself that).

Hot shots playing pool

Saturday, we drove into Montreal and visited the Botanical Gardens with the most amazing butterfly exhibit we have ever seen (and we have seen many, believe me).  It was like a fairy land of magical butterflies all around, bright colors, big, small, all floating around you, but rarely touching you.  It even had a waterfall in the exhibit and I think we could have stayed there all day.  But on we moved to the Japanese Gardens and the delightful bonsai trees, some as old as 90 years. 

Dave and I have been to Montreal before, but since it was the first time for Olivia and Zach, we wanted them to see experience Old Montreal...and the wonders of crepes!  As you can see, Zach loved them.  Olivia stayed away due to her nut allergy.  It was such a lovely day.  Dave was thrilled to show Zach the F1 (as in Formula One) track in Montreal.  To our surprise, they allow you to actually drive the track.  The race is held every June in Montreal.  Dave and I have been to the race, pre-kids, but this surprise to be allowed to drive the track blew all of us away.  Of course, we'll never forget the laughs we all got as Zach was sitting in my lap in the front seat (we weren't allowed to go fast) and Olivia unbuckled in the back seat.  Dave took a corner, Olivia braced for it, but forgot to counter brace.  Before we knew it, we heard "Whoa!".  Clunk!  We look in the back seat and she is upside down against the door, giggling and said "whoops". 

The Jaguar XJ on the track....no, Zach wasn't really driving (he wishes).

On our way off the track, we spotted a groundhog and subsequently, the fox on the hill, ready to pounce. We sat for 10 minutes, ready to nature in her pure self, but the sly fox didn't want witnesses and the groundhog was frozen.  Maybe they were really friends and were just putting on a show for the tourists?!

Our frozen lake, began to thaw over the days we were visiting.  Another visitor (the golden) dropped by the cabin.  He was a friendly guy, so I assume he knows the owners.  

Playing with frozen ice over Spring Break.

This did not stop Adventure Dave from paddle boating on the frozen tundra.  He and the kids worked on chopping the ice for a couple of days and had a blast doing so!

Easter day we drove north to the city of St. Agathe.  It was a lovely day to sit outside, so we took advantage.

A little iPhone break

Olivia hanging with Daddy.

Happy Easter, sweethearts.

Downstairs in our lake cabin - foos ball and pool table.

Cool bar stools situated to soak up the sun with a great view of the lake.

Easter - snowball fight and a campfire with marshmallows

Outside view of the cabin

Our two cutie pie Spring Breakers roasting marshmallows

View of the kitchen...one of our favorite places

Trip to Mont Tremblant - ski area

People were still skiing, it was a bit slushy, but the gondolas were working, so we took a trip (the kids' first) on the gondola.

This gondola took us to the other side of the mountain....with the casino!  I had to snap a photo of this for Mimi & Papa.  

More campfire fun

The trip to Montreal lasted for almost 5 days, but we also had a trip to the beach (Jersey shore) planned for the second part of the break.  Montreal and it's French speaking citizens were lovely, but I needed some warmth and sunshine.  I can't complain too much with the cozy fireplaces, truly incredible house and all the wine, cheese and sushi (yes, sushi) I could hold.  Thank you Montreal for the wonderful Spring Break memories 2012!