Friday, May 23, 2014

Memorial Day Weekend

Josh and I got the weekend started off right with a Friday night dinner cruise.  It wasn't quite what I expected.  I thought that it would be more site seeing and soft live music but it was rather the opposite.  We started off in Perth Amboy and went up into the Raritan bay a little ways we saw an amazing lightening storm and that was about it.  The food was nice and the music loud.  So when we weren't outside enjoying the boat and rain there was nothing left to do but go dance.  Josh asked me if I wanted to and of course I said "yes".  I had a good time dancing but my favorite was watching Josh try and mimic the naturally talented African Americans that were moving around us.  I'm sure that we looked "so stiff white" to them and it made me laugh to think of what must have been going through their minds.  My cheeks were sore from smiling.  I really enjoyed our evening together.


Saturday:
We got ourselves ready to go somewhere and finally decided to go to Seven Presidents Beach.  When Andrew hopped out of the car he was elated.  We were at the park.  He loved running round to the different slides and aperatices.  His favorite of course was the tunnels (slide) and swings.  He loved being there with his family but especially his brothers.  Once the park lost its sparkle we went to the beach.  There is something magical about sand, water, and waves.  Even though they weren't in swim ware, it was cold and eventually cloudy Adam and Zachary couldn't resist the temptation that the ocean provided.  They planted their feet in the waves and as the tide came in a couple of unpredictable waves got the two boys wet.  They didn't care until the cold air kissed their wet skin and they noticed it was uncomfortably cold.   We went back to the car and our family outing ended. 
After dinner we headed over to a friend's house to celebrate a birthday.  It was nice to visit with friends and for the kids to play with their buddies.  The time flew by and before we knew it bed time had past and it was time to leave. 



Sunday: 
As I was sitting in church I was overwhelmed with gratitude for my good looking well behaved boys.  I know how that sounds....conceited but it is true and I would be in danger of being ungrateful if I didn't recognize how wonderful they are.  As I was feeling such i snapped this pic because i wanted to remember how I felt at that time.  
 Later after church was over Adam's teacher stopped me to let me know about the weekly assignments and to tell me that Adam's participation was really good today.  She told me that during sharing time he was the only one that knew the picture of King Benjamin and told the whole story.  This made me feel so good because sometimes I wonder if anything that I'm trying to teach them is sinking in.  It turns out that something is.  Phew!
We enjoyed each other's company and had an impromptu water fight I got soaked and retreated indoors and took some sniper shots from Andrew's bedroom window.  Adam and Zach teamed up against dad and soaked him real good.  They got their just desserts served to them by their dad and everyone had a good time.  There is nothing more pure than the joy that Adam had on his face as he plastered daddy with his water shooter.  His eyes sparkled and smile spared nothing.  I wish I would have captured it with a pic.
We Bar-B-Qed and later had a family movie night.  It was fun being with my people.

Adam and Zach really liked daddy's face in this pic
Monday: Happy Memorial Day!
We went to Duke Farms for a family bike ride.  We rode around for a little bit and stopped at a gazebo/well house for lunch.  I sat with boys eating our sandwiches and we talked about trees.  I identified a few trees for them and Zach was super impressed he asked "mom, how do you know all of this?  You must be real smart."  I told him that I'm observant and that Grandad taught me a lot when I was their age.  Zach exclaimed "wow grandad must be really smart."  Oh how easily impressed he is and I love it!  He makes me feel so good with all of his complements.