Construction Project Continues!

The back porch is gone! As well as that crazy ramp thing.... Stay tuned....

Ben turns 2!

On November 10, our crazy little maniac turned 2! We were in Chicago for his actual birthday and the DeMotts were kind enough to let Practice Thanksgiving double as Ben's birthday party. But of course, it was only the first birthday party for Ben. When we returned from Chicago, the following weekend Grandma and Papa Joe were kind enough to host a family pizza party. In attendance were cousins Bradley, Tyler, Mitchell, and Jack; aunts Mary and Carole, uncle Tony, and grandparents Papa Joe, Grandma, and Nonna. Pizza, balloons, family, ice-cream cake, and presents. Whhat else could you want?

FitzGeralds hit Chicago!

On November 4 Elizabeth and the boys flew out to Chicago for a week long visit. Despite sprinting to the gate to make the plane without our luggage, we were happy to finally arrive and see Patrick Curry's smiling face waiting at baggage claim. He was probably laughing at the site of us, stroller, 2 kids, 2 carseats, 4 carry on bags, and coats... we were quite a sight to see. We returned to Casa Curry and had a lovely brunch with friend Paul Bulvan and the rest of the Curry family. The 3 of us spent Sunday night, Monday, and Monday night hanging out with Ryan Curry and relaxing.

On Tuesday morning, friends Jo and Leo Macariola came to see us. We went back to the mall we had gone to the previous day and had lunch at McDonalds, again. The kids loved it! When we returned, Ruth came and picked us up to take us to her place for a few days.

We had a very nice visit with Aunt Ruth and Uncle Patrick and even a surprise visit from friend, Jessica all the way from Crystal Lake! I think after a few days of quality time with her nephews including bouncing around and a trip to the aquarium, poor aunt Ruth was worn out! On Thursday night, she dropped us at the DeMott household for the weekend.

That night Tom flew in to join his family. Friday, the FitzGeralds went to lunch and the Navy Pier to the Children's Museum. Saturday, Ben's birthday was also Practice Thanksgiving. Many, many friends came in for the event and we even sung a birthday song for our 2 year old boy! Sunday was a day to relax and Monday we flew home. All in all, very fun, very exhausting but it was great to see everyone! Thanks to everyone who put us up and put up with us, shuttled us around, and spent time with us. We miss you all....

Construction Project Begins!

Believe it or not, this much anticpated project has begun! Demolition started this week on the back porch and will surely continue next week. Thursday, 11/1 a storage container was dumped on our lawn and on Friday, a big huge blue dumpster joined it. I'm sure the neighbors are thrilled! We will keep you updated as the project continues....

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Our speedy racecar driver and fearsome pirate toured Monmouth County in their quest for Halloween candy this year. First we went to our friend Griffin's house to trick-or-treat in his neighborhood of Oceanport. Then we went to Tinton Falls to trick-or-treat at Grandma and Papa Joe's house. Finally, we returned to Long Branch to collect candy from our block.

This was a fun year as it was Zachary's first year of really understanding and enjoying the experience and we got to watch Ben try to follow suit and run in that huge pirate hat!

Class Trip to Green Meadows Farm

On 10/23 Zachary's class took a field trip to Grean Meadows Farm in Hazlet, NJ and Ben and I tagged along. On the farm they took a hayride through the forest, got to see and pet all sorts of animals including baby chicks and ducks, calfs,donkeys, horses, and cows.

As Zachary's class lined up to take turns milking a cow, I laughed to myself knowing my son wouldn't go near a cow udder even if a racecar was taped to it! And I was right. The look on his face was priceless....

Luckily, it was a beautiful day and we were able to picnic there before picking pumpkins and getting back on the bus to go back to school. Here is a picture of Zack's class posing, sort of...

Chuckie Cheese Crap

Look at how cute we look sporting our Chuckie Cheese glasses. It took all of 4 minutes for them to break. Sigh.... try to explain that to a one year old!

Regardless....still pretty cute....