And So Begins Year Three...

Trenton at exactly two years old.

Trenton at exactly one year old.

We love you so much, buddy!

Happy Second Birthday, Trenton!

Trenton turns two today!
We went out for breakfast at the Colonial Diner, as T requested a muffin and they make theirs fresh.

Time to open some presents!

Alright! A Dr. Seuss book!

Cool, a Spiderman Plate!

Daddy bought Trenton a soccer ball. He had been wanting one for quite some time.

Wow! For me?

Thank you, Great Grandma Wilson, for the train set!

Playgroup was at our house today-- what a way to celebrate with friends! From left to right, Harrison, Laura, T, Hayden, Patrick, Katie, and Jonathan.

Uncle Len can't make it to the party on Saturday, so he came over tonight to celebrate with Trenton! He bought T a Mr. Potato Head doll (with 40 pieces!) as well as a racetrack carpet and some cars. The two of them had a great time playing together.

Grandma and Grandpop brought Trenton a T-ball set! I can't wait for warm weather to bring it outside... he also got big boy underwear! Soon, very soon!

Birthday cake was a cupcake in the shape of Cookie Monster from a local bakery. Our special birthday boy!

Snowstorm of '08

This is the most significant snowfall we've had this winter! Although it was predicted to be 1-3 inches, we got at least 4. Soft, fluffy, white snow! They closed school just about everywhere and Jim's university was shut down for the day. Good for me, as that meant Daddy could take Trenton outside to play!

We stayed inside for pretty much the rest of the day. Trenton is building more and more with his blocks.

Major news! T went poopies on the potty for the second time today! I can tell when he is gearing up to do some in his diaper and even though he fights me ("No MOmmy!") I still stuck him on the pot. His reward was ice cream!

Moon Doggie!

Eclipse last night. Jim went out and took these photos.

The redness near the peak eclipse was caused by the fact that the sun's light creeps around the Earth in the atmosphere, so the moon never gets darkened out. The redness itself comes from the fact that our atmosphere filters out shorter wavelengths (on the blue end - hence why we see a blue sky), allowing the reds to pass through and land on the moon.

Above, my reaction to being asked to join him. Come on, it was like, 20 degrees! And America's Next Top Model was on!

T and Daddy goofin' around.

Above, Trenton and Katie ride the horses at Jungle of Fun.

Trenton shows off his signature dance move "The Whirly Bird"

Don't Read This If You're Hungry

A pretty cool photo-essay here. Makes me want to travel. And eat.

The following article is for all you "EcoMoms" out there... Saving the Earth begins at home!

The Week of Love

This week went fast! Here are some pictures of what we did. Grandma and Grandpa Konopack came down for a visit last Saturday and we just got back from visiting them again this Saturday this morning! Grandpa's birthday is this week.

Trenton really enjoyed painting Daddy's valentine. I don't think I've ever let him finger paint inside the house. I was pretty careful with this stuff. However, the Crayola twistable crayons did stain his high chair! Grr...

On Valentine's Day, we visited with the Lacinas. Above, there's Great Grandma, Aunt Carol, and Grandma. We met for lunch and then later had dinner and fun back at the house.

Everyone in that picture has the same nose and eyes... ha!

Chocolate Lovers Weekend in OG

So what did we do this Saturday? If you guessed visiting Ocean Grove for the Chocolate Lovers Weekend, you're right! We've fallen in love with this little town (actually an extension of Neptune Township) since discovering it this summer. And this month they had Chocolate Lovers Weekend. If you stopped by the Chamber of Commerce, you could pick up a map of all the inns in town that were open for free tours. Also, they offered a scavenger hunt for all participants. You went from business to business trying to find a hidden heart box in each one. If you came back with your sheet filled out, you got a prize. But we only had an hour and a half before naptime, so we hit about 5 of 'em.

One of our favorite places to go is The Baker Boys. They had a free coffee tasting today (yay for Jim!) and free fresh baked cupcakes (yay for T!). The icing was buttercream and fantastic.

No, that's not chocolate!

Even the local realty companies were in on the festivities. Each place we went to had M&Ms, brownies, cookies, you name it... Irresistible!

Our first stop on the inn tour was to The Majestic. By far it was the most beautiful B&B I've ever been in. Everything was detailed and modern. I've left the pics kinda big (although it's making this a huge post) so that you can see it all.

Mural. Cool.

If you're going to stay in Ocean Grove, this is the place to do it. Everything was modern on the inside. So cool. This place had apartment-style rooms with full amenities, as well as balconies for some rooms. Nice view.

On the top floor there was a small area called "the widow's walk". Surrounded by windows, this is traditionally where the wives of sailors would gaze out to sea, hoping that their lost loved ones would return home. It offers a fantastic view of the town (south above, east below).

Remind you of Mary Poppins at all?

The two pictures below are of a smaller inn across the street, the Henry Richard Inn. It was adorable and homey. When I walked in, there was free soup and coffee being handed out and lots of chatting going on in the dining room. The decorations in each guest room were unique and thematic.

Jim and T check out the sand.

Last stop, The Lillegaard Bed and Breakfast. The coolest thing about this place, by far, was the tea room in the basement. They offer afternoon tea on the weekends, complete with lunch and 'dress up' gear (gloves, hats). No joke!

I was wearing a sweater, fleece, and raincoat. Thank goodness the rain stopped when we arrived in OG. I can't stand being cold outside... hopefully it will be this mild next year so we can come back.

Ocean Grove is located two towns away from Avon By the Sea (where we had beach passes last summer). You can walk from one to the other via the boardwalk that goes through Bradley Beach. Continuing on northward, you'd be in Asbury Park.

The resident pig?

There are virtually no driveways in this town. Stinks to find parking in the summer, for sure.

A view of Main Avenue.

The color palate that people use is just fantastic!