Good Friday - Kids Kingdom

I was so happy that I got Good Friday off so that I could join my friends for TPG! The weather was cold and windy, so we decided to go to Kids Kingdom in Northvale. I got to leave Avery home with John and just take Reagan, so it was quality one-on-one time with Reagan.

Jen Wilkin was there with her boys, Sawyer and Harrison

Reagan coming down the VERY fast slide!

Joaquin on the climbing wall

Reagan and Mia at the entrance to the ball pit

Sandy's daughter Julia and Corey's daughter Jamison

Sandy and Julia

Corey, Sandy and Nicole - laughing that I was taking pictures

Cassie and Mia

Nicole's friend Chenin came from the Bronx with her daughter Cassie

Gianna and Mia

Nicole's friend Maria came with her daughter Gianna and her son Max

Nicole stopped at the bagel shop beforehand and when she saw they were selling RED mini bagels, she just had to buy one for Reagan ... Reagan loved it!

Snack time for the girls ~ Mia, Cassie and Reagan

Jack, Mia, Reagan, Bennett and Cassie going for a ride in the car

Shouting "Cheese!"

Reagan got in this thing and then Mia pushed her - it was pretty funny to watch!

Rainy Monday

Every Monday from 11:00 am - 12:15 pm is Reagan's First Friends Playgroup here in River Vale. I've met some wonderful people through First Friends and now Reagan has some friends with whom she'll eventually go to school. Instead of meeting at the community center like we usually do, we met today at Kids Kingdom in Northvale. Reagan loves this place!I'm so happy to have met Christine and her daughter Caitlyn. Christine is one of those people who always seems happy and completely together. She is kind and generous and goes out of her way to be friendly to everyone. I thoroughly enjoy catching up with her each week at First Friends. Her daughter Caitlyn is adorable and so sweet. She is almost 9 months younger than Reagan, but they'll end up being in the same grade when they start kindergarten together at Roberge Elementary here in River Vale (Fall of 2011!). Here is Christine holding Avery at Kids Kingdom. She's wearing a sweater that says 'Avery' (also given to her by Missy who gave her the shirt with the angel wings that she wore last week!).

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

After Reagan's nap, we met our friends at Unbelieva-bills in Waldwick (about 20 minutes away). Yes, this is another indoor play place and YES, my daughter is spoiled to go to 2 of these places in the same day!

Here is Mia, Reagan, Timmy and Ella on the dinosaur. Two of them climbed up, then I thought it would be fun to get a picture of all 4 of them ... I got them situated, and they were already trying to get down by the time I snapped this photo.
So, we decided to try it again ... this time Nicole helped me round up the kiddies and Reagan freaked out when Nicole tried to place her for the photo. What a drama queen my little girl can be!

Here's Ella and Mia up top, then Jackson and Charlotte sitting so nicely, then Timmy crawling through the hole, and Reagan is gettin' outta there, down the slide!
Here is little daredevil Mia (Nicole's daughter) going down the slide upside down (with Charlotte watching).
Here are Michelle's kids, Jackson and Charlotte going down the slide. Jackson is such a sweet older brother to Charlotte ~ it's obvious how much he loves her and it's really cute to watch them together.

Here is Alexis with Sofia who is now 8 months old.
Here's Reagan walking out with Timmy who is wearing his new fireman raincoat. He was moving around, acting kind of silly, so Reagan was laughing hysterically.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

Reagan, Avery and I keep rather busy each week doing lots of fun stuff. On Monday mornings, we go to River Vale First Friends so Reagan can play with friends with whom she'll eventually go to elementary school. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and now Thursday mornings (recently added) Reagan thoroughly enjoys going to Ms. Lisa's preschool prep for 2 hours. On Fridays, we usually get together with friends for a playdate. On some days, we even get together for playdates in the afternoons, after naps. Here are a few highlights of how we spent the last few days of this week:

WEDNESDAY

On Wednesday, my friends Meredith and Nicole wanted to get out of the house after naps and the weather had been rather nice all day. We decided to meet at a park to let the kids run around. Once we got there, the clouds covered the sun and the temperature dropped. We hung out as long as we could (since the kids hardly noticed the cold), then decided to take our playdate indoors. Nicole was nice enough to let us come over, spur of the moment. Both their husbands were working late and John had to attend a viewing that night, so we kept each other company.

Nicole's son Bennett. He's getting so big and independent ... he's only 13 months old!
Nicole's daughter Mia was playing Peek-a-boo with Avery
As it got later and we all got hungry, Nicole was a sweetie and cooked us all a delicious dinner. We went to the kitchen to eat and Meredith and I left our babies in their car seats watching Go, Diego, Go! Quinn and Avery were perfectly happy there together.

THURSDAY

Thursday didn't turn out as I'd expected ... I dropped off Reagan at preschool and came home to complete a long list of things to do. Just as I finished the first item on my list (showering and drying my hair), I recognized the all-too familiar spots in my vision that unmistakably indicated an oncoming migraine. I've been getting migraines since elementary school, so it's been a long battle with these debilitating headaches. Luckily, I have a very supportive husband who steps in when I have to step out. I slept that day from 10am -1PM and woke up feeling groggy and kind of like I'd been run over by a truck. As the day progressed, I felt better and still managed to attend bookclub that night.

Here is a picture of Meredith and Nicole. I didn't pull out my camera until the end of the evening when many of the gals had already left. As usual, we hardly discussed the book, especially since it was a dismal percentage of people who actually read it (only 2 out of 13 finished it, I think). I love to read, but couldn't get into this book at all, so I didn't bother finishing it. Okay, I hardly read any of it, only the first 30 pages. In case you're wondering, it was called "Before You Know Kindness." It's a good thing everyone brought lots of delicious food, since we spent the night eating and socializing :)

FRIDAY

We had no plans for Friday and I figured we'd spend the day inside since it was supposed to rain all day. Meredith was supposed to have a photo shoot with our friend Christie Adams, but they decided to reschedule it due to the weather and lack of natural light. Meredith emailed Nicole and me to see if we were interested in meeting her at Kids Kingdom ... turns out Nicole was already meeting her friend Chenin from Yonkers there, so it worked out really well. Before we left, I took these cute pictures of Avery. My grandparents (Avery's great-grandparents) Betty and Wayne Fawson sent her this outfit for Christmas:

I forgot to throw my camera in my bag after I took these pictures, so I don't have any pics from Kids Kingdom. This was the 3rd or 4th time we went there and I couldn't believe how many new things Reagan tried this time. She climbed through areas she didn't dare attempt last time and it made me realize how big she's getting! She had so much fun that when it was time to leave, she wasn't happy with me.

After KK, we walked to the nearby Panera for a most-delicious lunch! They have a creamy-tomato soup served with Asiago cheese croutons on top that is amazing ... I crave it often and it really hit the spot on that rainy day. Here are some pictures taken with my iPhone (sans flash, so not the best quality):

Reagan and Amanda at Panera

Meredith and Timmy

Bennett, Nicole and Mia

Cassie and Chenin

Most of the other patrons kept their distance from us, since we had 4 moms and 7 kids! It was crazy, but tons of fun. Actually, all the kids behaved really well. Nicole and Chenin left first, the Meredith and I left a little later. We didn't want Reagan or Timmy to get away from us, so we told them to stick together walking, while we pushed the babies in the strollers. Timmy grabbed Reagan's hand and they had a ball, running and giggling together.

Timmy and Reagan

It was a really great way to spend the rainy morning. I came home, put the kids down for a nap and made lasagna.

So, I spent 3 days in a row with Nicole and Meredith, two friends who have been wonderful and supportive in so many ways. It's so nice to have such sweet friends here in NJ. We have a lot in common, since they both have graduate degrees in education and that's what I'm working toward right now (well, I was working toward it, until I had to put it on hold to have Avery), and of course, we all have kids in similar age ranges. Anyway, much thanks to both of them for being my incredible friends!

Kids Kingdom

A new indoor play place called Kids Kingdom recently opened in Northvale (about 10 minutes from us). We tried it out a few weeks ago and then returned today with Nicole and her kids, Mia and Bennett. Reagan and Mia loved running around, climbing, sliding, jumping, and completely wearing themselves out! Nicole and I loved that it was brand new and *clean* ... it's also very affordable. They charge $6.50 per child, and all kids under 2 are free! It's nice to know I won't have to pay for Avery for 20 more months :)

Although this picture is a little blurry, I just love the expression on Reagan's face. She is so happy!

Mia and Reagan played so well together in the kitchen area "cooking."

Reagan resting at the bottom of the slide.

Mia in her rain boots ~ Bennett on the stairs


Click on this picture ~ Reagan on the slide

These last two pictures made me laugh ... if you click on the first one, you can see it bigger. Check out Reagan's expressive smile and then look at how her image is reflected in the top of the slide - I thought that was cool, so I thought I'd share. Anyway, this was a very steep slide that went incredibly fast, but Reagan had no fear!