Happy Post-mas!

Haven't flet very 'bloggy' lately - Post Christmas is always an interesting time. The planning is done, the leftovers are gone, the random bits of wrapping paper have been cleaned up, and there are things everywhere. The kids want to 'see' their stuff, so it's strewn around the house. I can stand it for another day or so, and then it's go-time. I'm intent on starting the new year with a neat, clean and tidy house. Oh crapit, tomorrow is New Year's Eve, better get to it!

A few words about gifts ... Legos rock! Guitar Hero is addicting! Dale & Thomas popcorn is the PMS remedy! Wicki Stix are the same thing as Bendaroos! You can never have too many pairs of gloves! Books, books, books are always a great gift! And I got totally spoiled, my sister-in-law (aka Annelore) gave me this gorgeous dress!

Two other shout-outs to those of you interested in sending edibles to family and friends - check out these sites: Rum Cake Island - totally delicious, as in 'I have a fork close by and I'm not sharing!' Gimme Jimmy's Cookie Bar - yum, yum, yum! Comes in a cool box and boy are these good.

We've logged more park time in the past few days than in the entire month we've been here. It's been heavenly! Yesterday, we went to Long Branch, a beach community 20 minutes south of where we live. Besides a bunch of restaurants and cute stores, there's a charming boardwalk, miles of beach and play structures on the sand. Cold, yes, but good ocean air! The boys had a blast looking for shells and exporing the tide pools left over from a high tide. We spotted a few tankers and tug boats, and decided that, "yes, Europe is that way!" We treated ourselves to juicy burgers and fries (boogers and flies as 'the littles' say) and cracked up at the menu - 'California Style Burger', what, with lettuce and tomato! Come on yous guys!

Hoping to make it to NYC later this week to go to the American Museum of Natural History, visit family and have some more fun! It's really nice having all three kids out of school at the same time. After our speedy relo and immediate immersion; our 'hit-the-ground-running' tempo was kind of exhausting; we're happy to have some down time to regroup and relax.

Happy New Year Everyone - here's to 2009!

xoxo P