Road trip to New Jersey - part 2

On our second day in New Jersey we visited Ella's new middle school and learned that they start foreign languages in 6th grade and not in 7th like our school district. They offer Spanish, French and Chinese. Ella immediately said that she wants to learn Chinese. After the school visit we had lunch at Panera and drove to the Journal Square train station where we took PATH train to New York City. Lila really wanted to visit the Strand book store. I didn't read the map correctly and we took the train to the World Trade Center that is in lower Manhattan. After we checked the map again we realized that we have a long walk to the store. We could probably take a cab but decided to walk instead. We made few stops on the way - Starbucks (of course), street vendor that was selling peeled mangoes and Converse store.

I visited New York city several times before but never in summer so I was very surprised to see the mango vendors at each corner. The mango was delicious!

Here it is - the Strand Books flag. Almost there!

The girls disappeared between the shelves and I found the kids corner and rested there with Eli. We even heard a story from a former New York Public Library librarian.

At the store I realized that there is a closer train station, only few blocks away. On the the way back to the train station we bought more mango. 

In Jersey City we met with Ofir and decided to have dinner in the neighborhood. Google Local brought us to a small Italian restaurant 3 Guys from Italy. It looks like they mainly sell carry-out pizza but they had few tables in the back and simple menu. Our food was excellent!

The next morning Lila had a meeting with a boy from BBYO at local Dunkin' Donuts. While she talked we enjoyed latte (me and Ofir), ice cream (Ella and Eli) and some donuts (Ofir, Ella and Eli) I don't think I ever been to Dunkin' Donuts before so I had to take a picture of my coffee. After that Lila went to BBYO pool party and we waited for her at the biggest Barnes and Noble I ever saw. It had a huge used books section with rare editions, signed copies and all that great stuff. I know it is going to be one of our favorite places.

Soon it was time to leave and head back home to Wisconsin. After few hours of driving we made a stop at a rest stop to stretch our legs and to eat something.

Yumm, milky! Now we will not have to drive 2 hours to Chicago to buy it :)

A view from the back seat (one of the dozen pictures I found on the phone)

We slept at Barkeyville, PA and the next morning headed to Providence Metropark, OH,  where we took a mule-drawn canal boat through real functioning 19th century lock. We visited the General Store and the Mill and than watched the boat going through the lock again, this time from the shore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ella was fascinated by the lady-blacksmith.She could stay there forever.

It was a hot day so an ice cream was in order.

The ice cream helped but not that much. We were happy to return to the car and turn on the A/C. 

We stopped for hearty dinner and decided to go straight home after that.

I was passing by Six Flags Great America at Gurnee when the fireworks at the park went off, making the perfect ending to our road trip.

Road trip to New Jersey - part 1

Last Monday, June 17th, I packed my kids into the minivan, loaded it with snacks and set the GPS to Fair Lawn, NJ.

If you ask "Why New Jersey?" you probably don't know yet that after 10 years in Wisconsin we are moving to New Jersey. Ofir is already there, working at his new job but we stayed in Wisconsin to finish the school year, pack the house and get ready for the move. Our school year ended earlier than the school year on New Jersey so we decided to take a road trip, visit the schools and take a look at the area.  

First stop at Lake Forest Oasis in Chicago. Time for ice cream.

Hmm, I probably didn't take enough snacks...

No problem. We will stop and the next rest stop for more ice cream.
 We spent the whole day on the road and late at night arrived to our hotel in Pennsylvania.

The next morning we decided to take a detour and visit the Kinzua Bridge State Park. The views of the bridge are stunning.

Here is what was left from the bridge support after it was destroyed by tornado in 2003.

We had fun at the observation deck.

Ella had to check if the restored segment of the rail tracks will hold her.
The same evening we arrived to Fair Lawn and picked up Ofir from our friends house.

The next morning we had a meeting at the high school and after that we had lunch in Hoboken. After the lunch we dropped of Ofir at his office and went to visit the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. the highlight of the center is the observation deck with gorgeous view of New York.

We spent some time looking at the tall buildings,

 catching balls with upside-down glasses on and

making handprints.

We had some free time before dinner so per my request we found Starbucks and everyone happily reunited with their electronic devices.

We had great dinner with our friends at sushi restaurant at Ridgewood. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures inside the restaurant.

Stay tuned for part 2.

P.S. A short blog maintenance announcement. As all you know and probably saw on endless other blogs, Google Reader is going away. After trying few things I decided to use Bloglovin. I especially like it's app on my Android. So if you followed me through Google Reader or Google Friends you can continue following by clicking on the Bloglovin icon on my left side bar. Hope to see some old and new names :)

Weekend recap

This past Sunday was my birthday. This year I decided that I do want to celebrate and make this day special. My friend Maya joined me on Covered Bridge Studio Tour. We spent few hours visiting local artists and cute antique shops. Few pictures from the weekend - all taken with my Samsung Nexus.

Fall in Thiensville. I drive past this beauty every day and just can't get enough of it.

We stopped by the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts. Here is my friend Maya sitting under gorgeous Native American quilt.

And here is me, attempting to take a self portrait outside the museum despite the drizzling rain.

 

We stopped for refuel at Anvil Pub and Grille in a picturesque Cedar Creek Settlement. After that we visited few more shops and studios in Cedarburg.

A cup of latte was a perfect finish to our tour. But the day didn't end there. Later I had a date with Ofir. We ended up going to a restaurant in a local mall. We had a nice time and I found a drink that I liked - Diva Martini.

I can not leave you without a layout. This one goes 19 years back. That dreamy girl is me. Hard to believe. I think inside I still feel the same as 20 years ago but than I look in the mirror... let's save it for another post. I used a sketch from Scrap 365 blog. The background paper is from Wayfarer collection by Bazzill. Almost everything else is Sassafras Lass. I threw in one paper from DCWV but it is hiding behind the pictures and the blue square.

Supplies: patterned paper (Bazzill Basics, Sassafras Lass, DCVW), stickers, diecuts, letter stickers (Sassafras Lass), Sepia accents (Ranger), corner punch (Fiskars)

 

 

The dots and the banner "rope" are made with Sepia Accents by Ranger. 

P.S. Silhouette Cameo is on it's way to my house!! (Thank you, girlfriend! Yes, you know who you are) I am super excited and I can't wait to start playing. Any tips?? Where to start? What accessories do I need? I know nothing!

First day of school - 9.4.12

Hello high school!

Hello 9th grade!

Hello middle school!

Hello 6th grade!

Hello 3K!

 Hello to three full days in school!