life lately!

what a whirlwind few weeks it has been since we moved out here.  between unpacking, exploring our new surroundings, taking care of two littles, and cooking and cleaning and all that other fun stuff - i feel like i've hardly had two moments to sit down at my computer!  but, here i am, and here's a glorified pic dump of things we've been up to lately:

1. communal sunday afternoon nap in our blow-up bed our first sunday in nj
2. adding some color to our front porch
3.  cora, showing off her double chin
4.  on a sunday evening walk with our harman cousins!  they are the best!
5.  cora kicks wildly during her entire bath these days.  so fun!
6.  riding on the staten island ferry

1.  i love it when i can snuggle cora down for an early morning nap/snuggle
2.  trying out a new park.  it had dinosaur stuff!
3.  eating at the river grille.
4.  swaddling this little love.
5&6.  our family on a kite expedition wherein we mostly just ran around for an hour trying to get the kite off the ground, instead of actually flying it.

hurray!  tomorrow is friday!

cora on this day

IMG 3785 from Paige Brunt on Vimeo.

(also, we say "hi honey!" in a lot of these videos because, of course, we are going to be sending them to our honey.)

lovin life!

movin to new jersey really kicked my butt. i don't know what it was- a stubborn, difficult toddler? sleep deprivation? moving away from dear friends and feeling lost in a city i'm not used to? feeling totally out of control of my life? probably all of the above.

so i thought it was probably time i write down what i'm really grateful for in my life these days....

watching the thunderstorm outside with the girls sitting in my lap

toy car races with hazel

swedish fish

our porch succulents

binge-watching parks and rec with john late into the night

my steam mop(do i get nerdy points for this?)

early morning, snuggling the girls in my bed

helping the B color with chalk on the front porch

the turtleback zoo!

we got a zoo pass! there's this darling little zoo near by us in jersey. we went to check it out last week and bought an annual pass because gosh, hazel loves animals. she could not stop talking about riding the zebra on the carousel. cannot wait to go again with her. when she's happy, i'm happy! ;) thanks to our cute new friends for coming with us!

some things about new jersey:

the roads are extremely windy and confusing

you can't tell where anything is or where you are headed because there are too many trees

there is little to no mexican food, and what mexican food there is, is pitiful 

you cannot pump gas yourself- it's illegal. when you pull up to the gas station someone walks out to pump gas for you

the grocery stores are tiny with low ceilings(all you've been to have high ceilings- think about it.) and minimal stock

there is literally an italian place and a deli on every corner- and it's delicious!

people drive super aggressively, and honk lots!

there are road signs saying things like, "opposite traffic has extended green light" because people are so gas-happy here that they'll run the red light when they see cars moving

there are no convenience stores(where am i supposed to get my diet coke?!)

the towns are small and close together

people are rough and tumble, but usually pretty nice once you get to know them

in the city!

on saturday we decided to go into the city.  we are just a short 30-minute drive from manhattan, so why not?!  we found street parking in the west village, and took a stroll down to the world trade center memorial.  it's such a beautiful tribute to those who lost their lives.  i think hazel could sense the somber, reverent feeling there.  

we then went to the staten island ferry and took pics with lady liberty.

 perfect view, and the boat ride was free!  hazel loved it.

check out those piggies :)

this bridge!  so pretty.

then we perused through chinatown, and found the best taiwanese drinks and most amazing fried dumplings!

then we walked up bleecker street (and fawned over cute little boutiques along the way) and had the most delicious banana pudding from magnolia bakery.  i should have gotten the large.  we enjoyed that while hazel played at bleecker park.  it really was an exhausting and fun day!

we are alive and in new jersey!

we have had a serious whirlwind of a week!  in the last 9ish days we have driven to new jersey, gotten all of our stuff moved in and about 80% of it unpacked, gone into the city once, gone to turtle back zoo, plus lived with only one car until our second one got here... we've been so busy i feel like i've been going nonstop!  it is super exciting to move to a new place, and also stressful and i'm just trying to take the organizing/cleaning/cooking slowly and giving myself a break if i don't get completely unpacked within 1 week.  i'm sure we'll get there some day....

anyways, we made a little video of our road trip to new jersery!  it isn't anything too special or exciting, but i'm sure i will watch it in the coming years and think back fondly on how fun our girls were at this age!  enjoy!

Road Trip!  from Paige Brunt on Vimeo.