When we were back in New Jersey, the simpler things in life were the occasional trips to Target, Buy Buy Baby, and of course, Smashburger. It’s great that Smashburger is a restaurant chain because it’s great to take our little goofball Tiger there to enjoy a milk shake once in awhile and just relax like we had no where else to be (which was truly the case in NJ).
Freedom generally comes at a cost. For us, our days of renting a place to live is over, and in the illustrious words of the great philosopher, William Wallace, “we didn’t get all dressed up for nothing.” This year marked our first Independence Day at home (as last year we were in San Diego and had not fully moved in yet).
To take advantage of the long weekend, we managed to cram a trip to the Natural History Museum (to see the new Pterosaurs exhibit), Tiger’s Wushu and swim lessons, Tiger’s friends BBQ, a BBQ at our house, and a long trip to the mall (where Tiger and Mommy got to watch Finding Dory after Baby Horse wouldn’t sit still in the movie theater).
Maintaining freedom is never easy, as is also the case with our two boys…but in both cases, it’s definitely worth all the sweat and tears. Happy 4th to everyone!
It’s been a year. A year from tomorrow was Tiger’s last day at Goddard’s, and to this day, he still speaks of it with a smile on his face, and a bit of sadness in his voice. He misses his friends and teachers, but most of all, I think he misses how much people genuinely liked him for who he was and who he was going to become.
With all the complaining about the NJ weather, bugs, and lack of great food, also came a great enjoyment of family-togetherness and exploration. Of course we won’t miss the hurricanes and blizzards, but we will miss our predictable food runs to Doc’s, the 53 Grill, Carmel Haifa, Mara’s Cafe, Penang, Denville Meat Shop and Arthur’s Tavern. Beyond our weekly trips to Farmer’s markets, Target, Panera, Rockaway mall, Barnes & Noble, and even the public library, few places could surpass the memories that were made when visiting Turtleback Zoo, Liberty Science Center, Princeton, and of course, Cape May.
When we finally made the decision to move, we took everything into account. We knew we’d miss the freedom of being isolationists, but we also knew we’d create new memories for our kids and for our entire family.
It’s been a year. A year of packing, unpacking, and getting settled into a new neighborhood and home. I still don’t think we’re completely settled in yet, but I can feel we’re on the verge of finally feeling comfortable with our routine. For four years, we managed to do our best with what we had, and actually, when you look back at it, it was an unbelievable experience. Not to be outdone, this past year has also been amazing. From going to multiple county fairs, multiple trips to Disneyland and the Long Beach Aquarium, getting a chance to furnish our HOME, and enrolling Tiger in public school…we’ve done more than most people get to do in a few years. Most importantly, and the true reason we moved back, the kids get a chance to experience the countless family functions and daily interactions that we would’ve undoubtedly missed out on while being across the US.
It’s been a year. I forgot my password to this website and only after hours of thinking about it, I finally remembered. It’s been a year, but in actuality, it’s been a journey. We picked up our lives in NJ and moved to CA without knowing where we’d ultimately call home. We now know where home is, but we’ll never forget the time we spent making the most of the Garden State.
After signing on the dotted line and cementing our decision to move, we took one last trip to our favorite NJ place, Cape May. It was an awesome trip and a perfect way to say goodbye.
Happy birthday buddy. We love you. More to come soon.
Our little Tiger never ceases to amaze me. For someone swinging a bat off a tee for the first time ever (we’ve never even attempted to practice before), he destroyed the ball five out of six times! For me, I was never any good at softball, and since I doubt he got his hand-eye coordination from his mom (have you seen her play basketball?), I have no idea where out little Tiger got it from, but I’m sure glad he did!
It’s been awhile since we last enrolled Tiger into an extracurricular activity, and since it was too cold a few months ago to do swimming, an opportunity to enroll him into karate was the obvious choice. Although this was his first ‘official’ karate class, Little Tiger is no stranger to karate, kung-fu, and ninja-style…in fact, he’s been trained by some of the best in the world. Do Masters Shi-fu, Oogway, and Splinter ring a bell? I thought so. And more recently, Kung-fu master Baymax also helped train our little fighting machine.
Little Tiger was super hyped and excited for his first class and even his little brother was happy for him. Great day all around.
