NJ Beaches

NJ has many beautiful beaches down the shore.  There is a beach for every taste, there are party beaches, quiet beaches, beaches with roller coaster rides, aquariums, waterparks, hiking, habitats and so much more fun.  Of course, after Sandy hit last year, I can no longer say what remains and what was swept away.  Hopefully this year the beach will be back to it's glorious self, with the help of all the folks that have worked hard restoring it to it's beautiful self. 

I love the beach. Real beach. Ocean with big waves and miles of send. We skipped it the year before last because the youngest guy was afraid of the waves. He was so terrified that he wouldn't allow me to get off the blanket. It wasn't enjoyable for anyone. We took a year off, and enjoyed some local lakes, and finally past summer we went. I missed it! This time he loved it. He wouldn't get out of the water, and was not afraid at all!

We like beaches with no rides, and no restaurants. Just the waves and the sand for us. I've tried many of them on the Jersey shore. My favorite is Belmar. Sandy Hook was lovely, but we were there on a weekday during the evening. Seven Presidents is supposed to be really good, we will try it next year.  Point Pleasant has many rides, and restaurants and the Jackson Aquarium.  It is a fun place to take the kids to spend a day, but if you are looking to just enjoy the water there are many quieter spots.

The plan for the next summer is to make it to the beach once a week.  I am hoping Sandy Hook will be open and operating as usual. I also made a decision to make it down to the beach at least once to watch the moon rise. 

NJ Botanical Garden

NJ Botanical Garden is located in Ringwood, NJ.  It is beautiful, quiet and never crowded place. We love it there. They have many plants, so no matter what season you choose to go there there is something to see.  For me, my favorite time of the year to go is in mid May, so that I can catch the lilac tree grove in bloom. Another great time is in August, to see the waterlillies.  Of course, early spring is great to, with all the bright spring colors and cherry blossoms.

It is a free, or almost free ($5.00 per car in the summer months) place to visit.  You should note that there is a no food allowed rule, so if you bring a picnic there, you can probably have it by the Shephard Lake, which is nearby. The lake has a small beach area and a playground, and does tend to get crowded on the weekends.

I highly recommend it as a place you should see, especially if you live nearby.  I am always surprised as to how many NJ residents have no idea that this place exists.

We have been there through the seasons, and each season fills it with it's own kind of magic.

It is hard to describe such an amazing place in words, so I am putting many pictures with this post.
Here is their website for direction and other information, including history:
http://www.njbg.org/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above two photos are of the Lilac Grove.  The smell there is amazing when all the lilacs flower! The photo below is of the spot where in early spring the trees are covered with pink flowers and when the wind blows it looks like giant pink snowflakes are flying around.

 

 

The photo below I took in August, when the waterlillies are out and about.

Beaded Felt Pins

Check out these beautiful beaded felt pins that I made!

 

I also wrote up instructions with photographs to show how to make these.  You can find the instructions on my website here: http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Beaded-Felt-Pins.html

 

Also, the pins that I have finished can be bought in my Etsy store, right here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HappyFamilyArt

Rutgers Day

Rutgers Day is coming up soon.  This year it falls on April 27th, 2013 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Here is a website with all the upcoming demonstrations: http://rutgersday.rutgers.edu/  I strongly recommend you go over exactly what you would like to see!  There is just so much, it can be overwhelming.

We picked Cook/Douglas campus last year because we wanted to see all the cool farming stuff. The kids loved the farm. Especially the piglets and the cows. There was a lot of "I want a pet piggy" whining after that. It is true, the pigs were adorable, but I am afraid that my dog would mind sharing our bed with a pig.

It was a beautiful day to be there! Hopefully this year will be also.  I am shooting for the Busch Campus this year to see all the science stuff!

Candleholders

I made some candleholders as gifts this year for the Holidays. I love the colors on them.
My big kid made one also, which we will keep for us.
I also made a few extra, which will go up on Etsy soon!
They were fun to make, but a bit of work:

 

Longwood Gardens, PA

Longwood Gardens in PA has got to be one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Every year one of my kids asks to make it a Birthday Destination.  You see, on their birthdays, instead of doing kiddie parties we pick a place and have a family trip instead.  Longwood Gardens is usually on the list.  My younger one especially enjoys it.

From where we are, the drive is about 2 hours, and it is definately worth it!

With thousands of different flowers, trees, shrubs and bushes, the colors are magnificent. The walkways twist and turn through flower beds and arches covered in roses. There are flowers there that I have never seen in my life, brought in from all over the world. It is so big, that it's never crowded. If you go on a weekday you could walk through the whole garden and not meet more then 10 people along the way.

Every year we go I am pleasntly surprised as to how much my boys and I enjoy this trip.  They excitedly skip through the gardens, run around bushes cut in fun shapes, take turns sticking their head into a giant dog cut out of a shrub. They are enlessly amused by the three giant tree houses that you can climb up to, and the organ room where you could try different sounds, and of course playing with water fountains. The children's garden inside is magical, with lights and fountains. It's the kind of place where you can imagine fairies playing after closing time.

 

This is their website, with address, directions and other info:
http://www.longwoodgardens.org/

Of course, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a few pictures that I took through the years that we have been going there:

Bead and Flower Necklaces

Some of the bead and flower necklaces that I made recently.  They can already be found in my Etsy store here:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/HappyFamilyArt

They are made with glass, pearl and crystal beads and flowers that I have handmade out of recycled fabric. I hope you like them!

 

 

Sponge Painting of a Garden

This sponge painting of a garden is very simple and easy to make, it is especially good for really young kids. I made it with my 5 and 11 year olds and they both enjoyed it.  

What you'll need is a canvas board that we used previously and the picture just didn't come out well. A re-used or new canvas board would work well, or if you don't have that, some heavy duty paper would be good also.

You will also need sponges of different shapes and sizes.  They don't have to be shaped like flowers, just be creative with how you use them.  For some of the shapes I bought cheap sponges in a .99 cent store and cut them out as flowers or leaves. We also had some rectangular sponges to go along. A few small sponge rollers for the background. For paint, "My Studio" Acrylic Paint in colors of your choice works really well, but that's up to you! We picked light green, white, dark green, orange, purple and blue.

 

 

 

To see the instructions please visit my website here:

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Sponge-Painting.html

 

 

Pump-It-Up

PUMP IT UP was really exciting news for me when it opened up.  There is one not far from us and it is a great rainy day activity.  Just make sure to call ahead and reserve a spot for the open bounce. 

It is fairly cheap (especially if you have a bogo coupon), and makes a great activity for a hot summer day.  It tires the kids enough for them to be relaxing for the rest of the day. 

While many times we have gone there and had a great time, the last time was not a success.  So here is a word of advice.  Do not go when there is a town with a spring break from school nearby.  The problem is that in NJ one town can be off school while other ones all have school.  While our town spring break was over, another one just began.  I didn't know.  The place was so crowded, the kids had to wait 10 to 15 minutes just to get on to a boucy.  They were tired of waiting.  Not actually getting a chance to bounce, we left early.  The manager was nice enough to give us two free passes for next time, and we would love to go, just have to make sure that there isn't any school breaks at the time.  What is interesting is that when we came in the middle of summer, not so many kids were there.  I guess they must have had their fill!

Lesson learned: if you can avoid it, don't go when school is out! Otherwise expect unmanagable amount of people there.

Paint The Town

Take a look at this art lesson! It is a painting of a town with buildings and trees.  It might look daunting at first, but with these easy step by step instructions you will be surprised as to how good it will come out at the end.  The most important thing is not to get discouraged when you are half way done, but to carry it through to the end.  It is all made of basic shapes and little details make it beautiful! Painted in watercolor, a bit of acrylic and ink.

 

To view the instructions please go to my website here:

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Street-and-Buildings-Painting.html 

 

I also put up the final version of this painting on Etsy, to see the listing, please click here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/123423733/original-watercolor-and-ink-painting-of

Under A Baby Moon

This is a few of my favorite illustrations that I did for a book by Jennifer Johnson, Under A Baby Moon.  Of course I couldn't put all of them here, but these few are my favorite ones! I hope you like them!

 

Beaded Necklace!

I just finished putting up the instructions for this beautiful beaded necklace pattern.  It came out very pretty, and is not at all difficult to make!
 

 

 

 

To see the step by step instructions on how to make this necklace, please visit my website here:

http://www.happyfamilyart.com/Beaded-Necklace.html

 

Giggleberry Fair, PA

Last week the kids and I were headed to Bucks County, PA, to run some errands.  To make this routine trip more fun for them I like to pick a cool place to visit in that neighborhood.  Some place that we haven't been to before.  This time I chose Giggleberry Fair on friend's recommendation. 

Giggleberry Fair is located in Peddler's Village, PA.  On it's own Peddler's Village has many shops, outlets, restaurants and much more to explore.  There are some truly outstanding stores there.  To see their full list of shops, visit: http://www.peddlersvillage.com/shop/ . Be sure to check out the Village Toy & Doll Shoppe if you are there with your kids!

This time we were there just to visit Giggleberry Fair.  It was a weekday, so not crowded at all.  Giggleberry Fair has a wonderful restored Carousel.  It has quite a long history, and you can read about it right here: http://www.peddlersvillage.com/kids/grand_carousel.aspx The carousel is beautiful, and even my all too grown up almost twelve year old enjoyed riding on it.  Because it wasn't crowded, we were able to go on quite a few times. 

For children aged 6 and under there is the Giggles Discovers! area and it looks to be a lot of fun. http://www.peddlersvillage.com/kids/giggles_discovers.aspx We took a peek, but my 6 year old wanted to do what his older brother was doing, which was the arcade and the Giggleberry Mountain. Giggleberry Mountain is a large obsticle course and maze.  It has six floors, and a ton of foam berries (balls) that you can shoot, put into a 'berry fountain', vacuum, throw at each other. I enjoyed the Giggleberry Mountain as much as my boys. Though the website states that it is designed for children aged 6 -12, I stayed on the ground, filling the fountain with the balls and shooting it at my kids. Also, obsessively vacuuming the 'berries' of the floor, that was just my 'cleaning mommy' self taking over.

Here is the website for Giggleberry Mountain: http://www.peddlersvillage.com/kids/giggleberry-mountain.aspx 

The arcade there is clean, and the folks working at the place very accomodating.  The machines swallowed our coins a few times, and once we spoke up it was taken care of right away.  There is someone there ready to assist, and you don't have to be running around, looking for a person to help you. The games at the arcade were good for the younger kid, and for the older one.  There was also a giant touch screen Fruit Ninja game for the ultimate Fruit Ninja in our household, mommy. 

If you get hungry, they have a menu of food available.  Mostly it's the usual pizza, french fries and chicken fingers.  We didn't eat there, but it's available. 

Overall the kids enjoyed it very much.  The little one keeps asking to come back there soon.  We easily spend two hours there.  They also have specials, different activities, and you can celebrate your kid's birthday there. 

When we got there, we paid $12.99 per kid for the Child Activity Package.  It gets access to Giggleberry Mountain, giggles Discovers! and unlimited Carousel rides. I felt that it was a good price for all the activities there.  To see all the pricing and information please go to their site here: http://www.peddlersvillage.com/kids/prices_information_contact.aspx

The Carousel was so pretty, I took some more photos. Here they are!

 



My youngest picked Giggleberry Fair as his birthday destination.  Thursday is a double day.  They double the amount of tickets you win in the arcade.  He had a blast, and since daddy won the jackpot with tickets both him and his brother wound up winning a nice toy there. :)