Odds and ends from May 2015

Mom and the younger three Muffins started May off right, with a maypole dance at the library!

The fabulous New Jersey vacation we took in May gets its own post. When we were (thankfully) not far from home, this happened:

The tire was just the beginning of the May 2015 headaches (followups to others from the months before). One day when Mom was feeling rather like this . . .

She opened a jar of peanut butter to find a this . . .

And so Mom kept her camera ready to focus on happier things, such as Clarissa playing with her toy kitty at the park:

And Muffins remembering that parks have all kinds of non-swing things to play with:

Cherry Tastykakes were fun . . .

As was riding a giant "spider" ("beetle" by leg count) at the park:

Playing in "Toddlertown":

A ride on the swing from Dad:

 Upside-down Amanda:

 Snack time at the little table:

 Drum time for twins:

Classic VHS playing on an HDTV (with captions!):

 The Memorial Day parade:

 With candy:

 Triplets!

 A tree frog visitor (we figured the tree part out when we found it near the ceiling):

 Climbing Curtis:

 Swinging twins:

 Picnicking twins:

 Pretty flowers:

 Boys joining in the twin fun (or pretty close):

 A bunny sighting:

 The joy of the butterfly computer:

 Jelly donut ice cream:

 Contortion by Curtis (the bit of red is him):

 Puppet shows:

 And a pretty pond:

And of course Mom and Amanda's trip to the big city (on a train!):

Where Amanda met the author and illustrator team for the Ivy + Bean books:

And we met a new (to us) author, Wylde Scott. Our first thought was, "Willy Wonka?" Well, it may not have been Mr. Wonka, but they are kindred spirits. Check out his work at wyldescott.com.

School Art Show Exhibits by the Muffins

May was the month of school art shows. Here we have a pot by Curtis:

A cupcake by Jared:

"Self portrait of me as a teenager" by Jared:

This fun character by Curtis:

Ice cream art by Jared:

And a pot by Amanda:

The New Jersey Chocolate Festival

In the words of Charles Dickens, "There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate." Truer words were never spoken for the Muffins, especially on the weekend of the great chocolate festival.

Times were rough in the Place of Doom (also known as our residence), courtesy of forces similar to those that led to our Indiana Christmas. But, lo, a joyful message of deliverance appeared, offering sanctuary in New Jersey, courtesy of some friends we met during our last stint in Utah. We packed up and headed off for a weekend of rest, relaxation, adventure, and speaking in regular-volume voices.

We got there in the evening, and after the kids were more or less settled in for the night, we had our first taste of the truly chocolaty nature of our visit:

The Muffins were ready to play bright and early in the morning. Here is Clarissa with one of our friends:

And here is Clarissa on the little horse bike she loved. It should be noted that Jared, who has been severely bike deprived, learned how to ride a two wheeler (no training wheels!) during the visit.

 After the outside play came some inside play:

 And then back outside for a picnic:

The town was having a spring festival that day, which we went to after lunch. On the way, we stopped by our friend's place of work:

There may or may not have been a fair amount of disgruntled talk from the Muffins about our decision not to go on any rides. Nevertheless, there were plenty of free fun things to see and do, including free balloon animals.

And then there was the best free thing of all. See all that chocolate? Yup, free, given away at the tent behind us in the picture. (Hence the "Chocolate Festival" title for this post.)

The chocolate influence runs deep in the town. If you zoom in on the street signs, you may recognize some red and yellow candy friends.

After the festival, there was more play time at our friends' house, whilst our hostess prepared most excellent pizza.

 The lovely view from our friends' balcony:

 Clarissa met a furry friend:

Once the pizza was ready, we enjoyed dinner and a movie, before heading home. Truly, a most excellent vacation. Thank you, friends!