A long string of posts...

The month seems to have just FLOWN by... every chance I had, I would start a post that I would save as a draft, pending me taking the time to download the many pictures I had taken. It has been a super-busy month for both Len and I... work and home-life, so I'm finally now just getting to publishing everything I captured throughout the last 3 weeks. As you scroll through April's entries, the dates of the posts are when I actually started the draft, so they coincide with the events I'm writing about. Have fun catching up!

Another Sunday Stroll!

Grandma and Poppie took the critter out for a stroll this time... no ice cream stops along the way, but he had his sippy cup in tow for refreshment as needed! How adorable!!

Road Trip - A Birthday Weekend in NJ!

Another incredible road trip to NJ this past weekend, we went for several wonderful reasons... first, we celebrated Grandpa's 85th birthday on Saturday, and second we were finally able to get together with Len's cousin, Julie and her family (and celebrate her birthday, too) on Sunday!

We arrived Saturday afternoon and started our visit at my Mother's house... she actually watched Zachary while we took Grandpa to a fantastic seafood restaurant in Trenton. Though I'm sure Grandma would've loved having Zachary with us during the phenomenal meal we enjoyed, it was really nice to have a quiet dinner out knowing our little critter was in the loving care of his Mom-Mom, Aunt Lynne and cousin Hailey. Here are a couple of photos Len took with his camera phone - one of the birthday boy and the other of Poppie enjoying their incredible meals...

After drinks, appetizers, dinner, a bottle of wine and dessert, we eventually waddled ourselves out of the restaurant and back to Mom-Mom's for some primo Zachary entertainment... what a beautiful way to round off Grandpa's special evening! Then, it was back to the Goodman's for some much needed rest, in anticipation of a big day on Sunday, as we reunited cousins Zachary and Connor.

Everyone arrived in the early afternoon... the critter was napping so we had a wonderful solo visit with Connor. I can't believe how much he's grown up since the last time we saw each other. What an adorable, polite little boy! Our timing was a little off, because as soon as Zachary got up, Connor was ready for a little shut eye himself. Eventually, both were well rested and ready for some fun. It was so interesting watching the two little men play... sometimes interacting with each other and other times off in their separate ways. We sat out on the deck for much of the afternoon and enjoyed everyone's company... it's so hard to believe that we all sat out on that very same deck almost two years ago, Julie and I with our little bundles of joy kicking inside of our bellies! This time, they were kicking around a kickball!! Too fun! Here are some of the adorable photos I took to help us remember the family visit...




We really tried to capture a poignant moment with our little boys and their Great-Grandpa... needless to say I didn't snap the perfect photo to capture the moment, but this one was just way too priceless not to share!






There were lots of high fives... or should I say attempts at high fives. Sometimes they connected, and other times it was a swing and a miss. We were eating it up, and they knew it!







And, here's our next installment of the 4 Generations:
Some more memorable moments...


We were all completely wiped out after such a fun, busy day... especially the critter!

Happy Birthday Great-Grandpa!

Zachary would like to send a HUGE shout out to his Great-Grandpa

as he celebrates this momentous occasion...

Happy 85th Birthday, Grandpa!!

Here's a great big birthday kissy, too!

Our little boy in his new big-boy car seat!

After another weight-check visit to the doctor this month, our little critter has finally reached a milestone we've been looking forward to for quite sometime, now. He's finally big enough for his next car seat... he weighed in at 20 lbs, 4oz! YIPPEE!! Len installed it yesterday afternoon, and we immediately went for a quick drive to see how he liked it.


The verdict... at first, he wasn't so sure, but then he really seemed to love this new view on the world, and also being able to high-five Daddy while he drives!!

What a beautiful afternoon!!

Yesterday, we enjoyed a wonderful Spring afternoon... we loaded up the car with our bikes, some refreshments and our little critter and headed out to the Ma and Pa Trail. When we arrived, we parked the car and headed off for a 3 mile bike ride to an awesome park and playground. The ride there was mostly on an uphill grade, so needless to say, pedaling both Zachary and myself was and interesting adventure... we made it safe and sound, though (and it was a wonderful ride back to the car)! When we arrived at the park, the ice cream truck was there, so we treated ourselves to a cold, sweet treat before venturing out to play on all of the really cool playground equipment.

The swing still seems to be Zachary's favorite activity... Len really pushes him high these days!! He even ventured onto the tire swing with his Daddy!

Tight squeeze on this slide, but amazingly adorable to watch them have so much fun slithering down...

It was an exhausting afternoon, as you can see here, Zachary fell asleep on the ride back to the car... too cute!

Zachary's first Micky Mouse Pancake...

In the true spirit of Goodman family tradition, Len has taken on the role of Micky-Mouse-pancake-maker (sans blueberries this time) for his baby boy... he now shares this responsibility with his Dad. Zachary gobbled it up in delight!

More please...

Yummy... thanks!

Kissy, please!

Happy Easter!

We had a beautiful Easter weekend with another road trip to NJ to be with our families! On Easter Sunday, we started off the day with breakfast in Bordentown. It was wonderful to spend the morning with Grandma, Poppie, Grandpa and Dan! That's right... Dan made a trip up from North Carolina for the occasion, and Zachary was just thrilled to spend time with his uncle.

After a delicious meal, we packed up and headed to my sister's house for a late brunch buffet and an afternoon of playtime for Zachary and his cousins. Zachary enjoyed his meal (if fact, we ALL did... Lynne did a beautiful job with the spread... it was super yummy!), as he was building up enough energy for his very first Easter Egg hunt. Hailey and CJ worked very hard to prepare all of the eggs and hide them in the yard for the big event. Zachary, Len and I were just so thrilled they thought of the idea and made it soooo fun for all of us... thanks, Inverso's!!

And the hunt is on...

Zachary also just LOVED digging into his Easter basket and goodies from Mom-Mom, along with his cousin, Hailey!

After a fun afternoon, we headed back down to Grandma and Poppie's for Easter dinner... needless to say, by the end of the day, Len and I were stuffed fuller than our candy-filled Easter eggs!