Northwood Picnic

I brought the family to the annual Northwood Fire family picnic this year. We ate everything from clams to hot dogs, and it was a very relaxing and mellow afternoon. Ryan slept through most of it while Joey and Michael played horse shoes and climbed on the trucks.

The truck in this picture will be replaced soon. It's a 1984 Pierce, and it's the only truck in the county that still has a spot for firemen to ride on the back.

Ryan's workbench

Ryan has a work bench right next to mine. He loves hanging out with me in the basement.

Taming the savage beast

Danielle and I got suckered into buying a leash for the guinea pig. I'm not sure why we did that, because it's not like we take him out for long walks or anything.

Follicly challenged

To those who doubted, here is proof that Dad and I once had hair :)

Michael at Space Camp

Space Camp - Danielle in the Multi Axis Trainer

Joey-ism #206:

I've come to realize that our blog is not only a great medium for sharing pictures and stories about the kids, but it's also an online journal of random funny quotes from Joey. Whenever I need a good laugh or just a little perspective from a kid that has an amazing ability to think outside the box, I go back and read some of his posts.

So here is Joey-ism #206:

"Daddy, that must be quicksand! Look at what happened to that truck!" (see picture).

living with boys

Joey comes into the room dressed as Iron Man and asks: "Mom, which causes more damage - a bomb or a grappling hook?" and "Dad, can we build jet boots for my costume with model rocket engines"?

I can't imagine what it must be like having girls.

Super Mommy

Danielle has met many powerful people during her tenure as Teacher of the Year, including Governor Christie, President Obama, Jill Biden, Arne Duncan and more senators than I can remember.

But now, in the eyes of our three year old, mommy just took it to the next level. Today she met Fu Pow (that's Ryan-speak for Super Why). This will be hard to beat.

June

Ahh, June. The air is hot, the pool is luke and the kids can watch TV from outside :)

Generation gap

Dad: Michael, one day you'll be able to do your book reports on a typewriter.

Michael: What's a typewriter? All I need is a laptop and a USB key.

Lunch date with Mom

Some little man's making moves on my wife. I bet he made her pay for lunch, too. :)

Learning to ride

Ryan's learning how to ride the scooter. He's only one step away from learning how to ride a bike with training wheels.

Joey

Joey's still playing the guitar, and he's getting pretty good at it. We discovered that headphones are a great alternative to an amplifier :)

1.21 gigawatts? Great Scott!

We have a plastic slide that creates static electricity each time you go down it. After about ten trips down the slide, Ryan could practically shoot a lightning bolt from his fingers.

Look closely at his hair - it's standing strait up. He's armed and ready...

Ohio Trip

We had another great visit with the Ohioans. Dad took us fishing and we caught two bluegills (we, meaning Joey and Dad. I didn't catch squat).

Truck Stop

I think that one of these exhaust tips would look great on my Honda...

Seaside Heights

One of the great things about living in NJ is that you're always within driving distance of the ocean. That makes it easier to enjoy it during the off-season while the beach crowds are still months away, and before the show "Jersey Shore" starts filming.

That is Michael's melon in the picture. He is getting tall.

Meet the newest member of the family.

Joey earned enough stars on his star chart to get his reward, and we picked up his new Guinea Pig this weekend while we were down at the shore.

Since the Guinea Pig is a female, I guess Danielle finally got the girl she always wanted. However, it didn't take long for Joey to masculinize it and name it Blaster :)

Joey-ism # 101

Dad, what was your name when you were younger?