Trailside

NJ is taken for granted and likes to poke fun at itself (see any TV show on NJ).  However we have some great local and free or low cost activities and centers nearby.  We should consider ourselves lucky!

We have so many great parks and wildlife centers.  I particularly like Trailside Nature and Science center.  My boys love that place and I love to take them there.  

However take a GPS at I often get lost driving around Watchung reserve.

Also make sure you check the hours, I think it is open every day after noon ie 12 midday.  We love to check it out once a quarter on a rainy afternoon.  Or if it is a nice day check out the park or trails in the morning and do a picnic lunch.  There are tables everywhere for picnics.

The boys first stop is usually the animal displays but they love the teepee hut and the theatre show.

It is such a hands on place that encourages kids to look closely and open/shut things, check out every corner, do puzzles and more.

I love the recycling hints and the native wild plant displays and love to pic up a polished rock from the gift store as a memento from our trip there.

Downstairs is an aquarium and bird watching area along with more hands on activities, such as excavating (ie Sandpit) and I particularly love the geology displays (in particular the fluorescent minerals).

Upstairs is my favorite center, the library with kids books on nature and adult gardening and other books.  However we are usually worn out at this point and never take enough advantage of the library to sit and read.  Perhaps when the kids are older.

Outside they were working on the playground when I was there but I heard that the playground was finished very shortly after my trip.  So we will definitely be there again very soon.

xo

Trailside Nature and Science center

Things to do on Easter day or Passover

Create an Easter egg hunt for kids perhaps your own
Make Easter breakfast
Have or make an Easter dinner or lunch
Take a walk with family
Take the kids to the playground
Play with the kids
Go to church
Volunteer at church
Volunteer elsewhere
Let your body and mInd relax
Call extended family
Watch tv
Read a good book
Get a magazine
Make summer or vacation plans
Enjoy yourself!

Family

We love to love family, we love the Hallmark cards image and Norman Rockwell image that family conveys. However the reality is that family is just a bunch of people. Those people may have stresses and problems just like you. They may have kids and careers that demand things of them. Some of us are lucky and our families are just what we hoped, or mostly like that image in our heads. Others are not so lucky.

Some families hurt each other through words or actions. Perhaps not intentionally but through old Mis or pre conceptions. Some families ignore one another as a way to cope and relate to each other. Others are cool and aloof to one another. Also I have personally noticed differences with family styles in different countries. In England family is tolerated, in Ireland family is revered. In Australia family is needed but otherwise let be, in the USA family is kept sacred.

That is a lot of pressure on families
to be the image in our heads. After all we all see mostly the same TV images of families. It was June Cleaver when
I was young then Mrs. Cunningham or Mrs Brady.

Where is the real image of families in crisis or stress? There are few that are
looked favorably upon.

So what is one to do when in a culture of family ness? It is difficult when you create a different family than the one of your upbringing and them perhaps resent your family of origin for not being the same?

I've also studied lots of different family structures and this is what I know for sure: family it a bunch of people you relate to, family is people that like you and want to be with you, family is something that is two ways, family is
something to strive for, family is something to honor.

Also family isn't necessarily a blood tie or marriage tie, family doesn't consistently make you feel bad, families don't always work well.