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Took Adrienne and the kid out to Dinosaur BBQ Newark, newly opened.

And later for dessert: Salted Chocolate Caramel Tart

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Bunny-on-bunny violence…

Easter photo with two bunnies…

And Adrienne calls this cod fishing, even she doesn’t know why.

When Adrienne and I first arrived on the East Coast in early August of 2005, we stayed in a suburb not too far from our current home. One of the first meals we had was at a little Italian restaurant there, and the experience remains with us both. It was a classic local place, where the waitress called you “hun” in her Jersey accent and knew all the customers. The food was great and the portions HUGE.

To mark the anniversary of our arrival, I’ve tried to get us back there at least once a year around that time. Turns out last August was a bit busy for us, but we finally got there yesterday after a hike in a nearby reservation. We got the same waitress as we had the very first time. (When we walked in and Adrienne saw her, she immediately got excited.) Mallory got a high chair (in which she looked hilarious, it so big and she so little). We order the Tony salad for one (it’s big enough for two) and one entree (we’ll still take half of it home). While we’re feeding Mallory her solid food dinner, the waitress comes by and remarks how she’ll be eating meatballs in no time.

Throughout the night I can’t help but think this is our Lino’s (Rockford restaurant used for Tallacksen special occasion celebrations) and wonder how that tradition began.

Anyway, here are a couple photos. Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics.

Owing to the beautiful weather today, we decided to go on a drive exploring a part of Northern New Jersey. I planned to take back roads for scenic purposes and to lengthen the initial drive to allow for Mal to get in the proper-length nap. Part of my planned route took us through a state park on a road called Burnt Meadows Road. Here’s the map:

Looks innocuous enough, right? So we’re cruising along – rather slowly, actually – when we pass the following sign:

And I think to myself – gravel road. Slow down, no biggie. But a second later, I’m slamming on my breaks. This photo is just around the bend of the photo above.

It’s hard to see, but there are a couple of significant ruts. Could have taken those in the CR-V. But then there are what I would qualify as small boulders. Man, no way I’m going to hack those. I was really disappointed! This was the one get-away-from-it-all looking road on our route. And I guess I was right!

Just as we had gotten turned around, a big Chevy pickup with steel cage back slowly passed us. I paused to watch them traverse it, and even their suspension looked like it was close to bottoming out.

So we made our way on to Ramapo Mountain and the New Jersey Botanical Garden. Mallory was still conked out in the car when we arrived.

(Gratuitous picture of cute little feet/socks:)

Not much flower-age just yet, but it was a nice area to get out for a walk. There was a significant manor there as well.

Sunny and temps in the low 60s made for a beautiful day.

The trip was a nice reminder that we need to get out of the house more, and that there are actually quite nice parts of New Jersey less than an hour away.

And with that, I present to you some crib photos. I’m glad Adrienne is commandeering the camera more and more. Have a great week!

Just because we can.

And because she’s so darn cute! And a good kid too.

I’m not yet sure if this is the start of a tradition, but with no other plans it was decided we’d have appetizers for dinner. See what you can pick out.

Mallory wanted something a little more substantial, opting for giraffe.

This is the first new year’s eve I’ve been home to enjoy in 6 or 7 years (who can remember?), so it’s a nice change of pace. And with that, a gratuitous photo:

And a self-portrait FAIL:

Or maybe not. I can just imagine Mal screaming, “Ma, don’t push me out of the frame! And why are you fuzzy???!!!”

Happy New Year!

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