Weekend 1 - Bugs, Horses, and Missionaries

I planned a very busy first Saturday for us. I learned that it takes 25% longer than google maps says to get anywhere around here! Caleb's comments about the day included, "You'll get better at planning our days." YES, I did punch him for that! But he's right I suppose. We had a good time though. Our first stop was the Insectropolis in Toms River, NJ. We drove through a really cool Jewish town called Lakewood on our way. Since it was Saturday they were all wearing their church clothes and big hats and stuff. They were walking everywhere. Not sure if cars are off limits on Saturdays or what. The Bank of America had a sign that said, "Now open on Sundays." It dawned on me that it was because the Jews probably don't use the bank on Saturdays! It was a really fascinating town. 
The bug museum was REALLY cool.

Check out that bee hive to the right of Sam. I couldn't get enough of watching all the bees at work. It's fascinating. We learned all about bees and how they all have special roles. It's neat how they each focus on their role and it allows them to work together so well.

Caleb had me stand in front of these signs... "The Queen Bee," "The Most Important Bee," "The Royal Treatment." :)

Confined to the stroller.

They did presentation where we got to learn about and then touch different bugs, this spider, and a snake.

Can you imagine finding that thing in your house??

Playing around in the mock ant mud tunnels.

After the bug museum we headed to Monmouth Park to see some horse racing. It was pretty cool to see although I'm pretty sure we were the only people there not gambling, drinking, and smoking! That's really the only reason people go to those. The couple next to us were jersey natives so it was fun talking to them. They reminded me a lot of the crazy couple on Mathilda haha. They had Eliza and Samuel take turns picking which horse he should bid on. We left before Sam's horse raced but Eliza's not very lucky!

It was a hot day so we planned to stop by the beach after the horse races. But we were a couple hours behind schedule at this point so we had to head straight home. The missionaries were coming over for dinner at 5. We didn't have time to make the dinner we'd planned so we just stopped and got pizza to feed them. It always brings a good spirit in the home to have the missionaries over.
After they left we went swimming! We have a really nice pool at our apartment complex. No slides or diving boards, but it's really nice and clean. Looks like a resort. The kids LOVE swimming and throw fits when we have to go home.