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This is a shorter post this week as I just got back from a busy few days at a family reunion in Alabama. Looking forward to sharing those pictures with you guys next week, but until then I wanted to fill you in on a recent visit to a secret spot near our house on Greenwood Lake, NJ.

We’re lucky enough to live in a lake community that offers a great summer camp for the kids. They’ve been doing archery, cooking, pioneering, and have been taken on some fun local field trips. One of their field trips was to the Botanical Gardens in the Skylands area of Northern New Jersey, which is only a few minutes driving distance from the lake.

The kids came back with so many great stories about our visit that I wanted to see it for myself. So we found some free time on a Friday afternoon and made our way over to the gardens. I wasn’t expecting much more than a few beautiful lawns, but was taken by surprise when we walked into a nearly-private 90-acre wonderland.

We entered the gardens near the teensiest little hut that was apparently going to be used as one of the supplemental film locations for The Lord of the Rings.

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Once we were inside the gardens, we discovered miles of manicured lawns….

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…and fields of wildflowers.

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DCIM100GOPRO

At the risk of sounding like a one-trick pony, we had another fun weekend up at the lake this weekend.

In what’s supposed to be an annual event, but doesn’t always happen, our lake plays host to the New Jersey power boat races, which draws racers from all over North America.

Since we’re heading into our fourth summer up there, and have missed this weekend on occasion, it was our first time seeing the event live. And it’s a pretty amazing event, lasting two days. The boats are built like race cars with carbon fiber restraints that keep the drivers safe in case of a crash. As you can imagine, having 2-5 boats on the water at a time makes a ton of noise.

But it’s pretty fun to kick back with a beer or two and watch the event. Since the races were happening right in front of our house, we got to view them from every vantage point, including up on the porch…

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…and down on the dock.

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I mixed up a batch of Micheladas, my first time giving the recipe a try, and although it wasn’t Rodney’s favorite cocktail, I’m totally hooked. Definitely my new summer drink.

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Although the girls lost interest in the boat races pretty early, I had two other viewing companions…

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power

Last weekend we visited the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. Although it’s not one of the museums on everyone’s Must See list when they visit New York, it’s definitely worth checking out.

Rodney thought it would be funny to dress up as a 6’6” elf for our visit.
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That’s actually one of my Christmas gifts to him. A perfectly slouchy hipster hat from Urban Outfitters. Rodney has taken to calling himself Harry Styles when he wears it, but if I were to give people a multiple choice test, the answer would most likely be B or C. Am I right?
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Besides Rodney’s experimental hat, there was so much to explore at the Science Center. First up was the suspended Rubik’s cube, which is visible from every floor. Although impressive in size, it gave me vivid flashbacks to the 80s when I stood at 4’9” with crimped bangs and jelly bracelets and would launch the cube across our living room in frustration.
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As to be expected, the Bob the Builder exhibit was a hit. Emma convinced me that although she’s on the young side, she’s ready for drivers’ ed. Which would be convenient since Rodney has suggested that I take my backseat driving tendencies to the next level by installing a secondary set of brakes into the car.
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We explored the Energy Quest exhibit and learned about the Earth’s natural resources, from wind and solar to nuclear power. But the favorite exhibit of the day was Our Hudson Home where we checked out all of the creatures that live in the Hudson River. The big draw was the tank of horrendously ugly bearded fish.
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To be honest, I’m not sure whether the fish are inherently ugly or just seem angry because they now live in a small dark tank in the middle of Jersey. But whatever the reason, we loved them.

Other animals included turtles and fake birds.
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