OLIVER AND FRIENDS GO TO DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM!

We had a great day today... we went to Animal Kingdom with Oliver's friends Matthew, Taylor and Tyler (and their fun mommies of course!) We went on another train, visited the petting zoo, saw a few animal exhibits and Disney characters, and had a nice lunch together.

WE SAW LOTS OF NEAT ANIMALS!

IT'S ARRIVED.... BUY/DOWNLOAD IT!

HATS AND SHOES - EVER SHARP!

Play-doh is always more fun with a fireman hat on! Then we clomped around in Daddy's shoes for a while.

MAKING BUTTERSCOTCH PUDDING

Another creation by Mommy's little sous-chef. Notice he already understands the culinary concept of testing his creation before offering it up to guests. YUMMY!

COVER THE COUCHES -- TOM'S RETURNING TO OPRAH

This should be fun, or at least funny: Tom Cruise is returning to Oprah. And this time, at least half the show will be outside the studio, presumably to limit the chances that any couch-pummeling hijinks will occur.

The show is meant to celebrate the Scientolofreak's first role in "Risky Business" 25 years ago, and he will do one part in-studio, and one part at his Telluride mountain retreat.

WELCOME TO THE NEW AND IMPROVED SCHWARTZ FACTOR!!!

Welcome family and friends! We hope you enjoy our new format and all the added features. Check back often for updates!

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

CULINARY CORNER - LASAGNA ROLLS

These lasagna rolls from Giada De Laurentiis are excellent and can be made ahead of time. They're also even better the next day for leftovers! The link is available under Culinary Corner on the sidebar. Enjoy!

OLIVER TAKES A RIDE ON THOMAS THE TRAIN!!!

We had tons of fun this morning. Mommy, Daddy and Oliver went to see Thomas and Friends at one of the railway stations nearby! We went on Thomas the Train for a 1/2 hour train ride. Can we get one of these Daddy? Oh, and we met the train conductor, although that wasn't exactly the highlight of Oliver's day. After all, Thomas is the one who drives! We also saw our friend Matthew and his mommy and daddy there.... that was great!

AND WE SAW A FIRETRUCK AT THOMAS AND FRIENDS!

Tons of kisses for the firetruck!

THE POOL TAKES SHAPE!

The gunite was shot on Friday... looking good! Contractor says we'll be swimming by this time next month!

SORE LOSERS

BLUESHIRTS FINISH NJ DEVILS, REACH ROUND 2 -- Yes, it was another nail-biter, but in the end, the 2007-08 New York Rangers ended their playoff series with the New Jersey Devils in style on Friday night in Newark. After grabbing a 4-1 lead, they held on in the third to beat their hosts 5-3 in Game 5. Marty Brodeur was crying so hard about big, mean Sean Avery that he couldn't bring himself to shake his hand.

PLAYDATE WITH TYLER

Tyler came over to play today and we had lots of fun! We played with toys, experimented with the Play-doh and had turkey sandwiches. That's Oliver waving bye-bye in the last picture. He also blew Miss Patty a kiss bye-bye. Thanks for visiting us!

STEEL FRAMING COMPLETE ON THE POOL

Next step... the gunite on Friday!

RANGERS DELIVER AT MSG, LEAD SERIES 3-1!

Rookie Marc Staal scored the biggest goal of his young NHL career on Wednesday night, as the Blueshirts broke a 3-3 tie with only 3:13 remaining and beat New Jersey 5-3 in Game 4. The Rangers can end the playoff series in Newark on Friday.

THANKFUL

POOL PROGRESS, PART 1 -- THE WELCOME COMMITTEE

They broke ground on the pool today, and Oliver was SO excited when all the trucks and tractors showed up on the street this morning, that he jumped into his motorized car to race down the front lawn to greet them... all the while yelping with excitement. I managed to get a couple pictures of that before I had to run down the hill after him. Even better was when they rolled up the driveway before our very eyes! "If I'm dreaming, DON'T wake me!"

POOL PART 2 -- IF I'M DREAMING, DON'T WAKE ME.

Once the big welcome party was complete, Mommy and Oliver watched as they broke ground on the pool.... as you can see it was VERY exciting. Who needs a pool? Can't these guys just come and play every day with their toys?