I second bird watching or geocaching. DH is in a similar situation and these are things he's able to do on his good days and research on his bad ones.

Kingdom - I keep hoping they will bring it back like they did with Foyle's War. Or a Christmas special. Something. A Bit of Fry and Laurie or Jeeves and Wooster, although they are probably too old now for the latter. Campion. I thought Peter Davison was perfectly cast in that and there were still a few stories they didn't cover. I have a thing for British tv, lol.

DH read it to DS as a bedtime story when he was 4. It was written as a children's book - I think an 8 year old would be fine.

To me, homemade is a broader category than "from scratch." Homemade means I didnt just buy a tray of brownies from the bakery section, but it might be a Pillsbury mix I cooked at home. From scratch means I followed a whole recipe and measured out ingredients that weren't prepackaged together for me. I'm sure I could find exceptions if I thought long enough, but that is the general idea.

I've had luck with Old Navy and H&M.

My siblings and I do that all the time. We also carry on whole conversations in movie quotes. You mean that's not normal? 😱

NYC has those signs, although I'm not sure if they got the idea from somewhere else.

DH teaches religon and science in the morning. I teach handwriting, math, and phonics/reading in the afternoon. We're formal, and probably take an hour and a half to two hours to cover everything. DS is a pretty calm, independent little guy - he actually prefers to be told the instructions for a page and then left at the table to work on it, rather than having me sit at his elbow and watch him write a row of letters. It wasn't what I expected, but if he says it helps him concentrate, who am I to argue,lol?

The Scarlet Pimpernel? Or the Campion mysteries by Margery Allingham; they are similar to the Peter Wimsey stories.

Mine is a character from Doctor Who. I've never baked a soufflé, but somehow I'm always getting dragged into fixing computers at work and I am human. Makes sense if you've seen the episode. :)

Glove box or glove compartment. Unless I'm really tired, then I call it "the thingy with the stuff in it." :)

An hour and a half or so per day, unless I'm making bread or canning something. Bread is probably 3 hours start to finish (although probably only 20 minutes of which I have to actively do something) and canning depends on what/how much I'm making.

I agree, limit the presents to Christmas and birthdays. Most kids are not going to understand (or remember for next time) that the reason you gave in to their toy request is that it only cost $1.99. They are going to remember that the last time they went food shopping, they got a toy. If it is really something that is important to them, they will remember it 4 months from now when you ask them what they want for Christmas.

H&M has really cute long sleeved dresses, and if they are having a good sale you can get them for $5-10. I wouldn't say they are -20 warm, but they were fine for around the house, and DD added a sweater and warm tights if she was going out.

A dozen or so? Three I drink regularly, and then some odds and ends from variety packs that were never finished.

Tea if I'm home or at work, coffee if I'm driving/running errands.

I've never heard of that (aside from people who have board game themed weddings on Pinterest or something.) I've been to one wedding where people pinned/threw money at the bride, and one where everyone passed a dollar around the table and the person holding it when the music stopped got to take home the centerpiece.

Could you bring a crock pot? If your kids aren't too picky about beans/veggies, there are lots of chili or soup recipes you could make. You could probably even measure out the dry ingredients in advance, put them in a ziplock bag, and then throw all the bags in the crockpot while you're traveling. It would take less room than carrying lots of spice containers and canned food.

We had a Leskvik bed frame (or something like that) which I'm pretty sure has been discontinued. It didn't survive being reassembled three times due to moving, but had it been kept in one room, it would have been fine. I would be more hesitant about the drawers on the daybed. Unless you keep really light items in them, the board that the bottom of the drawer is made of tends to buckle.

Lunch is at noon and dinner is at 5-530ish. Snack time is at 10am and 3pm - usually fruit or trail mix. Having a set time for everything really cut down on the bored "I'm hungryyyyy" whining around here.

My kids dress themselves most days. DS' clothes are pretty interchangeable, so he usually doesn't end up with anything too strange. (Although he does have a thing for wearing two different socks.) DD3 likes to pick a theme and then dress accordingly, so she'll have a pink day or a butterfly day or something. Those outfits can get interesting, but she always has an explanation. I like her confidence. :) If we're going to a party or a funeral or something with a dress code, I'll put out two outfits and let them pick. I'm usually willing to make concessions on things like socks or headbands, but there are places where sweatpants are not appropriate, no matter how awesome your 3 year old thinks they are.

Further south probably has the same problems, unless you're going all the way down to Cape May or something. If you're going to bring your own food/drinks or don't particularly care what pizza place/deli/ice cream shop you hit along the way, you should be fine. If you find something online that looks awesome, just call them to make sure they still exist. :)

Theoretically you could do Sandy Hook and Keansburg amusement park in the same day (they are only 10 miles or so apart) but if I had to pick one I would definitely go to Sandy Hook. I haven't been there since Superstorm/Hurricane Sandy, though, so I'd double check that whatever you wanted to see was still there before making the trip from northern PA.

Are we talking about people who ask in advance "Hey, Susie outgrew this, would you like it for your DD? I can drop it off tomorrow" or people who suddenly appear on your doorstep toting a life size Barbie house and a ton of plastic furniture? In the first case, I'd have no problem saying "I don't think we really have room/need it at the moment but thank you so much for thinking of us!" In the second case, assuming it's not the same person doing it constantly, I would probably just take it and donate whatever I couldn't use, because it's a bit late when the stuff is already on your doorstep. DH had to have a conversation with MIL because she kept getting massive things super cheap from garage sales just because, but they have the sort of relationship where he can say something about it.

My library has book sales four times a year. Kids books are 10 cents each, so I usually walk out of there having spent $2 or so. My kids aren't big on organized board games (with the exception of Sneaky Snacky Squirrel) so we usually pass on those. They have a great time together coming up with all sorts of adventures for their dolls/stuffed animals and Octonauts toys, so I think they'll turn out ok. :)