Sight seeing for Grown Ups
Mum had the day off and dad didn’t (different days are observed as public holidays in the US in different companies). Daycare was open and she thought she’d be selfish and keep Aunty Di and Uncle Pete to herself! (while she started the day feeling a little guilty leaving Eli and Lachie in daycare while she was out and about – the day panned out to be pretty cold and so in the end she decided they were better off in a warm place).
First stop was the Financial district and it’s beautul parks on the waterfront. These are from one of my favourite parks…
Then the very tasteful and thoughtful Septermber 11 memorial…
We cruised through the Columbus Day Markets in the Financial Distict with a little funnel cake snack
Before grabbing lunch at The Spotted Pig in Greenwhich Village…
Before the highline and home…
to some well deserved cuddles on the couch 🙂
Bear Mountain
The colours have started turning and so today we thought we’d go for a drive up to Bear Mountain National Park. It was stunning and far exceeded our expectations.
The bridge across the Hudson River was beautiful…
The free zoo of NY state animals was a plus…
Of course there was time for bug hunting…
The beautiful trails and stunning Hessian Lake were gorgeous.
The addition of Oktoberfest didn’t hurt as a lunch option.
(but we were sure to get out of there before things got too rowdy)
An excellent day trip from home 🙂
The only thing that could top that off, was the arrival of Uncle Pete and Aunty Di – YAY!
Pumpkins at the Zoo?
Do we ever go to the zoo to actually look at the animals? After a brief look at the Komodo Dragon and the massive python…
We spent more time at the playground and playing with the pumpkins.
Mum just may have to go on her own one day…
When is it too early?
With October starting tomorrow, Mum figured it was time to put our Halloween decorations…
(she had seen some other ones around town apparently….?)
The rest of the family may have felt it was on the early side though….
The girls only have six eyes
As part of Eli starting school I thought I’d take her in to get her eyes checked just to be sure. While we waiting for our appointment we had a great time trying on the glasses…
We even found matching ones!
But no – Eli was lucky enough to get the all clear 🙂
Pocono’s Chilli Cook-off and Rodeo
Today we headed up to the Shawnee Mountain in the Pocono’s for the Annual Chilli Cook-off and rodeo. We were a little early and so we stopped off in the Worthington State Forest for a walk, some rock skimming and of course some bug hunting….
Then it was off to the Rodeo and Chilli cook-off for a little eating, dancing and rodeo.
What a fun day 🙂
The Much Sought After Karate Star
Lachie would do almost anything for a karate star…evenn listen and do what the teacher tells him!
Finally, proudly he earned one…
(Let’s hope it is not his last!)
Oh No! there are pirates in my house!
aye mateys, in honour of International pirates day, I thought I’d post a piccie of our resident pirates…
Here are mum’s pirates…
…and here are the scary pirates we chase away!
Hotdogs, Beaches and a Boardwalk
Today we drove to Coney Island (~45 mins).
We walked around Coney Island…
…checked out the water…
…along the boardwalk to Brighton…
(with DJs keeping the music pumping)
…and then continued on to Manhattan Beach…
… with a stop at it’s playground…
(awesome-ly Manhattan Beach, Brighton Beach and Coney Island all have GREAT playgrounds for kids)
Finally it was back to Coney Island for a late lunch at Nathan’s, before heading home.
Not sure the police mobile is going to be a match for the “humble” neighbourhood mobiles…
(For anyone concerned, Eli and Lachie didn’t walk all of the six miles – although Eli put in a good effort! Soon she will be too big to fit in the stroller though….)
It we had of known Coney Island was such a great destination we would have gone earlier!
The deer to the rescue
After ballet and karate, there were still high energy levels in the house and so we thought we’d go to South Mountain Reserve for a bike ride. This is a beautiful sectioned off road at the top of south mountain a few minutes from our house.
Eli had her bike. Lachie had his scooter. Mum was running interference.
Eli is getting pretty good at her bike and so usually stays within line of sight.
Lachie can get up quite an impressive speed on his scooter.
All was going well: a few minor stacks, a few reminders to keep to the side, a few hushes you’re scaring away all the wildlife and interrupting everyone’s quiet stroll in the woods.
When Lachie had a stack.
The first one to reach him was Elimena.
The second one to reach him was a resident deer.
The third one to reach him was mum.
A nice thing about this spot, is that it is not unusual to see deers and other wildlife 🙂
Mum’s just hoping that we don’t have a native black bear to our rescue one day!
Wallamble 