African Drumming
In honour of Black History month we joined some other Maplewoodians for a play and a little African drumming. It was lots of fun – Elimena & Lachie even got to go on the stage at the end. (look to the far right)
In the evening it was Superbowl time – any excuse for wings or chilli is a good one! And tonight it was good friends, guac+veggies, football, Superbowl Ads and chilli. Perfect combination 🙂
(Eli was most impressed by Katy Perry in the half-time show)
Happy Australia Day
Ok perhaps not your traditional start to Australia day…
(we celebrated on the Saturday before so we could not rush it around work / school)
but Nuthan made his Jersey-famous pies & sausage rolls and we had a very fun day with a few friends 🙂
Rock climbing style
Lovin’ it xx
Super special guest reader
The absolute highlight of today (the week?) for both Eli and Lachie was that Eli got to go to Lachie’s room and read the Kindergarteners a book. They were both so proud! Thank you Mrs Sinclair & Mrs Amato 🙂
Eli’s Petting Zoo
In preparation for a very late night tonight, we asked the kids to spend some quiet time in the afternoon.
Eli spent her quiet time making a petting zoo. Luckily she also made us tickets so that we could all visit too!
We happily made it to midnight…but tomorrow we will melt 😦
Eli’s first horse ride (by herself!)
Story by Elimena
Eli got to ride a real horse at a ranch for a whole hour, steering too. By herself. It was up and down, long adventure. Eli got a boy horse named Nemo. Apparently he was really hungry and hard to get him to stop eating. On the trail it was mostly woods of trees and we saw more horses at barns. Then Nemo got scared of a green bag laying in the trail. Eli had a hard time to get him over the bag. And then the person who was there to help got Nemo moving again. It was very bumpy. I felt the wind on my face. It nearly made me fall asleep. It was as quiet as a dream. The only thing you could hear was the horse’s feet going clop clop clop on the ground. When the ride was over, I felt like Nemo should be my horse forever.
Into the Catskills for dude ranches and giant gnomes
Well it was way to cold and wind to walk across the Hudson pedestrian bridge
(and see the nice view of the Mid-Hudson bridge)
So we headed into the Catskills to Woodstock for brunch…
A mandatory quick stop at the big gnome…
Before heading to a dude ranch where we stayed the night. (Yes apparently there ARE quite a few dude ranches in the Catskills)
Here…Eli & Lachie found paradise by going rock climbing, horse riding, swimming, ice cream eating, etc (all in one afternoon!).
Here…mum & dad found paradise by the fire, with a drink and wifi.
All were very happy 🙂
To the lower Hudson for all things Art and Army
After a few days at home we were itching for a road trip, so we were off!
First stop was the magnificent West Point Military Academy on the bank of the Hudson:
A quick stop at West Point Museum:
Then it was across the river to Dia Beacon to see some magnificent art:
Then to the hotel for a swim and some down time. Before a yummy dinner in downtown Poughkeepsie at the Mill House Brewing Company where we sampled their own craft beer and home smoked sausages – yummo!
Sorry crappy photos, but look how pretty the Mid-Hudson bridge looked for Chrissy 🙂
Elf Antics
We were sorry to see him go yesterday, but here are some of our fond memories 🙂
Christmas Surprise Elf-style!
Our Elf went all out this year and built us a two square court (out of duct tape) in the basement. It certainly was a surprise!
(if you look closely you can see him on the window sill enjoying the fun)
He’d even turned one side into a giant checkers board. Our elf certainly has a brilliant imagination xx
With all the other excitement of the day we almost didn’t find it 🙂
Wallamble 