Picnic in Sheep Meadow

Brian had a pretty mellow work week with his boss off on vacation, so we got to spend some nice long lunches with him.

Pooped

Isabella was pooped after a long, fun weekend in New Hampshire!

Day 3: Story Land

Isabella's favorite ride: "you drive 'em tractor"

Milking a cow, of course!

Every child's fun place must have a ball pit!

Since we only had a couple of hours at Story Land the first day we went back to fully enjoy the park our last day in New Hampshire. It started pouring before we even left the hotel, but it turned out to be a very lovely, lovely day to play!

Day 2: Santa's Village

Isabella's favorite ride. Don't ask how I got out!

Yes, those are real reindeer!

These little amusement parks are tucked away in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. This was a day at Santa's Village. Kinda quirky, crazy little places, but oh, so fun.

Day 1: Story Land

After traveling from Connecticut to New Hampshire for 4 1/2 hours by car with three children in the backseat we were thrilled to get out and play at Story Land. Isabella LOVED the carousel. Then it poured on us. Once she was wet she became very quiet and still...seriously, I think her arm stayed in that position for, like, an hour. And then she got to "drive" a car, and she was happy again. What a trooper!

Traveling with Toddler by Train

I was a little nervous taking two trains to Connecticut last weekend with just my two hands, a baby, stroller, and all the stuff we would need for a fun weekend in New Hampshire. Isabella was a trooper, as always, and only ran off once on Amtrak while I was trying to stow the stroller in the luggage compartment. Gotta love modern entertainment on long trips with a toddler!

Enjoying the Cousins

Devon & Isabella

Devon took the two photos above. I thought he did a great job!

Roman took these two photos. Notice the smudge: little fingers on lenses.

Weekend in Connecticut

Waiting for the train

Early riser: we were up before anyone else, so we enjoyed the fresh air, morning dew and birds singing.

A 30 mile bike ride to celebrate the summer solstice. It was reminiscent of our 300 mile/6 day ride four years ago (Pittsburgh to D.C.).

Fun Moments

Stroller entertainment...Whatever works!

Isabella loves the moon.

Almost got it!

Isabella loves to help me in the kitchen. She now pulls the chair up near the counters and "helps". Luckily the faucet is a great distraction when I need to use knives or work at the stove. Speaking of knives...I lost a sharp pairing knife a few weeks ago. Not exactly the thing to loose in a house with a toddler, but I've search everywhere (in the kitchen). I feel like I'm loosing my marbles too! Totally weird!

We went to the zoo too!

Of the four of us moms and babes I'm the last to post about our adventures in animal land. You can see almost the same exact posts here, here, and here.

Isabella's favorite animals this time were the sea lions...she kept asking for "more".

Big Apple BBQ

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party in Madison Square Park. We got there the last 15 minutes or so before the vendors closed up. Brian and I separated and picked up the best barbecued meats right before the lines closed. I loved the pulled pork sandwiches. I highly recommend going next year and going late in the day. We ate from Ubon's from Yazoo, MS; The Salt Lick from Driftwood, TX; and Blue Smoke from NY, NY. Unfortunately, The Pit was already closed when we got there. Two years ago we ate from them and it was fantastic (also the longest lines).

And then we finished off with some Red Mango frozen yogurt. So very delicious!

Picnic Ideas

One of the few blogs I check on a regular basis is {frolic}. And I really, really like the ideas posted today for a rowboat picnic.

I really, really like picnics. Is there really anything much more grand than munching on delicious fresh food with friends mingled on blankets in the green grass on a beautiful summer day? I think not!

"Honey?" "Yes, Sweetie."

Andrew's Local Honey is a new(er) vendor at the Union Square Greenmarket on Wednesdays. They were handing out samples of their creamed honey and it is fantastic! It is so thick that it is hard to spread, but Brian and I spoon it out and eat a little at a time. It's like candy. Love it!

KAAS Plates

The last time we were wandering the West Village I hopped into a tiny, intriguing shop that sells decoupaged plates. The work Kaas does is so beautiful and unique! The plates are much prettier than the photos.

"Our work involves the art of decoupage under glass. Each piece is put together by hand using reprinted images that we have collected from frequent trips to flea markets, antique shows and estate sales."

Mini 10K

Can you see me?

On Saturday I ran my first race of the season, the NYRR New York Mini 10K, a women's only race. It ended up being the hottest day of the year (so far) and very humid. I thought I would average just under 9 min/mile since my longest runs this year were only 4 miles and I figured the heat would slow me down. But I did really, really well.

My finish time was 52:48 and average pace was 8:30 min/mile. There were 4104 participants and I placed #675 and in my age group there were 1492 women and I placed #248. Not bad, eh? The Olympic womens running team was also a part of the race; which I thought was pretty cool.

The best part of the whole race was around 2.5 miles. I had just conquered the huge hill of Harlem Hills and was heading down when I spotted Isabella on top of Brian's shoulders. I waved and blew kisses as they cheered me on. I loved it more than anything!