Weekend Fun Times

Happy Weekends!

I've been meaning to write about all the fun stuff we've done with our weekends over the past few months. And now, instead of writing a post for each fun event/outing, you get to see ALL the outings in ONE fantastic "weekend fun" post. Enjoy!

The Children's Museum of Manhattan

My parents gave us some money for a Christmas gift. We decided to use part of it to take the kids on a special outing to the city, to visit the Children's Museum. (Yes, this was way back in February, but I've been negligent, so it gets to be part of this post.) The kids loved it (of course). And we had fun watching them explore every nook and cranny of every exhibit. Just a few fun pics...

The balls. Natalie's one big fascination that she kept coming back to again and again...

 The sand. Spencer could have played there all. day. long...

The reading nook. She was happy in this chair, "reading" her books, for a long time... unless someone wanted to actually READ to her. Then she screamed and threw the books...

Samantha finally found her niche -- the arts/coloring table. She made a really cool drawing of some flowers, copying something she saw there...

She was very proud of her work...

Fun times with Friends
We've also spent a few different weekends visiting with our friends, the Hunters. We were neighbors and good friends in London, and now they live in New Jersey, just an hour away. Our kids are just about the same ages, which makes for some fun entertainment...

Also, they've come to visit us, which has been a lot of fun, too! Debbie just had a baby last week, so I think it's our turn to visit THEM again...

Walk Around Manhattan
This was one of Brian's fun weekend adventures. He and a friend joined a group that walked the entire perimeter of Manhattan Island -- a whole 36 miles, in one Saturday!! Did you hear that bit about THIRTY-SIX MILES?!? Wow. Way to go, Brian!!

He took a lot of pics of some parks, and bridges. But I'm not sure what most of them are, so here are just a couple, to celebrate his accomplishment. Here he is, with the GW Bridge in the background...

Artsy bridge, from below. (I'm not sure which bridge this is, actually)...

Here are Brian and Spencer, when they finished. It was a good 12-hour day of walking, and he was pretty sore and tired when it was all over. But he said it was really fun, too.

Bishops in Central Park
For Mother's Day weekend, we had a really fun visit with Reed and Alysa, and Aftyn and Bronwyn. We took a day trip into the city, bringing a picnic lunch to Central Park...

Our kids loved climbing up and sliding down the rocks in the park. Yes, Samantha's shorts were ruined, from all her fun sliding adventures...

We also let the kids ride the carousel. Spencer was very proud to be riding all. by. himself. (with no mom or dad on board with him!)...

 Lucky for us, we got to celebrate this little cutie's first birthday, which was the day after Mother's Day. The cake was officially a gift from Brian and Reed -- for me and Alysa, for Mother's Day. But we popped a candle on top, and voila --- perfect birthday cake...

 She made good work of it, too!! Happy Birthday, Bronwyn, cutie!!

The Marshlands Conservatory
We've discovered the Marshlands -- a conservation area, less than  mile from our house. Not sure why it took us so long to take advantage of it, but we've recently enjoyed some nice family walks and picnics there...

 I tried to get a pic of all three kids sitting on this log in the meadow. This is the best I could get...

So, I finally joined them, and we got this...

View of the marshy Long Island Sound inlet, near our house...

 Bishops in Newport
Another great day trip we took a couple of weeks ago was to Newport, Rhode Island. Steve and Amanda were in town for a little getaway, so we all met up to tour around Newport, walking in the shops and on the Cliff Walk.

We got to tour the famous Vanderbilt Mansion -- the Breakers. It was one of several amazing-looking houses along the Cliff Walk...

No photos inside the house, darn it. But I was allowed to take this one ... looking out to sea, from their back veranda, so gorgeous...

Got to see more of this darling cutie girl...

And this one (who was not about about to sit for a photo shoot, when she and Samantha and Spencer were having so much fun together, traipsing around the lawn)...

Cutie Cousins...

And, a family photo op...

As you can see, we've been having some pretty fun adventures around here, even if I haven't been writing about them very often. Let the good times keep rollin'!