October 20, 2012
A sublime Saturday morning found us at Central Park with the rest of residents of the borough of Manhattan. There were people
everywhere...biking, jogging, working out with personal trainers, doing yoga with a group of cohorts, kids playing soccer, tourists riding in pedi-cabs. Central Park is
clearly the place to be on Saturday. Riding bikes in Central Park is one of my sister and her husband's favorite things to do on their day off, and it is a really great way to see ALL of Central Park and do a lot of people watching at the same time! So Brent and I rented bicycles and joined the citizens of Manhattan on their favorite Saturday past time.
There are many things you have to know about riding bikes in New York City. It is a great way to get around. You CANNOT ride on the sidewalks, unless you want to get chewed out by very verbal elderly women. When riding through Central Park, you ignore the pedestrian stop lights or you will get plowed over by the serious roadies. The only exceptions to that rule would be if an actual pedestrian is waiting to cross, or if a police officer is nearby...although I'm told they don't often pay attention to the minor infractions to the law. The New York way of life is very different than the west coast, indeed, as I have been told by many people.
What a beautiful autumn Saturday!
The Bethesda Fountain has to be the most beautiful place in Central Park. LOVED it!
I had to put these cute pics of my sister and her hubs in bigger so they can see them better!
Click play to see a sweeping 360' of the Bethesda Fountain, and as a bonus(!)
you get to hear a talented family sing "You Raise Me Up"
Milo was such a great sport on this whole trip and just loved being packed around all over the place!
4 months is an easy age to travel!
Strawberry Fields is the little corner of the Park right by where John Lennon used to live and where he was assassinated. It is said that he used to hang out in this part of the park, as it was right by his penthouse. Brent is a great fan of the Beatles, so this was particularly fun for him.
This imagine circle was a really fun place to watch tourists from all over the world. There were British, French, German, etc, etc, lining up all over the place to take a picture in this circle. When someone moved out, another person or group would jump right in. Brent had to be quick! A large group of German teenage girls took a picture laying on their backs all around the circle. It was so cool, I wanted to take a picture...but I wasn't quick enough!
After our bike ride, we drove up to Little Italy in the Bronx and ate Italian dinner and Italian pastries! So fun! And then after that, we drove up out of New York City for about an hour to Sleepy Hollow for a Halloween Pumpkin Blaze! It was really awesome! There were thousands and thousands of carved pumpkins lit and arranged into displays all around the Sleepy Hollow manner. It was very festive, and not too scary...which is exactly what I like! My only wish is that we could have spent a little more time up there around Sleepy Hollow to see a little more of New York, out of the city.
It's time to get a new post on here cause I'm tired of looking at those makeover pictures. How silly. What was I thinking. So now I'm going to post more stuff that happened this summer. It's strange to think that I'm posting summer stuff, when there is such a lovely autumn happening this year. I've got nothing to show for autumn this year...yet. I am neglecting autumn. Which is sad, cause it's my favorite.
Anyway, these were just two fun memories we had this summer...bikes and s'mores. Can you picture it now? Riding bikes around a huge bonfire, while balancing your marshmallow stick ever so carefully...so as to not catch your mallow on fire?
Naw...I can't picture that either. So instead I'll confess that these were two different occasions, all wrapped up in one blog post to save time.
7/24- Making s'mores in our friends' backyard. Ah Mansius family, how we love thee...and all our good times together:
8/4-our family's maiden voyage bike ride through our new neighborhood:
summer!
Last year when I was pregnant with Ollie I snapped up this little Kettler trike {like new} at a garage sale for $20. Brent was a little grumpy that I bought something we wouldn't need to use for over a year. But I tried to convince him that it would be worth storing it for a year. Then when Christmas time rolled around and we got toy catalogs in the mail, we saw JUST how worth-it it was to store said trike for a year
{$250 worth!}.
So we finally had a sunny day and a chance to use the sidewalk in our backyard for its intended purpose:
And he LOVED it.
Too cute for words!
Brent often has weekdays off, and we try to take advantage of that by getting out and doing recreational activities when Joshua's in school and places are not over-crowded.
We took a bike ride on Faraday Road...to which I give an enthusiastic two thumbs up! It is technically called the Portland General Electric West Hydro-Electric Project Road...just past Estacada. The best part is that it's closed off to cars, all except for an occasional PGE service vehicle. And it is a very beautiful, gradual up-hill grade. We rode about 20 minutes past several reservoirs up to North Fork Reservoir and then we had to fly back down to go get Joshua from school. Next time I'd like to go farther.
North Fork Reservoir
Some pictures I snapped as I was cruising back down the road:
LANDSLIDE!!
I let those guys get in front so they could be in the pictures
one of the damns in the background
Check out the fish ladder just up from the river/reservoir...it is the longest fish ladder! It went on for miles, surpassing all of the damns and reservoirs.
Toby's excellent photography...
an attempt to document pregnancy
The many poses of Toby:
Toby loves our little trips...he's an adventurer!
The Banks-Vernonia Trail is an awesome rail to trail project in Oregon (where they took an unused railroad line and turned it into a paved pedestrian path)...and it is an Oregon State Park! A 20 mile long linear State Park! How cool is that? (Very!)
Anyway...we had a sunny day on Saturday and so we went biking. NOT 20 miles...but we did a few miles through Stub Stewart State Park and back. All uphill on the way there.
It was a great opportunity to
finally take some outdoor pictures with the new photo apparatus.
Getting ready:
super cute Toby!
testing out the super zoom (20x)
a super close up of a salamander crossing the road
a quaint little farm...oh my dream!
Well, one of my dreams...and I can't seem to make up my mind which one I want to live.
a soooooooooper long bridge to cross
a super enchanted forest
a super good biker (or at least a sooper trooper)
an old RR X-ing sign...proof of another era
flying down the trail on the way back
ah...budding spring
Toby and mama self portrait:
I love this picture because it captures how Toby loves to put his hand on my face.
He's been doing that since he was a tiny tot!
a super silly pair
A SUPER fun time had by all!
Post script:
I am very grateful to have a husband who pushes us to get out and have lots of adventures. I have always loved these sorts of activities...but I unfortunately am at a time in life where I don't think I would take the initiative to do them. But I am ALWAYS so grateful for the beauty, the fun, the fresh air, and the family togetherness that come from these times. YAY Brent!
