Saturday, September 17, 2011

Utah trip, part 1

Why does it always get to the point, no matter how hard I try, that I'm posting our summer vacation pics when it's nearly October!

In any case, we had a great family trip out to Utah to visit with aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmas, grandpas, and great-grandmas! It's been forever since we've taken a trip out there (I think Noah was 11 months old the last time!) so we thought it would be a nice spot for our family trip this summer. It was so great to see my brother and his family, some dear friends from college, and tons of extended family. Jon's parents and family even made the trip down from Oregon to meet up with us for a family reunion with Jon's grandma and aunt's family. We had so much fun catching up with everyone and also enjoying some Utah family-friendly fun. Can't wait for the next trip.

highlights for the boys: backyards, trampolines, cousins, puppies, tons of ice cream, having daddy around for 10 days straight!

highlights for us: seeing family, old friends, watching the boys play with their cousins (in backyards!), quality family time, Jon finally taking a break from work!

1st stop: Hogle Zoo!
I really love this zoo -- it' s the perfect size for young kids

Noah relaxing in the dinosaur egg

elephants!

the dinosaur exhibits around the zoo were cool -- but kinda freaky too!

ride 'em cowboy!

2 happy boys!

Noah at Heritage Park:
"This is the Place" Monument

The boys playing in our friend's backyard -- they acted like total city slickers...
it was kind of sad. Noah ran the toy jeep into the bushes several times and Gabriel had no idea how to get up into the tree house.

Everyone had a trampoline! The boys LOVED it.

ice cream at great-grandma's house = spoiled!

my cousin's cute baby Olivia :)

playing with the puppies in great-grandma's backyard

Gabey and Olivia have a bonding moment...

great-grandma A. and her grandkids

awesome Aunt Susan's trampoline and swingset


these boys LOVED Aunt Susan's puppy too!

Maybe it's time for a backyard...

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Friday field trip #4: Police Museum + Adventure Playground at South Street Seaport

So, this was probably one of my favorite field-trip days. It seemed like we did SO much in just a few hours! We started downtown at the NYPD Police Museum, then walked down to Southstreet Seaport, and finally ended up at the Adventure Playground down there. The kids had a great time at the museum. There's a cute little police-themed play area where they spent most of the time and there were a few cool exhibits that they thought were fun. My personal favorites were the jail cell (if only...) and taking mugshots of the kids. After the museum, we enjoyed the walk down to South Street Seaport. I seriously couldn't believe that it had been so long since I had been there last... almost 8 years! It's so beautiful down there -- the views are amazing. After spotting some tall ships and watching the boats along the river, we found the Adventure playground.

enjoying the downtown view

making a wish

little prisoners!

locked up!

oh man...

priceless!

my little criminal!

the view at South Street Seaport

tall ships

Adventure Playground!


Monday, September 12, 2011

fun at home

We love to explore this city... but sometimes it's fun to just hang out at home!

a few of our favorite at-home activities include:

couch and chair "parachute" diving

superhero dress-up

the sidekick

Noah rocks his solo in "Noah & Gabey's" rock band

hurricane Irene survival: air mattress trampoline!