Welcome Spring! The Shearing of the Heathers

Fort Tryon Park is home to the largest heath and heather garden in the northeast.  We are lucky to live so close!  We attended the annual Shearing of the Heathers festival where gardeners prune the heath and heather plants. 

Heather is native to the British Isles, so there was a bagpiper there to kick off the spring celebration.

 We formed a little parade through the heather garden.  And then the girls made little bouquets with the trimmings.

Archery and Van Cortlandt House

During Spring Break, Alexis and I headed up to Van Cortlandt park in the Bronx to check out an archery program sponsored by the parks department.  It was really fun (although very well attended, so we only got to shoot 6 arrows).  Although I may have had slightly better form than Lexi, she had better aim and landed 2 arrows on the target.  She's got potential!

Then we strolled over to the Van Cortlandt house and took a semi-private tour (just 3 other kids and 2 other adults) which allowed us to actually enter the rooms behind the museum bars.  The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and the kids all seemed to love it.  Historic homes are some of my most favorite museums.  Alexis was chosen to model the period clothing- including the corset, which she said was "so tight!"  As if she needs to cinch her waist.  It was a fun, rare time for just her and I to be together.

Spring Break Activities

A few photos from the activities we did over spring break:
First, Ella at the hospital on Easter Sunday--- watching tv & drinking apple juice

We discovered a new-to-us cupcake place in SoHo called Georgetown Cupcake- owned by the same ladies that own DC Cupcakes (and have a show on TLC).  These might just be our favorite cupcakes in the city so far.

And of course we took a trip to the zoo- the butterfly garden has opened for the season and a butterfly got a little cozy with Matt.

The Space Shuttle Enterprise

Today I got to see the space shuttle Enterprise as it was flown into NYC.  It has been retired from space travel and will be on display at the USS Intrepid Air & Space museum.  It flew in piggyback on a NASA 747 jet and flew from the Statue of Liberty all the way up the Hudson as far north as Tarrytown, then back down the Hudson and all over the tri-state area.  It was so amazing to see and these are the few photos I was able to get. 

I'm adding a couple of shots my friend Abbie took.  They are beautiful.  You can see the NASA logo and under the bridge you can get a glimpse of the Little Red Lighthouse.

Central Park Boats

For Grandma Susan's birthday this year, we took her down to the boathouse in Central Park and rented some rowboats.  We had to get two, so Allie and the girls went with Grandma and Matt&I went with Caleb (who was not too fond of his life jacket).  The weather was chilly, but so so beautiful- not a cloud in the sky and the trees and flowers were blooming- a perfect spring day.  We followed it up with brunch at Good Enough To Eat.  Happy birthday, Mama!

Easter Sunday 2012

Here are some photos from Easter Sunday.  Grandma Susan found these lovely dresses for the girls and I tried to coordinate Caleb.  After church we took the train to Grandma's, so these pictures are in her neighborhood.  We loved the blooming trees.

We did an egg hunt in Grandma's living room- Uncle Chris hid all the eggs- and some were well hidden!  even Caleb got in on the fun.

Everything goes in his mouth, of course....

And that's the end of the photos.  Ella hurt her neck while hunting for the egg and it was so sudden that I kind of freaked out.  We ended up in the ER after calling the pediatrician because I have some meningitis anxiety (I've known a couple of cases) and because her temperature was increasing a little and she had intense neck pain and was acting lethargic I wanted to be sure she was okay.  Turns out there was a meningitis case in White Plains just 2 days before.  In the end, she just had a strained neck muscle and a little bit of a sore throat (they suspected strep, but tests were negative). None of the doctors made me feel like I had overreacted.  In fact, they all said better to be safe than sorry and even though it was Easter Sunday, we got wonderful & swift treatment.  The ER doc spent some time going through more detailed symptoms of meningitis, which I appreciated.  At least we had already eaten the delicious dinner that my mother had prepared.  It was a sad way to spend Easter, but Ella was really not herself at all and it had me worried- because even when she gets hurt at the park or something, she tends to walk it off and get right back to playing.  Not this time- all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep.  So weird.  Anyway, she's fine now, thank goodness.