Apple Picking

One of my birthday wishes (in September) had been to go apple picking. We spent a weekend in MA with Ben's family before they headed down to Florida. And we got lucky - the weather was perfect on Sunday and we went to a local farm for apple picking.

The hayride/ tractor ride was fun and we got some beautiful views of the valleys around. The kids enjoyed it. Unfortunately the apples were a little difficult to come by. Lots of them were rotting on the ground already or not really good to be picked. We were glad that we had only selected small bags at the entrance to fill up.
And the pears weren't even ready yet to be picked.

But we still had fun on the ride, checking out the farm, eating apples, looking at the pumpkins, walking through the orchards, taking pictures and most importantly: eating cider donuts and drinking apple cider at the end!

Bridal Shower in NYC

In September one of our friends - Beth Roper - had a small bridal shower. I got to go and it was fabulous!

One of her brides maids lives in this beautiful building at the very tip of Manhattan and she held the party at her apartment. We started off with drinks on the roof deck. WOW! With a perfect view of the Statue of Liberty! It was breathtaking.  And it helped of course that it was a gorgeous day and we were enjoying the sunshine.

We then headed down into Tracy's apartment and she had a personal chef cooking us a delicious lunch. The menu was really yummy and lots of wine with it. The group was small and we all had a fun time chatting and talking about the lovely Beth and her upcoming wedding.

I think I was a little tipsy when I headed back home to Larchmont on the train :-)

Thanks for a a wonderful afternoon!

Dance this fall

We signed back up for "Movement Class" this fall. It is basically pre dance class for boys and girls. It is run by the town and is held at the VFW, which is always fun.
Lilly each week dresses in one of her dance outfits (great hand me downs from friends) and Finn of course runs the show!

Soccer this fall

We decided to go back to soccer this fall. We really like this group called US Sports Institute.

We have taken several classes from them and this fall we took a soccer only class in White Plains (unfortunately nothing closer, but we sometimes combined soccer with a visit to our friends in White Plains). The coaches were called Mickey and Tom and from Scotland. I have to admit I did not always understand them, but they were really sweet with the kids and they had fun. Especially Finn got really into it and started played soccer. Lilly is still deciding if she likes it or not….

Let's see what we will do in the spring.

Pumpkins….

Our kids really like pumpkins. We have had them as a decoration in front of our house for weeks. We have big ones, small ones, painted ones, carved ones, ones with stickers, ones in different colors.

We thoroughly enjoy working with them!

Gymnastics - Photos

When we came to gymnastics the other day, we saw our pictures on the wall. Yeah!
They always take pictures and display different ones out front. We were so happy to see ourselves.

Belmont Horse Races

Early October we took a trip to the Belmont Horse Track on Long Island, NY. It is one of the big race courses in the US and during the annual Belmont Event it is crazy busy. But they have races throughout the year and we went during one of the last race days this fall. We met up with our friends Mark, Mike and Joe from NYC and had an awesome day.

I had only been to the horse race in Nashville before and was not really sure what to expect. And I have to admit that I was very pleasantly surprised. It was a great event to bring the kids too (and as you know, we have 2 little ones with us almost all the time). The weather of course helped, as it was one of those last sunny and warm days in early October. The boys had gotten there early and reserved a picnic table close to the entrance and close to some TVs. 

We all brought some yummy food and set out a great spread. During the afternoon some bets were placed - and won. The kids loved looking at the horses when they brought them out to be walked around. We also watched some of the races live at the track. 

But most of the time we spent running around, checking out the place, getting tattoos and face paints (great entertainment for the kids), playing on the awesome playground (really big and fun), eating some food, running to the potty, watching the people go crazy of the finish of races.

We stayed until the last race was over and headed home with balloons for the kids. 

Successful day and we will be back next year!

At the Playground

Can you find Finn watching the races with the crowd? He is wearing a blue hat….

Watching some horses

Our food and drink table

Front row at the track

Waiting for the horses to come by

Lilly on her own horse at the playground

Gymnastics this fall

We signed up for gymnastics again this fall. We had tried some classes in the spring and the kids really enjoyed it. I convinced the people at Spotlight Gymnastics that Lilly can join the 3-5 year old class so they can go together. Even though she is the smallest one, she is doing great and they really love going each week!

Lilly is the smallest one in the middle with her blue suit

Finn on the beam

Lilly on the beam

Beach in the fall - catch up

We were very lucky this fall. It actually stayed nice and warm well into October and we were able to go to the beach several times in September and October.
And as we love the beach we had a blast digging for crabs, building sand castles, eating snacks, making new friends!