Halloween

Carving pumpkins with our friend Tao Li--her first Halloween

Some cute cats and one gingerbread baby

We headed up to Ithaca--our old stomping grounds for Halloween Weekend

And a quick trip to Hollenbecks, to watch the cider press and get my favorite fresh donuts...it is pretty much the ONLY place I enjoy a donut.

City Excursions

Traveling Light--one small stroller for 2 big kids

Enjoying some 3 dollar popsicles in Battery Park

Spending some time in Central Park with our friend Jeremy who was passing through...though I failed to get a picture of him with us!

Lucy's "date with dad" she couldn't stop talking about. She liked it so much she decided that for Christmas she was going to giver her dad another date with her! I guess she was assuming he enjoyed it as much as she did...he did!

Another cute tidbit to add to this story....Lucy recently received a "late" birthday card with 10 dollars in it. She immediately asked me, "Is this enough to buy two icecreams with? Because then Dad and I can use it on our date and get ICECREAM!" so 20th century--the girl pays!

Natural History Museum with Uncle Ryan--we also made it to "The Shake Shack" and I really have wanted to go back ever since to get another one of those monsters!


Bronx Zoo--thanks to Owen we frequent this place, he can't get enough of animals!

The Sea Lions were barking too loud

Our Cousins joined us one day!

Meeting up with a friend from Beijing at a Knicks Game

New England Trip--early October

Thousands of others joined us in our "leaf peeping" adventures in New England and because our trip was last minute we found ourselves staying in a town called Seabrook, NH. We were grateful to have rooms, but that is about all we have to say about Seabrook.

So I will move on to Portmouth, NH: Delightful small town with beautiful historic buildings and an incredible waterfront.

We then drove 40 miles south to Salem, MA. It was well worth the traffic and limited parking. We went to the Salem Witch Museum and learned about the history of the Salem Witch Hysteria. We also walked the streets which Salem, which celebrates Halloween all of October so we got to see a lot of interesting "things".

They showed "Hocus Pocus" in the park at night

You better believe we stopped at a "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" place. It was called "The Maine Cafe". We had to wait an hour to get in, but it was good.



We stopped at the docks in Wells, ME where the fisherman were bringing in fresh lobster.

This was the kids reaction

We made our way up to Portland, Maine. We went on a boat tour of Casco Bay, saw light houses and the beautiful islands. Anyone headed to Maine? The boat tours are a must.

These three kept themselves busy "steering the ship"
While the adults had a fun conversation with fellow passengers

We finished the trip off at Sharon, Vermont and visited the birthplace of Joseph Smith (the Prophet who restored the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints")

It was nearly dark so we didn't get to stay as long as I would like. This might be my favorite Church History Site. I've been here once before and it was my favorite back then as well. There is such a feeling of peace and reverence through out the whole area. I actually hope to make it back yet again!







Van spent most of the trip bundled up in this oversized fluffy warm outfit and was usually in his carseat sleeping or staring at whatever blanket was covering him from time to time....he was a champ!