Bronx Zoo

This morning Ethan and I headed down with the Elliots for a much anticipated day trip to the Bronx Zoo. We were oh so grateful for a map of CT which allowed us to cleverly bypass delays on I-91 and for the DVD player installed in the van!

The first hint of trouble came several blocks from the zoo entrance, when we noticed huge trees uprooted and knocked down in the medians. Wow, looks like they had a big storm, we said. Wonder when that happened? Arriving at the ticket booth we discovered that the storm, packing 80 MPH winds, had come through the night before, and several parts of the zoo were closed from the damage. Basically, any exhibit featuring cool big animals, was closed. Except for the American Bison.

This is one of many downed trees in the African Plains exhibit...

So what did we see? Birds. Lots of birds. I didn't mind this, cuz hey-I work for whatbird! Except, a three year old boy has no interest in staying close by while his mom takes pictures of birds. Next time I go to this Zoo, I go alone. Here are some birds...





And here are some more birds...




The most fun Ethan had was playing in the bamboo and playing with some cones and caution tape with Anna.


Here are some pics of all the kids together...



It was, in the words of one of the Elliot boys, the dumbest zoo ever. However, being surrounded by New Yorkers did clue me in on the newest fashion trend: underwear with big bold letters across the butt, spelling out some word, then you layer see-through white pants or capris over them. What do you think? I bet I could pick up some Hot n Righteous undies at Seriouslysoblessed.com!

Beach Buddies

Ethan and Annie are quite a pair at the beach. Here they have found an abandoned castle, complete with moat and resident hermit crabs, and they are gleefully setting about playing with it and readying it for eventual demolition.

Perfect Beach Day

Except for losing Ethan when my back was turned while I got something out of the cooler. Luckily we found him about an 8th of a mile down the beach, happily digging in the sand. Luckily my sister Mary Beth just told me about this little device.

It really was the perfect beach day, the tide was really low, the water was ankle deep in some places, the sand bars were large and plentiful. Ethan really likes going to Rocky Neck for many reasons, but the ice cream truck is probably one of the best.

We drove down with Anne and the girls, and the Elliots arrived not long after. Here is Ethan helping himself to chips from Anne's cooler....



Here are the best shots I got of my wild child, running wild.

Back to Rocky Neck

This may be the world's most perfect beach for young children. At low tide anyways. I really hope we have a warm September and we can go camping here. This is Ethan's fourth summer coming here!

What to do on a cold, rainy day.....

Call friends and go to Coco Key for the day. Indoor water resort in Waterbury. It was fun and warm....could have been warmer but that's just me. Anne and the girls and Ethan and I had a great time. Here is Ethan enjoying an ice cream cone at the end of our day.

Buell's Orchard

Today we met a few families from our church and went blueberry picking at Buell's Orchard. We can never have to many blueberries! Afterwards we went to our town pond and played in the sand and water. It was fun, but it could've been warmer!

This Called Perfect....

Summer has finally arrived! I can't believe our first trip to the ocean didn't happen till August! It has been so cold and rainy, leaves are starting to turn and fall, and I thought about starting a fire in the fireplace.

Today was sunny and somewhat warm, so off to Rocky Neck we went with our friends the Elliots. Ethan and Annie were inseperable, and had a great day playing and splashing together.

My favorite part of the day was when we arrived, as we reached the end of the boardwalk and got our first look at the beach, Ethan turned to me and said, "This called perfect."

I couldn't agree more.