Sunday, May 31, 2009

I'm Exhausted!

From 9 am forward, Will grabbed his shoes, walked right up to the front door, and said "Let's go". I looked at Dan and we both kind of laughed . We got ourselves ready and out we went. We grabbed some hot dogs, a burger, and a grilled cheese for Will at this place called Hirams and ate outside on their picnic tables. There was a squirrel that was stalking us or anybody for food. Will was so funny because he looked at him and told him to "go". We enjoyed the breeze and the food. What a gorgeous day!

After our lunch, we went to a park by the Hudson River in Edgewater. It had a great walkway and tons of geese. The geese were great, but not all the droppings we kept on trying to avoid. Will learned how to say the words geese and tree (btw, his vocabulary is expanding very rapidly). We had a great time and it was the perfect weather. Sorry, there are no pictures. Our camera ran out of batteries and we didn't have any backup.

The meltdown did occur and it was at Target. From the moment we got there to pretty much until we left, Will was screaming and crying. I put him down on the floor for a minute while I was deciding which cereal bar to buy. During that minute, he managed to get Pop Tarts off the shelf and the pricing plastic thingy. I, by mistake, knocked him down and he just laughed at me. After trying to put the shelving thing back on unsuccessfully, I gathered my cereal bars, the Hershey syrup, and Will and ran to Dan.

We finally made it to the car and both Will and I fell asleep. He's still out and I'm trying to do a million things at once. Wow, I'm really exhausted. It was a great day! Let's hope I still have energy to cook.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Great Day for Some Hiking!

Will and I went to the State Line Lookout today. What a perfect day for hiking. It was about 80 degrees, but nice and breezy. I love this place. There are several trails to choose from and each trail is marked by the severity of the trail. We took the easiest trail for obvious reasons. I was carrying a backpack and most likely a 25 lb little guy. Besides, I don't want Will to get discouraged by harder trails. Although, I think he might enjoy the challenge.

Number one rule (at least for me and it's recommended by many hiking books) is to never hike alone. The reason is if you fall and hurt yourself there is always someone who could go back for help. Ideal number is three. One person stays behind with the injured hiker and the other person goes for help. The reason I bring this up is because I became a bit nervous as I got further into my trail. I was alone with Will and the trail became secluded very fast and we didn't come across other hikers. So, I didn't venture far into the trail. I might have traveled between 5 to 10 minutes. Of course, it took longer because we were stopping to enjoy the view. I wish Dan would have been with me. We would have gone further in and had tons more fun.


Regardless, we had a really good time. Will seems to enjoy these hikes. He runs forward and suddenly stops to stare at a plant or whatever caught his eye. I'm already envisioning the future of him hiking with us for hours. Of course, he has to still like doing so.


Besides hiking, later on in the day we went to a playground with Dan and his cousin Christopher. The guys played basketball and Will and I went up and down the slide that is until Will realized they were playing basketball. Then he went directly to the basketball court. At one point, he tried shooting the ball into a hoop. He stood directly under the hoop and through the ball up. Unfortunately, it only went up about two inches and went directly behind his head. We really need to get him a little basketball hoop for his room. He loves basketball!


What an eventful day! He's finally gone to sleep and I'm hoping that today's activities will lead to a very restful sleep. Furthermore, I hope it leads to a later awake time. Hey, anyone could dream! Enjoy the pictures!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Will's Hike

I finally got the two pictures I took from our hike on Thursday on to the computer. Here's Will enjoying his walk:




He's such a big boy now. Sigh...

Mother's Day and Beyond

A few years back, I went on a hike craze where I purchased a few books on hiking. One of these books is called 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: New York City. Right at the beginning of the book, there's a hiking recommendation section, which gives you a good amount of trails that are child friendly. For Mother's Day, we decided to try out one of the recommendations. We went to Croton Point Park.

The park was nice, but there was construction going on in some parts of the park. So, there were areas we couldn't get near. The trail was a walkway along the park. We were sort of confused by the map and where we were walking. There was a section of the trail that was blocked, which we didn't go through to only find out later that we should have gone pass the blocked area. Besides that and the insane amount of wind there was, we had a great time. Will ran around and played and seemed to be having fun. The view of the Hudson was spectacular. We'll have to return and picnic here. The park is great.


I've been working like a maniac. With all the training I had to do with the new job, I really haven't had much energy to do anything else. I did, however, manage to take Will on another little hike this past week. I had Thursday morning off and it was gorgeous out. I grabbed the little guy and took him to a park (I can't remember the name of it) right below the George Washington Bridge. There's a picnic/bbq area, playground, spectacular view of the City, and since it's at the bottom of the cliff by the water, it does have great hiking.

Hugging the shore line of the Hudson River, there's a trail called the Dyckman Shore Trail. I've been on this trail before, but never have gone through it completely. It was perfect for Will and I. Since it was a weekday morning, the area was nice and quiet. I was the only one with a kid there. Everyone else was either biking, jogging, or plain walking. We walked along the trail for quite some time. Will was looking at the river, the flowers, and everything else around him. He ran, laughed, and stared. I really enjoyed my time with him.

So when Will gets tired of walking, he does this thing where he begins to squat. He began doing that here, which was my cue to turn around and head back to the car. I carried him back and it must have been the sweetest walk we've had so far. He had his head on my shoulder and faced the river. He was so peaceful that he fell right to sleep. We lasted a good hour at this park. He has energy and loves the walking.

With the weather getting nicer, I'm going to take advantage and take him to every park that has kid friendly hikes, whether they are just walkways or little getaways like the trail hugging the Hudson River. He loves stretching his little legs and I love being in nature. Perfect combination! I hope his love of walking continues as he gets older and we'll go on big hikes. Hiking for me is very spiritual. I feel connected to everything. I hope he'll feel this way, too.

Saturday, May 09, 2009

Happy Mother's Day!

I wish all Moms out there a very special day! Enjoy your kids, whether they're little or big!

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Ft. Tyron Park

The weather was suppose to be crappy this past Saturday, but I guess we got a reprieve. Since it was already the afternoon when the sun came out, we decided to go to a place that would be pretty close. Fort Tyron Park was the place we had decided on. Neither one of us had ever gone there, which made the excursion fun.

I'm so glad Dan thought of this place. The Cloisters is located at this park. The place is gorgeous. We didn't take a tour of the place because the weather was too gorgeous outside. We walked, ran, played, and enjoyed the afternoon. The park is really pretty with gorgeous plants and flowers, hills everywhere, and nice spots you where you could take naps or just soak in the sun.

Here are some pictures of our outing:







Enjoy!