4th of July at Twin Lakes

Next stop, our summer happy place, Twin Lakes. We spent a week with Durning family, enjoying the lake to the max. Matt, Krista, and Addy came up for the 4th of July and the cousins were very happy to be reunited. We also got in quick visits with Chris and Renee, Steve, Dawn, and Jonah and Di as well as lots of time with Cathy, Dave, Jessie, Malcolm, Oma, Opa, and Nonnie. 

Requisite cousin pic

Requisite snuggle with Nagma pic

Tubing time! On the first go, the tube wasn't inflated enough and I watched from shore as they all nose dove straight into the lake! 

Two summers ago, Maeve was scared of tubing, but this year she loved it. Jude also tried to water ski later in the week, though that was not very successful!

We taught the kids how to mix cocktails and they worked for tips. Here, Maeve is making a delivery. 

How civilized.

When Cathy asked for a food list for the kids, I made sure to include firecracker popsicles and mint chocolate chip ice cream (for me!).

Drawing game with Aunt Dawn

We got some nice sunsets that week!

4th of July celebrations

Sunset boat rides are my favorite

It was a stormy 4th evening and while there were some small fireworks displays around the lake, the most impressive show was the lightning show! 

Dinner out with Sylvia at the Boat House

Very successful fishing from the dock

While Matt was up North, he scheduled a screening of his documentary "Stay Prayed Up" at the small theater, Images, in Williamstown. Cathy and Dave were happy to babysit our kids so we could join Matt, Addy, Oma, and Opa, for a very special evening with all of the Durning's family friends. We'd seen the film before on a TV, but it was awesome to see it on a big screen and hear the discussion with the panelists. 

We headed back to the lake for one final day and night together, complete with a special surf and turf meal prepared by Matt and Pete. 

And one final, spectacular sunset cruise. I love the ones where the sky doesn't look that dramatic and then, Boom, out come the colors! 

Thanks again, Dave and Cathy for creating magic for our family at the lake! 

Day 2 in New York

Pete went out for a run the next morning (in poor air quality from the Canadian wildfires no less) and returned with bagels. He had stopped in Whole Foods to buy beers for our next hosts and was denied as it was before 8am! 

We fueled up for a big day at the American Museum of Natural History with Emma, Tom, and Cole! We were really excited to take the kids (and see it again ourselves). We'd watched Night at the Museum in preparation and the kids were excited to see the sights from the movie. There are tons of special exhibits that you book in advance so we did a lot of crisscrossing the museum. We even left to have lunch (at Shake Shack of course) and returned, but still feel like we missed seeing a lot! 

She loves her shiny things

After the museum, we headed downtown to see the new (to us) Hudson Yards. Laura came in from Hoboken and we walked the length of the High Line down to the West Village. 

We met Susan and Brian for dinner at a little Italian spot. When they wouldn't serve pasta without sauce for Maeve, Pete left with her and got a slice! The kids were antsy at the table so we made our way to a playground, grabbed a bottle of wine, and had a much nicer time catching up while the kids ran around. According to a (potentially drunk) fellow mom at the playground, drinking in playgrounds is totally legit since COVID. 

Our Saturday group hang was at Ellington in the Park, a great beer garden in Riverside Park. Mike, Char, Jeff, and their girls came into the city to see us for a nice early afternoon hang and catch up! 

We made our way (so, so slowly- who knew Uber drivers knew how to drive so slowly) to Metro North at 125th Street where we caught the train to Croton! Emily, Tim, and Ali had moved into a new home since we last saw them and we were so excited to see it and them! Our visit was too short as always, but so fun to see the kids quickly reconnect and enjoy a nice dinner together. 

We went for a walk along the Hudson the following morning before catching Amtrak to our next destination. 

Welcome to New York!

After Croatia, we had one day to do laundry and repack for our 3+ week trip to the US! Our last US summer trip (the first one post-pandemic) was an epic tour and while it filled our hearts, it left us exhausted. We decided to be more selfish this year and visit the places most meaningful to us, shortening our number of stops and distances traveled. 

We started in NYC. After a direct daytime flight to JFK, the kids promptly passed out across my lap in the back to the tortuous taxi into the city. We quickly remembered a top reason why we were glad to leave the city 9 years ago. The blaring of car horns woke the kids up on East 97th Street, the location of Pete and my first home together when I was in grad school. It made me giddy to drive by the apartment building, memories flooding back. 

We stayed three nights at Celia and Bryan's on the Upper West Side. Sadly their girls were away, but our kids were very happy to have their room. We caught up with our friends with NY1 on in the background, feeling like we'd never left! 

Our midweek visit was not ideal for seeing friends, but we still managed to see a good number while also taking the kids to some of our favorite places. First up, Central Park! 

Those monsters were not there on our last visit with the kids, 6 years ago!

Charlie and kids came in from Queens to see us and the kids became instant friends. Should have packed a change of clothes!

We went on a long walk through the park with the kids while Charlie took a work call. Our excitement about buying the quintessential soft pretzels and hot dogs led to great disappointment. Worst pretzel ever. Like eating sawdust! 

After all this time traveling around Europe, I find myself noticing the beauty in things more.

The beloved Bethesda Fountain

On our walk to Strawberry Fields, a tourist approached us carrying a turtle. She said she rescued it from the road and was going to put it back in the pond. The kids were obviously interested and she offered for us to take it for her. Was it a snapping turtle? Who knows! Jude was very proud to help in the rescue mission and thankfully no one was bit!

Pete also took the kids outside the Dakota, a meaningful spot for him. They were less enthusiastic about that and more enthusiastic about finding popsicles. 

We said our goodbyes and hopped on the subway to Brooklyn! We originally thought we'd spend a weekend day visiting Park Slope and Prospect Park, but it worked out better to go midweek. We skipped Park Slope and went to Brooklyn Bridge Park instead. We went for the city views, Jane's Carousel, Luke's Lobster and Shake Shack! A pretty great afternoon. 

Shake Shack, his beloved Brooklyn bridge and his kiddos- one happy Pete

While the weather was perfect, sunny, and 70s without the usual oppressive heat and humidity, our kids were still rightfully beat. We'd already walked some 12,000 steps while jetlagged. We went back to the UWS for some downtime (screentime) before dinner. I took advantage of the break to meet up with Rachel and got to meet her husband and son, days before they moved to Europe!

Not pictured: Our feast at Pio Pio with Celia and Bryan. Gosh we missed that place!