Central Park Zoo

 

Our first visit to Central Park Zoo proved to be just right.

We had a delicious breakfast at a cafe in the park and then landed in the very right sized zoo.  

Grizzlies, seals, snowy leopards, red pandas, and lemurs 

were just a few of the animals we got to observe.  

The boys will never get over loving animals.

 

Brownstone Stoops

We did a lot of walking in NYC.  Walking around the west side neighborhoods, if you are really looking, one can't help but notice the beauty of the stoops of those big tall brownstones.  The steps are smooth and the way they play with the light - divine; the dark light patterns become so much more than steps.  Here are just a few that we passed. I thought how nice it was to walk and look at the variety in not only design, but also in the unique ways owners dressed them up- pots of flowers, statues, small trees.  All of it, fun to look at as art. 

 

The Neon Lights Are Bright

They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway.  

They say there's always magic in the air

I won't quit 'til I'm a star on Broadway.

      

New York Blues

It’s been a busy vacation week.  We all landed together in New York City for just a couple of days, us and  our friends Liza and Maggie, Cheryl and Zander, Glynnis and Helen and Sylvan, and even Robin, Lewis and Juilan. Later we met up with a colleague from school and his family as well. It was just so much fun to walk around and see the city together with a group of friends. We went in and out of merging and then breaking apart, naturally, like a flock of birds.  

Here's a snapshot video of some of our time there.  

The Blues in NY

NYC

 Merging in New York was a fun way for these cool teens 

to all hang out in a new city. 

The Ultimate Season!

The ultimate season...

No, it's not Spring.  

  It's Ultimate Frisbee!        

Both boys and Samuel, have begun the Ultimate Season.

Anders in his 3rd year of Varsity, and Kuba just starting off in JV.

I love that they play such a fabulous sport! 

And after 2 weeks into the season, both teams are undefeated.

Do The Easter Bunny Hop

The most fun of all was the big PING PONG tournament on Easter.

There were 2 ping pong tables and we all played 2 rounds.
Samuel lost the final round in the winners bracket to Lewy.

BUT, then he came back and won it all in the final match up, winner bracket winner playing the loser bracket winner - and it came down to Samuel and Lewy one more time.

This round, Samuel won and took home the very adorable Bunny trophy!

 

Rabbit

 Thanks to Lea, we had a visit from the Easter Bunny.  The bravest little kids were Zoe and Eloisa.  They had no trouble going right in and touching that big giant rabbit.  Oh, and my boys didn't mind posing either. 

 

The Hunt

  

It was super fun thinking of a way to make the Easter basket hunt still fun for older kids.  I created 3 puzzles- a crossword, a word search, and a riddle.  They had to solve them all as a group in order to find their hidden baskets.  It was harder than I thought it was going to be and it was entirely entertaining to watch them.  This was a great reminder that there is a lot of playful spirit in them still, and that the more you play, the more fun life can be.   

Jelly Beans

 

Pysanky

 

The art of egg decorating is not lost on us.

We all dove right in and tried to decorate the Ukranian way.

Using a copper funnel tube we scooped beeswax and drew on our eggs.
Then we dyed them and then we rubbed off the wax.

The results were just lovely and it was such a fun family project.