C. & H. Visit: Adirondack Animal Land

Our friends C. & H. are visiting from NH this week.  This is their 4th almost annual summer visit (it just didn't work out last year).  MiniM.E. has been looking forward to it for a while, and we tried to plan a week full of exciting Saratoga adventures.  Since C. & H. have done all the tourist-y things we added in some new activities to the agenda this year, like Adirondack Animal Land and the Great Escape.

The ride from NH can be long with a mini-backseat-driver and C. & H. got a late start so they arrived Monday just before dinner.  There was just enough time for a backyard swim before a late dinner.  The kids were bit wound up with the excitement of the visit but we finally wrangled them to bed.

Today we planned for Adirondack Animal Land.  It was a steep learning curve this morning getting all three kids fed and dressed and ready to go.  Plus, everyone wanted to take a bike ride to stretch their legs before we left.

Poor LittleL.G. was so exhausted from the excitement she fell asleep in the car on the way before 10am!

As always, Animal Land was a blast.  

After a little rest in the afternoon we headed over to the new spray park.  MiniM.E. and H. splashed and played while LittleL.G. had some mommy time on the swing at the playground.

More fun tomorrow!

A Fun Weekend

This weekend we had a great time at a summer party and BBQ, a Daddy's work sponsored SPAC event with catering and the Philadelphia Orchestra playing along to Ratatouille and a backyard BBQ at our friends'.

While we waited for C. and H. to arrive today we played at the sprayground.

And dressed up some dolls.

A Day Trip To Maine

Today we drove up to Maine to visit York's Wild Animal Kingdom and see the ocean.

After visiting the Friendly Farm and Animal Land, York's was a bit underwhelming as the animals were much less accessible.  MiniM.E. did get to feed some baby goats:

The girls loved being frozen bananas:

And we got a good look at the lions:

We took a break from York's to walk down to the town and get a snow cone and some taffy.  MiniM.E. wanted to see the water, but the beach was just a sea of umbrellas and it was too overwhelming to try to get to the water.  We promised we'd stop at a beach on the way home and we headed back to the zoo for the best part of the day, the camel ride. We had to wait until 1:00 for the big camel to take his shift so the three of us could go together.

It has been a while since I've been on a camel ride because MiniM.E. has only wanted Gram to take her in the past few years. I remember our first ride and how for weeks we talked about the "wibbledy wobbledy" camel. I had forgotten how "wibbledy wobbledy" it was.

After York, even though it was past LittleL.G.'s nap time, we decided to head to Fort Foster to see the water because we couldn't leave Maine without MiniM.E. getting to touch the ocean.

Both the girls had a blast by the water.  MiniM.E. explored the rocks and LittleL.G. decorated them with wet sand.

We reluctantly headed home, stopping by Stonewall Kitchen and ended a great Maine day with a stop at Johnson's Dairy House for an ice cream dinner.

Back to NH

This week we are in NH again, taking advantage of having a pool and a hot tub and a trampoline and now a ZIP LINE right in the backyard.

MiniM.E. is continuing to get better at swimming and has just about mastered diving as well!

LittleL.G. loves splashing around in the pool for a few minutes but then gets cold and wants to swim in the hot tub where she can be without a floatie on.  She does get a kick out of watching MiniM.E. in the pool though.

The Great Escape

Daddy had a vacation day to take so to celebrate a long weekend and the girls finally being able to swim again, we decided to go to the Great Escape and Splashwater Kingdom.

MiniM.E. has been begging to go back to the "outdoor" waterpark since the first time we went, and it seemed a better idea to go on a Friday than on a weekend.

We had some time to ride the rides before the waterpark opened.  MiniM.E. and Daddy went on the BIG roller coaster while LittleL.G. and I hung around the kiddie area.  Even though LittleL.G. loved the swing the last few times we went, today was not a swinging day.  She tried her first roller coaster:

... and had a miserable time. It was way too bumpy and jerky and because she is so short, her head kept banging the restraint bar.

The tiny spray area was a huge hit though.

Time for just one more balloon ride before the waterpark:

And then we spent a few hours splashing and swimming and sliding. It was a great Friday!

American Girls' Night Out

Last night MiniM.E. and I had a Mommy-Daughter date night at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.  It was American Girls' Night Out, a few hours of American Girl-themed activities before the New York City Ballet's performance of Jewels.  MiniM.E. remembers going last year and has been anticipating the evening for months.  Her doll got a new dress for the event as a "learning to swim present" and MiniM.E. made sure she and I were both dressed in coordinating outfits too.

Had I read last year's post before we went, I might have tried harder to suggest a different date night activity. I did remember being a bit underwhelmed, but was hoping maybe some improvements had been made.

I was sadly not more impressed than last year. 

Being a little older, the craft held MiniM.E.'s attention for a while, but we were still finished with the activities with an hour to wait before the ballet.

finding out there was still an hour to wait

Again, it was nice that we stayed for the ballet because it was definitely the highlight of the evening.

And despite the less than exciting pre-show, it was awesome to have a night out with just MiniM.E.

A Week of Swimmer's Ear

Sunday we usually go to church and do some grocery shopping and play in the afternoon or maybe have a BBQ.

Today MiniM.E. was really cranky when she woke up and started complaining a lot about her ear. Luckily our pediatrician just started offering Sunday hours so we were at the doctor's office instead of church. Both girls have swimmer's ear so we are on day 4 of no swimming.

Instead of playing in the water Sunday afternoon, Daddy and MiniM.E. escaped the heat by going ice skating while I reorganized the playroom.

It was too hot to BBQ so we went to dinner at our new favorite spot, BWP.  They have good food and the girls can run around and play in a grassy area by their outside patio.

or hide in the bushes?

Monday we had plans to go to the lake and MiniM.E. was crushed that she couldn't swim, so to lessen the blow we went to the TreePaad.

Tuesday we had lunch with friends and then visited another new baby, Baby R. and his sister J.

Today we met MiniM.E.'s preschool teacher at the track for breakfast, then spent the rest of the morning downtown and caught a Zucchini Brother's concert at the library.  (MiniM.E. was too busy with her teacher to stop for photos.)

We've been doing a great job keeping busy out of the water and the heat!

Adirondack Animal Land

Our summer has been so busy that it's flown by and here we are a week away from August! We haven't had time for as many of our "usual" summer activities, but one that we couldn't neglect because it is everyone's favorite is Animal Land.

MiniM.E. was more excited than ever this year, and much braver too! She fed all the animals, even the monkeys. And as always, we spent a good deal of time visiting her favorite animals, the deer.

LittleL.G. was a little more timid this time around and only wanted to look at the animals from afar. She did have a great time on the playground though.

We planned on spending the whole day, but we got rained out after lunch, which was perfect because we had seen everything and it coincided with nap time.

Polo and A Park Picnic

A few weeks ago they plowed the big field by our house and installed four big red posts.  Daddy and MiniM.E. and I have been having a good time guessing what they are for.  Of course, we, the grown ups, could deduce that it was likely a playing field of some sort.  MiniM.E.'s best guess was that the big posts were for two giant hammocks, which would have been almost as awesome as their real use.

Gram escorted us home from NH so we all took a walk to check out the field and see if we could figure out what they used it for.  A week ago there were horses parked at the edge, so my guess was polo.  And I was right!  Our field is now used for amateur polo practice.  Once we learned they were going to play polo we darted home for some chairs, blankets and snacks and set up to watch.  It was far better watching practice polo than real polo because we were so much closer and the sun wasn't shining right in our eyes as it does on the tailgating side of the Polo Club polo field.  We will definitely be back to check out some more polo soon!

After nap we said our goodbyes to Gram and headed downtown for a picnic in the park with Baby G. and family.

The girls played and rode the carousel while we waited for the Daddies to meet us after work. And, of course, MiniM.E. had to have her baby-cuddle-fix.