Oct 22: Glorious Fall Day in Boulder

We woke up on a beautiful Saturday morning in late October and decided to head to the mountains. By the time we left, it was almost lunchtime, so we started at Beau Jo's in Boulder, our favorite pizza place, and then headed to Chautauqua to play in the warm sunshine. The boys ran and ran.




And then we took lots of pictures.





















We had so much fun in the grassy field across from the trails, that the afternoon passed quickly and we almost didn't get to hike...but when we told Isaac it was time to go home and let Jonah nap, he was insistent that we couldn't leave without getting on the trails. We'd come planning to hike, and he wanted to walk our favorite loop.


So Jonah and I did a much shorter loop and played along the path while Adam took Isaac on our favorite trail.



And I got to play with my camera too.





Finally, we met up with Isaac and Adam's trail and stopped to wait for them. Jonah wanted to keep moving and was starting to get cranky - he was already about an hour late for his nap - but I pulled this phone out to entertain him a little longer.








And finally, we saw them coming. Isaac was tired, but he'd put in a great hike.


Time to go home.

Oct 11: Rock Creek Pumpkin Patch

We've had a regular Tuesday morning playgroup this fall with some of our favorite friends - Holden, Adler and LT, and Zack and Ewan too if they don't have school. It's a happy fall ritual around here to visit a pumpkin patch, so we planned a trip one morning in October to Rock Creek Farm, about 20 minutes from home.


We tried to get all the boys on pumpkins for a picture, but there were varying degrees of cooperation.


For once, our two sat for a few pictures after the others had moved on.



Pumpkin patches are so much more than just pumpkins now - this one also had a line of bouncy castles, a petting zoo, a corn maze and a little hay maze for the kids. When the other boys were ready to move on to the other attractions, Jonah was not. He sat and played in the dirt while I carried our pumpkin to the car. When I turned back to retrieve him, he was so tiny in that field of orange and cracked dirt that the only way to quickly locate him was to search for a flash of bright white - his hair.




Although I shuddered to see that tiny body dwarfed by the earth and sky and so far from me, he was happily playing when I reached him.


But he was also happy to drive down the rutted dirt road to the bouncy castles.



Here's Holden, one of Jonah's favorites and only five days younger:








And Adler, another special friend only 17 days older:



One bouncy house had a big slide, and Brandy kindly helped both Holden and Jonah up and then slid down with them.


They loved it.


I had to leave early to take Jonah to visit his new school, which he was starting the next day, so Isaac got to stay and play without me and then ride to our house with his buddy Zack. I think he felt pretty grown-up.

Oct 8: The Met through the eyes of a 4-yr-old

Isaac has always enjoyed art museums, so thanks to Taylor's insistence, we took the boys to the Met on our Saturday in NYC. Getting from the Upper West Side to the Upper East Side meant a roundabout subway trip on three different trains, which was one of the highlights for our train-loving little guys.




I'd taken a long run around Central Park in the morning, so by the time we got to the museum, we had to head straight to the cafeteria for some lunch.

The Met is one of those places you could visit every day for a month and still not see everything - much like the Louvre. We let Isaac lead the way, and we ended up in the Egypt exhibit, which had mummies and a replica of an ancient temple oasis.


Jonah's favorite piece of art was this stone crocodile in the water.


Isaac was lucky to have Taylor, our family art-history expert, as a tour guide. And she loves his interest and excitement. While the two of them toured the museum together, discussing the art and its origins and the techniques involved, Jonah was pretty happy too. He loved the museum too and protested loudly when we tried to take him back for a nap, but his very favorite activity was running in the wide spaces.


We had to keep a close eye on him.


Every now and then he stopped for a breather.


Or to check his navigation.


Adam was still sick, but he had fun running with Jonah too.


By this point, Isaac needed a bathroom and it was way past Jonah's naptime. But he did NOT want to leave.




Finally, Adam took Jonah back to the apartment so they could both rest, and my parents and Taylor and I stayed with Isaac, who had amazingly not reached his saturation point yet.


He had lots of questions.


But Isaac's favorite section was the modern art, where he discovered this structure built of wheels and cords that turned and spun when you pushed the foot pedal.


He pushed it again and again. And when a beautiful little Italian girl near his age came to look with her father, he explained the machine to them like a little gentlemen, emphasizing that you can only push the foot pedal every two minutes or it WON'T go.






Finally, our little art lover was wiped out, and Taylor kindly carried him to the subway.


Back at Jane and Greg's place, we had a little time to hang out before our limo would arrive...to take us to dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. An amazing celebration that Jane had arranged for us to all celebrate my dad's 60th together - this time without the little ones; they would be sleeping happily after our busy day, with two friends of Jane's to watch out for them.


This balcony terrifies me, but the boys love it of course.


I get nervous just looking at this picture.


But what a view.




The next morning, we left early to catch our flight home. Isaac and I had fallen in love with this city again and were aching for those glittering lights.
In bed that night, I asked him if he were glad to be home. He said, "Yeah, I just miss Jane and Greg though. I want to live in New York City."
I think we all had a little of that feeling.