Apple Picking

Today we went apple picking with our MOPS (Mothers Of Preschoolers) group at the Eastmont Orchards in Colts Neck. Although by the looks of all my pictures it looks more like we went pumpkin picking--which you can do there also. But today was just apples, the pumpkins just provide good photo ops. The day started kind of crazy as I locked us out of our house as we were trying to leave--which meant I didn't have my car keys either. I was pretty calm about it actually, and remembered that I leave the basement windows open. So I tore off the screen and pretty much fell into the basement. How I didn't break the window (it opens inward) or myself is a miracle.

It couldn't have been a more perfect day for being out in the orchards. It was sunny and clear and I think like 70 degrees. Mary was insistent upon carrying my pajama shirt with her all through the orchards. (We had to carry it through the commissary the other day too. Most of her attachments don't seem to last too long--hopefully this one doesn't for sure). We picked some Golden Delicious, some red ones that I don't remember what they are called, and some Crispins. They look delicious! Mary carried the bag until it became too heavy and then she just wrapped herself in my pajama shirt and we walked to the check out and to the car. I think all that walking through the orchards tired her out because as soon as we drove away she fell asleep. It was really fun and we may have to go back to pick some pumpkins and maybe more apples. Maybe if I am feeling ambitious I will bake some yummy apple desserts. Hmm...we'll see.

Correction

I have been informed that I incorrectly posted the year of the Nome diphtheria epidemic as 1929 when it in fact occurred in 1925. But really, The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against and Epidemic by Gay Salisbury & Laney Salisbury is such a great book--especially if you know Max. These dogs are amazing! For me it is a very special book because having it read to me by Chris was probably some of our best times together. And just for fun I put up a picture of Max and Mary together even though it is almost a year old.

NYC

On Friday Stacey and I braved the city with little miss Mary. I must say she was a gem!!! I don't know why but I always have a bit of anxiety at the thought of taking Mary into the city. I guess I just think of her trapped in her stroller all day and her having a tantrum because she doesn't want to be in her stroller any longer. Besides the fact that I think New York is not one bit stroller friendly! How do these New Yorkers do it all the time? Maybe some day I will just stock some poor New York mom all day. I have learned bits and pieces of how they do things by watching, but it is still not enough.


First stop: Serendipity for some very delectable desserts. Wow that place must go through a lot of whip cream. So for lunch Mary had a bowl of strawberries and whip cream--yummy! Plus she shared Stacey's frozen hot chocolate, my apricot smush, and this lemon, peach, berry sunday we ordered--all with loads and loads of whip cream.

Next we walked to the Central Park Zoo. In the center of the zoo are the sea lions. We watched them for a bit and then we moved onto the rain forest rooms. Mary is still afraid of the monkeys and she clung to me throughout the rooms. She also clung to me when we saw the turtles, the polar bears, and even the penguins. So we decided to go sit and watch the sea lions for a bit and see if Mary would maybe want to run around for a bit. We did good because it happened to be feeding time--yay! As you can see from the picture that Mary thought the sea lions had some pretty cool tricks. After that she felt brave enough to go back and look at the monkeys. The big ones were gone, but she watched the little tamarins run around for a bit. Then we walked to the children's zoo, which is pretty cute. We saw peacocks and sheep. Mary was very excited about the cow--I think because making the moo sounds is one of her favorite animal noises, but when she does it, it sounds like a mad cow. We also saw goats and pigs.


After we finished at the zoo we walked further into Central Park to see the statue of the statue of the famous Balto. Ever since we got Max I have wanted to see it. Back when Max and Tiger were our only children, Chris and I talked of taking Max to Central Park to see Balto, but quickly decided not only would it be a nightmare with Max in the city, but it was completely ridiculous. Also when I was pregnant, Chris read me the story of Balto and the Siberian huskies that saved the town of Nome in 1929 from the Diphtheria epidemic. So here we are with Balto.

After finishing up at Central Park we headed downtown (in which Mary napped and dropped a bag of goldfish somewhere between Rector Street and Century 21) for some bit of shopping. For those of you who know about how much I love the store MANGO, I am pleased to announce I visited the one in Soho and I was in heaven. After a fabulous day we had a fabulous dinner Gonzales Y Gonzales. I love their guava margaritas--mmm...yummy. When we got to Penn station, our train was boarding, we made and it, and were ecstatic to find out that it was an express train. Perfect ending to a perfect day!