Parks, Picnics, and Play-dates…How We Spent our First Days in NYC

When we first arrive in a city, we like to get our bearings and establish some routines before we hit the streets too hard.  Our first week in New York City consisted of learning how to play the parking game with our car, scouting out the good playgrounds & grocery stores nearby, and meeting up with friends who now live in the city.  

Bobby's college roommate and his family live in NYC.  The last time we visited NYC, Amelie was a couple months old and we actually stayed with Matthew.   Many New Yorkers like to get out of the city for a bit in the summer, Matthew's family being one.  Since they were leaving shortly after we arrived, we spent our first day with them.  We met in Central Park after lunch and let the kids play at the Billy Johnson Playground.  Unfortunately, we were busy talking and I didn't get any pictures.  The main part of this playground is a 45 foot long slide made of granite.  Not only did they love the slide down, but they also loved getting to the top of the slide.  It's fun because they get to follow a wooded and rocky path that looks like it was carved into the side of a hill.   Someone had brought a cardboard box that Amelie and Liam both were allowed to take a turn with which made the experience down even more faster and fun!  After running around for a while, Liam was ready for a nap.  We headed to a nice grassy patch and Bobby & Matthew allowed the girls to play together while I stayed a distance away reading a Harry Potter book.  I loved that I was already fitting into the New York mom scene as I was stopped a couple of times for directions to places around the park.  Ha!  The peace and quiet in the shade of the trees was amazing.   All good things must eventually come to an end and when Liam woke up we went to FAO Schwarz Toy Store.  The AC felt amazing so we did not mind letting the kids drool at all of the fun toys.  Once we started to get hungry for dinner, Matthew took us to Anable Basin Bar & Grill.   After walking through some industrial zones, we were skeptical of his choice.  However, once we were there we were pleasantly surprised.  Since the restaurant was in Long Island City, we had amazing views of Manhattan.  The atmosphere was relaxed and kid friendly.  We had a full and fun first day in the city!

Eating a quick picnic lunch in Central Park before meeting Matthew.

My view while Liam napped.

Amelie and Jasper having fun on the giant keyboard.

Meeting superstars!

View from our table at dinner.

The following day was much more laid back, but we did meet up with friends who were in our first small groups in Athens.  We met them for a picnic dinner in Central Park's Great Lawn.  The kids loved having the space to run, do cartwheels, play baseball & soccer while we were able to catch up with our friends.  They moved to NYC at the same time that we moved to Paris.  I have loved learning from them and watching their journey of learning how to live well in a busy city with small kids.   We had hoped to spend a lot more time with them, but life is busy!  We were thankful for this laid back evening.  To top off the good company, we also enjoyed waffles with Nutella from the Wafels & Dinges Food Truck.  Yum!!

Our third day in the city we were on our own without any friends. ;)  We took the kids to Grand Central Station and watched the hustle and bustle.  We then went across the street to the Main Public Library.  We went straight to the kids section and read with the kids.  Afterwards, we went through a really cool exhibit.  It was the ABC of it:  Why Children's Books Matter.  Bobby and I were fascinated looking at original books, the history behind them, and how they continue to shape culture.  The exhibit had some interactive elements which Amelie and Liam loved.  Amelie's favorite was seeing the original Winnie the Pooh inspired characters on display.  Since this took up a lot of our kid's attention span.  We headed straight to grab lunch.  We had intentions of making our way back to explore more, but sadly we never did.  Next time, I really want to see the Rose Reading Room.  After a soup & sandwich lunch, we let the kids run around Bryant Park before heading back to the apartment.

Hiking Crabtree Falls in the Rain

Hiking to Crabtree Falls was on our list of must-do hikes before we leave Asheville.  One of my college roommates, Morgan, was able to come for a couple of days, and we decided hiking to Crabtree Falls was a perfect thing to do while she was with us.  The hike is near the Blue Ridge Parkway about an hour outside of Asheville.  It is a 4 mile loop with the first portion very easy and little elevation changes.  There were a lot of rocks and nice stone steps to make the hike easy.    Once we arrived at the falls, we ate our picnic lunch.  The 70-ft waterfall was definitely worth the trek!  We played around the falls for a little while, but then we started to feel raindrops!  We went back and forth with whether we should go out the same way we came in, or do the more challenging other portion of the loop out.  With much debating, we decided to go the untraveled yet trail.   The trail back to the car was much steeper and more strenuous, but didn't have all of the little tiny rocks (so that was nice).  The rain started to really fall and within minutes we were all completely drenched…and cold.  Amelie was an amazing trooper.  She marched on uphill, through the small river that was forming on the path.  She didn't complain much.  However, it all was too much for little Liam.  I gave him a piggy back ride all the way back to the car.  At one point, we reached a mile marker that told us how much further we had to go (.7 miles)…we all about fell out because we thought we were much closer.  Early that day, Bobby had been talking about how when things don't go as planned they make for a better story (or at least more memorable).  We will all remember this experience for sure!  We laughed because Morgan was also with us for our Grand Canyon fiasco back in college.

Hiking out…good workout with little Liam on my back.

We saw a huge frog on the trail that we almost stepped on.

Near our car…all wet…all glad to be almost out of the rain!

Asheville with Friends

Asheville is an awesome city.  We found that Asheville with friends is even more awesome!  One of the problems with being so transient is missing our friends.  We were happy to be close enough to our hometown that some of our close friends were able to come for a visit.  The time spent with our friends was cherished time.

Our first weekend in Asheville, we were joined by the Cozart family.   The time spent together included a J.Crew warehouse sale, a nearby playground, eating at Walk, Biltmore Farm, popping in and out of shops downtown Asheville, eating at Farm Burger, eating at Asheville Pizza and Brewery, and getting wet in Splashville.  If you want to have adult conversation during dinner, then Asheville Pizza and Brewery is the place to go.  There is a family room that is lined with arcade games and cartoons being played on projectors.  Since it is a closed room, the kids roam around free.  It's wonderful to have them entertained and having fun.  The adults also had fun playing while we waited for our food.  We played Ellen's Head's Up game…so fun!

The kids had a lot of fun at the Biltmore Farm area.
There were a lot of different animals to pet as well as a playground nearby. 

Amelie loved holding a 3 day old chick.

The kids would chase each other through the shrub maze, but would cut in and out of the shrubs instead of staying on the path.  They didn't quite understand that was cheating.  

The following weekend the Green family came for a visit.  Again, we tried to fill the time with as much fun and good food as would could manage.  Our time included eating at White Duck Tacos (one of our favorites), getting soaked in Splashville, playing in our yard and with the hammock, enjoying ice-cream cones on our back porch, hiking Craggy Gardens, attending Box Turtle Day at the NC Arboretum, eating BBQ at Luella's.  The visit was fast, but we were so thankful they came!

It's hard to believe that our kids are old enough to have their own kid table.  They enjoyed being independent from the adults just as much as we enjoyed being able to talk and catch up.

All of the kids did an excellent job hiking.  

The view from the top of Craggy was cloudy so we stopped at one of the LookOut points to take some pictures with the mountains.

Sweet friends walking through the Arboretum together!

Liam trying to mimic Farrah's cartwheels.

We watched trained dogs searching for box turtles in the woods.  At one point they asked for volunteers to hide pretend box turtles and then watched the dogs find them.  Bella, Amelie, and Farrah made a group to hide one of the turtles.

Liam has embraced his role as monster/dragon/whatever attacker of girls.  They are throwing small apples at each other.

The hammock was a hit!  Who knew it could be so entertaining?! :)

Farrah and Liam enjoy the swing in Mrs. Gayle's yard. 

Bobby and Chris entertaining themselves (and anyone watching) while waiting for our table at Luella's BBQ.