Boys Weekend...Part 1

They are finally asleep! It's been a busy evening...

All of the boys were so excited about the weekend. No hesitation about coming with me. They were in pretty high spirits. We discussed (at a very loud volume) what possibilities we had for dinner--Pizza and McDonalds were the two loudest choices. Since I have plans for Pizza tomorrow- I told them that and McDonalds was the clear cut consensus.

The Mickey Ds near the hotel had an indoor playground! Bonus! No one wanted to leave the restaurant. We made it back to the hotel at about 7:30 and again by very loud discussion- chose a movie - 'The Tooth Fairy'.

Yes--I let them play on the beds... you can see the four pull outs in this last picture. 

Its really a neat set-up for a group of kids.

Afternoon Fun

As long as I was in town early, I took advantage of the time, picked up JJ and CR from the Boys and Girls Club and we went up to the Holiday Inn to check in and get a little bit of pool time in.

CR (they chose their own nicknames) remembered the hotel from our girls weekend out...She was ecstatic to be back....I am glad I took the time to spend with her.

They managed to get yelled at by the guard only once!

After swimming and lunch, the kids and I set up the room and headed back to Gram Gram's. CR got to stay at Gram Gram's till her dad finished work. JJ and I picked up NoNo and Uncle Turkey's Truck --and headed out to pick up the other two boys.

Let the Boys Weekend begin!!

Signs of Spring in Niskayuna

I should be getting packed for my drive to Buffalo.  Carol is taking me to breakfast in a few minutes though and I wanted to get a few more pictures on the blog.

The surest sign of spring yet...Forsythias in bloom and Dee arriving for Easter weekend!  Hurray!  We had a fun weekend.  Did some shopping.  Did some eating.  Carol grilled leg of lamb and veggies.  yummy!

If you've ever been to the house,

you know I planted lots of spoons.... 

Yes- they are spoons....

but the day lilies are coming up too.

How come the only thing that comes up fast

and strong are the dandelions?

The tulips are on their way.  We thought we planted some dafodils but we don't see any...

The azaleas and the plum tree are in bud...watch this space....any day now.

Duck Pond- Central Park

Its spring break week (in case you could not tell from my ability to play with this blog thing). 
You never get everything done thats on the 'list' for times like these but I did do a few things. 

One of which was to walk in Central Park.  Though the weather is wonderful, the plants are just waking up.  Signs of spring are slowly making their way to surface....

The ducks and geese are back. 

This couple wandered around the 'Duck Pond' never more than a few inches away from each other. 

They kept a close eye on the kids tossing bread, but never entered the fray.... later, they wandered to shore and found the left overs. 

The colors of these Wood Ducks are so vibrant...  Iridescent blues and greens.

The geese were more solitary in a way.  They congregated in a larger group but it seemed they fended for themselves.  Noisy bunch.  They reminded me a bit of seagulls in the way they flocked to whichever part of the pond the kids were.  Recognized the handouts right away... 

The Landis Arboretum

Its a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

It had to be 82-83 degrees today, some kind of record for April 7th....

So a good day for a ride to see trees.

The Landis Arboretum is a 548 acre private estate in Esperance NY, about 45 minutes southwest of Niskayuna off route 7.  Its a living-breathing tree museum.  For $5, you get to wander from dawn till dusk.....

Seriously, we chose a short loop (the Landis Trail), afterall we are still recuperating from our winter hibernation state.  Carol was quite patient with my huffing and puffing up the first hill....Check out their website:  http://www.landisarboretum.org/

Its the second weekend car ride we've taken in this direction this spring.  I'll fill in the details of the first jaunt in another blog.

I took the new camera - so you get to see some visuals....

This beauty of a tree is a European Hornbeam--really! 

Its from the birch family.  Its branches reach out every

which way and it has a looong reach....

These trees were not marked that I saw. 

But the blossom looks familiar. 

I am guessing its a magnolia. Can anybody enlighten me?

These pretty little flowers were blooming

wild in a terrace garden they are building. 

They were under the shade of some very

big eastern pines.

But to get back to trees, I am just in awe of the blossoms trees can produce.

We were too early for the Lilacs, Rhododendrons and Crabapples.

So I guess we'll just have to go back...Next time, I wear my muck boots though - I got my new sneakers dirty....