Central Park

This was after our long day....Grins was very tired and wanted to be carried, the poor dear!

During our time in Manhattan, we spent several hours at Central Park!  It was beautiful, and SO much fun!  And I don't think you can fully appreciate the enormity of the park until you experience it in person - In all our  hours there, we only saw a fraction of the park!  But the parts we did see were incredible, and we truly enjoyed it!

Adorable Angel posed herself and then said "Mommy! Take a picture of me!"

I loved the beautiful root system on this tree - doesn't it look artistic?!

On the Bridge

 At one of the playgrounds, a young woman and the girl she nannies were playing with bubbles....and my children couldn't get enough!  I told the young nanny she was like the pied piper with all the children she attracted, and she joked, "I think I've found my calling in life!"  I took far too many pictures of them playing with bubbles, but the delight in their faces was so apparent I couldn't help myself.  I'm thinking we need to blow bubbles more often - we did it more when they were toddlers, but clearly, they haven't outgrown the joy of it!

Angel caught several bubbles!

Check out Grins in action!

Grins slides through the sand to catch a bubble!

I love Angel and Grins' faces here!

Check out this action shot of Grins! I love it!

Wiggles couldn't be happier!

 There was a fantastic, curved slide down a hill that the children could have enjoyed for hours!  As it was, we played there for nearly 2 hours and they weren't even close to ready to leave!

Angel and Wiggles kept coming up with new ways to go down!

All 3!

Wiggles didn't dare try it on her own until she'd gone down a time or two with her older siblings....but once she did, there was no stopping her!

We found a lovely little gazebo at the top of a rock hill where we decided to stop for lunch.  That is, I decided to stop for lunch....the children didn't want to stop for anything!  They climbed up the rocks and continued climbing around while I fixed a picnic lunch...then shoveled in their sandwiches and resumed climbing as quickly as they could!  I'm not sure whether I should be discouraged that I ran out of energy before them, or just pleased at what proficient rock climbers they are! :)

Wiggles is a more brazen rock climber than I, apparently....she wouldn't stop, despite me expressing concern that it might be out of her league.  I was terrified but she made it up the climb beautifully, without any missteps whatever. 

I love that 'sun in my eyes' wink of Grins!

Notice Angel waving in the background...

I love this girl!  She packed her own bag and even picked out all of her own outfits for the trip ! :)

We enjoyed the sand at one more playground before heading to our next adventure....