East End Beach

Halfway through our bike trip, we decided to take a detour and bike to a nearby beach, since it was such a beautiful day!  It couldn't have been more perfect!

I take far too many pictures of Wiggles in a bathing suit because I love everything about her adorable little body - I just can't get enough!  The bulging belly, the pudgy legs...seeing her in a swimsuit reminds me how little she is, and I love it!

Wiggles wanted to go down in the hole...

Of course, the hour long baseball game we played earlier at the park wasn't nearly long enough for Grins....

 The water was FREEZING!

.....and yet, the Mr. and Angel still dove right in!  I'm glad the Mr. was there to indulge Angel - I wasn't about to take her in!

Wiggles kept wanting to get 'buried' in a hole - so we finally put her in, and she then immediately wanted out!

She did allow me to take a picture first, though!

 While the older two were down at the water, Wiggles carried buckets of sand back and forth.  My busy little girl!

The 2 days of 80 degree weather got us really looking forward to summer!  We hope to have many more days like this in the near future! :)

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

While bicycling around the back cove, we decided to stop for a little family game of baseball.  The children enjoyed the obstacle course while the Mr. and I set up the game.

Angel climbed up one side, over the top, and down the other...

 Wiggles stripped down to her swimsuit and played in the sand.

When we were finally 'set up', we told each of the children to grab a mitt.  I had to take a picture of Wiggles with her mitt on the wrong hand.  SO cute!

I know I take too many pics of this little gal, but can you blame me?

And Wiggles is ready to go!

Angel struts her stuff!

Grins doesn't waste time posing - he's just anxious to start playing!

 It's not hard to get action shots of this boy - he's always on the go!

 I took a break from pitching to snap a photo - look at those cute little outfielders!

It was getting hot, so Angel decided she'd rather pose for pictures than play....

 So the girls sat and enjoyed a snack break while the Mr., Grins and I played on.  It's amazing how much easier it is to play with the Mr. - when it's just me and the children, things don't run nearly as smoothly!  We all love having the Mr. around!

Biking the Back Cove

The Mr. actually got a day off (the first day off in a month!), and it just so happened to be beautiful and sunny, so we decided to go on a bike ride around the back cove (about 3 1/2 miles around).  

Check out the gorgeous view!  We are loving where we live!!

Halfway through our ride around the back cove, we decided to turn off onto the Eastern Promenade, which we rode down to get to the Est End beach.  (more on that later.)  So, by the time we got back on the path, we had already gone a few miles, and needed a little break.  Grins couldn't comfortably reach the drinking fountain, so he got creative.

We sat, ate a picnic lunch, and enjoyed the beautiful view.

Wiggles was tired - riding in that trailer can be hard work! :)

Maine Gilsland Farm Audubon Center

During April break, the children and I decided to visit the Gilsland Farm Audubon center.  We had never been, and it was incredible, and definitely a place we will return to again and again!  There was a lot to see and do, and it was wonderful enjoying nature all together!

Who doesn't love a good climbing tree?  This one definitely had character!

At the pond, some new friends shared their nets with us, and we caught several tadpoles, and even an adult frog!! (It's much harder than it looks, but Angel caught one all by herself!)

Grins put his net to good use as well.

While walking through a flower garden, we saw a groundhog run through the garden and down a hole.  We knelt at his hole and could see his little nose poking out, so we shared some pear with him and lured him out.  He was actually surprisingly friendly (or just brazen?) and spent quite a bit of time sharing our snack with us!

We enjoyed building fairy houses, and ultimately, lean-tos, out of some fallen logs.

Finally, we went inside the vistor's center where Angel found a bird's nest and we all worked on some projects.

New York City on a Budget

This past week, a friend of ours in a similar financial position (family of 5 also living on a Resident's meager salary) asked how we were possibly able to afford our recent trip to New York City.  Though we didn't do anything 'special', she couldn't believe we had spent so little, so I promised to account for every dime we spent and show her.  So this post is mainly for her. :)

On our budget, we are only able to save $50 per month toward travel.  As of February, we had $300 in our 'travel' fund.  We (especially the Mr.!!!) really wanted to visit New York City for February vacation, so we decided that, if we could do it for $300 or under, we would go!  After doing some research, we decided we could spend 3 days and 2 nights there and come in right at budget.

Here's our cost breakdown:

~Transportation - $176
         ~Gas (we drove 5 1/2 hours each way): $120
         ~Tolls: $27
         $10 on the Maine Turnpike ($5 each way)
         $5 in random tolls ($3 for a bridge, .75 another spot)
         Lincoln Tunnel $12 (we first went to the Holland tunnel and, upon learning it was $12 to cross, changed our route and headed (far out of the way) to the Lincoln tunnel, only to learn that it, too, was $12!  Some costs are inevitable!)
         ~Public Transportation: $29
         Staten Island Ferry - FREE
         PATH train $2 per adult each way when purchasing card in advance ($8 per day for our family)
         Bus $5 ($2.50 per adult - we took the bus one day when we were going from the PATHs station to the 911 Memorial - a couple of miles that we didn't want to walk)


~Lodging: $140 (We stayed (2 nights) in a hotel in Jersey City, just a short (8 min) train ride away from Manhattan.  It was only $70 per night (including taxes and fees!), and included free parking and a continental breakfast.  It was certainly not the Four Seasons, but it was safe, clean, and only for 2 nights!)

~Food: $38
         Breakfast - continental breakfast was included in our hotel (it was meager, but it was only for 2 days!)
         Lunch - $10 (We were driving there during lunch time the first day, so we ate a picnic lunch that we had packed that day.  Our second and 3rd days, we purchased 5 hot dogs / pretzels from stands on the street at $1 each and ate fruits and veggies we had brought with us.)
         Dinner - $10 (We ate a picnic dinner that we brought with us the first 2 nights - chicken sandwiches, salad, and fresh fruit.  The third night, we splurged on Pizza and salad at COSTCO - 3 slices at $2 ea plus a $4 salad - we wanted to get their delicious chocolate almond ice cream bar for dessert but they were sold out!)
         Other - $18 - a small bag of M & Ms at the M & M Store (HUGE splurge - we didn't realize it would be this much when we were getting them, but we didn't feel honest about not purchasing M & Ms we had poured into the bag!)

~Entertainment: $18
         $18 - 4 tickets ($4.50 each) for the ToysRUs Ferris Wheel
         Central Park Playground with huge slide FREE
         Central Park Hike FREE
         Central Park rock climbing FREE
         Seeing Statue of Liberty from Jersey Shore Park - FREE
         Brooklyn Children's Museum FREE with our Children's Museum Pass  (There were at least 8 museums in NYC we could have visited for free with our Children's museum pass, but ran out of time!)
         ToysRUS with lots to see / toys to play with / play house to visit FREE
         FAOSchwarz with a giant piano to run and play on / toys to play with / lots to see FREE
         M & M store with games to play and free samples FREE

Grand Total: $372 for a 3 day trip to NYC

So, as you can see, we came out $72 over budget, but we took $38 out of our monthly food budget for the food, and $34 out of our monthly gas budget, because we eat and drive even when we are home, so we would have spent money on gas and food regardless of whether or not we were travelling.


     

Brooklyn Children's Museum

While we were in NYC, we decided to head across the Brooklyn Bridge to check out the Brooklyn Children's Museum - and are we glad we did!  We spent several hours and stayed until closing and enjoyed every minute of it!


Upon entering the museum, one is greeted by a large, brightly lit tunnel, housing a water feature.

I love seeing the various culture exhibits in the different Children's Museums we visit....

Angel and Wiggles enjoyed the Asian basket boat (and chinese hats!)

Grins enjoyed practicing his penmanship on Chinese characters.

And who doesn't want to dress up as a Dragon?!

One room featured dance shows from many different cultures, as well as corresponding dance outfits to try on.  Wiggles decided to mix all of the cultures at once and dance her own jig:

And sweet Angel, ever the dancer, tried to dress up and dance each different culture's show with precision.

What Children's Museum would be complete without some sort of supermarket?  Angel wrote herself a little shopping list and straightaway got to work....

Grins helped, of course.

Upstairs we found a 'circle' room, offering various different exhibits involving circles.  One of the exhibits displayed how things spin, and featured the most adorable 3 year old! :)

Wiggles also enjoyed pulling on the pulleys

Wiggles built this bridge completely on her own!  One minute I saw her lifting a block, the next, I looked back and found her placing the keystone!  My baby is growing up!

Building blocks can always keep my children occupied for hours!

While most Children's Museums include some of the 'standard' exhibits, such as bubble making or water features, supermarkets, and cultural exhibits, I am always anxious to see what sort of unique exhibits each Children's museum has!  Brooklyn offers a "Pizza and Spumoni Shop", where the children serve as waiters/waitresses and seat parents at tables, offer menus and collect orders, then return to the kitchen to create pizzas (from felt ingredients) and spumoni.  What fun!!

We also really enjoyed the moped/ motor scooter!  Wiggles surprised me and made me laugh when she said, "(Angel), you be the boy, and I'll be the girl.  You sit here (in front) and I'll sit behind you and hug you."  I have no idea where she came up with that, but it was hilarious!  And Angel, the good sport, went along with it.

The circle exhibit also included a giant tire - we found all of the children hiding in it at one point! :)

Angel the artist LOVED the little easel desks the museum offered....I would love to build her one of these!

This is the reason I don't have many pictures of Grins....it's so difficult to keep all 3 children interested in the same exhibits for the same amounts of time (with their different age levels, attention spans, and interests), so early on, we ended up 'splitting up' - the Mr. with Grins, and me with the girls.  Grins very much enjoyed the very rare one-on-one Daddy time!  And I very much enjoyed having an extra set of hands/eyes to help with my 3 busy little explorers!!

Grins and Gears.

All in all, a wonderful day!!