Sunday best

Mama and Sonia getting ready for church. I had to post this one with my bare feet ;-)


People moved in and out of a brownstone, an old automobile was left sitting on the sidewalk. Sonia loves everything on wheels. It even had a horn.

On the way to a Brooklyn Bridge Park. Jeremy's head didn't fit in... old stones and rail road tracks in the midst of a booming DUMBO.

3rd Street park

A week with babulya

My mom spent as much time as she could with Sonia on this trip. They naturally conversed in Russian and Sonia loved her new playmate. She was sad when time for babulya to go home to Utah came.

We went to the beach. My mom says she has not been near the ocean for quite some time now. I saw her swimming for the first time. For those who don't know... it is huge for my mom. I think she learned swimming after turning 50 years old. She always says it was too cold to learn where she was born.

Sonia and mom built sand castles and enjoyed small waves. I like NY beaches so much better than CA. Much more warm water and smaller waves make it so much more enjoyable!

We enjoyed the sand, there were many foot prints left from Sonia's little feet.

On Tuesday we went to Metropolitan museum and left my mom there. She stayed till closing time, didn't get lost on the subway on her way back and came home with a happy smile. We are on the steps to the Met.

After a day at the Museum of Modern Art, my mom said the collection was delightful. She liked it.

The shopping at the Canal street was fun. Then we took the Staten Island ferry and saw Manhattan skyline and statue of Liberty. On the right is my favourite Brooklyn bridge.

There is a funky bull at the North end of Bowling Green. It was dropped off at the Stock exchange one day by an unknown artist. Rubbing this bull brings luck ;-)My mom takes great photos. I love this one with all our little family on the boat with Statue of Liberty in the back.At the end of the week we felt like tourists. We have been to all touristy spots and even managed to see two Broadway shows in one day while mom and Sonia checked out Brooklyn museum. We will miss the city if we have to move!

All about yogurt

Some eat it. Some do pictures with it. Sonia likes to put it in her hair.

A good thing it was about time to take a bath and go seeping for a night.

Celebrating our life at Saratoga Springs

Sonia thought she should come too ;-)

My mom flew in and helped us with Sonia. Jeremy planned out the whole trip and it turned out wonderfully. I couldn't believe how much we enjoyed this weekend together.

On the way out of the city we stumbled onto a Good Morning America show with Marry and Donny Osmond.

Then after a short trip by train and car, we arrived at the Mansion.

That is the most romantic 19th century B&B in NY. I loved our Excelsior original bedroom on the second floor. Main features include the 14' ceiling, golden walls, white marble fireplace and the 19th Century high Victorian and quite decadent queen bedroom set.

The distinctive black set was hand painted with a floral and gold leaf design. As I learned from the house keeper this room is the most photographed bedroom and was featured in Victorian Homes Magazine.
I have to mention delicious eggs Benedict with crab cakes, french toast and stuffed crapes with spinach every morning on the main porch. I absolutely loved fresh scones with strawberries and enjoyed them way too much. I gained about five pounds while there ;-)

Tiffany's chandelier and beautiful molding.

Picturesque grounds with swans in the pond, gazebo, fountain and an old barn are enticing to take a walk.

Jeremy couldn't help himself and had to take a short nap in the hammock.

The owner of the house was a brown paper bag creator and producer. His factory is still there, across the river.

Saratoga is famed for its springs.

In the 19th and 20th century visitors flocked to the Queen of Spas, they followed a rigid regiment, designed to maximize the health benefits. We took a tour of Spa State Park and tasted all three categories of cathartic (laxative), alkaline (antacid) and chalybeate (high in iron) waters.

All springs are naturally carbonated, they come from the ground at a brisk 55 F all year round and they are all good for you ;-) Later that day we enjoyed the historic Roosevelt Baths and Spa that opened in 1935 as a bathhouse.

Of cause we had to go see the oldest horse race track in the country. We made bets against each other and won until we decided to make an official bet and lost a whole $9.

I loved the horses. Here is a winner of one of the races. We also checked out National Museum of racing and Hall of Fame. All famed horses made their marks on this celebrated grounds Man o’ War, Secretariat, Arcaro, and the Jones Boys. I definitely could race a horse!

At night there was nothing less but the Philadelphia orchestra with Charles Dutoit, conductor and Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano performing Roussel, Saints-Saens, Debussy and Respighis one night and Sergei Khachaturyan with Tchaikovsky the other.

How can one end a night any better?

On Saturday it was a family night at SPAC.

So much to do so little time... on the way back we stumbled upon Ulysses Grant Cottage and had a tour and a story told about last battle of the man who had tenaciously commanded the Union Armies during the Civil War.

He faced financial disaster and incurable cancer. Fighting pain, weakness and time, Grant raced death in order to complete his memoirs and save his family from financial ruin. He passed away a day after finishing his last work. He and his wife used to sit right here in the chairs that are still in the house.

We also visited Hyde home and gallery that holds a splendid collection of art in the upstate New York. The empire state comes to life. It is beautiful.

Cougar Saturday

We put on our BYU t-shirts this morning and enjoyed a cougar day. First we went for our morning run in the park, today taking the longer route and covering somewhere around four miles, then we went to the farmers market.

Rise and shout, the Cougars are out,along the trail to fame and glory. Sonia is going down all by herself for the first time!

Sonia loves picture time, she even poses... she also likes to look at the pictures and loves to see the blog. I do need to print some out. Sonia started climbing and walking much more.

Huge storm came and cooled everything down. We all took naps. That was bliss! And off we went to the Aquarium in Coney Island. Sonia loves fish, fish and more fish.


Some endangered giant turtles, rays and tiger sharks are all in one big tank. I wonder how they feel about such tight quarters.

A baby walrus was playing with a toy. Here he is snuggling with his mom. He was born 115 lb and is about one year old. His nickname goes something like "the biggest baby of Brooklyn". I am glad he is not my baby ;-)
Walrus fam ;-) How many walruses do you see ;)




Sliding down is fun.

My new camera has an aquarium setting....therefore so many pictures today.