Monday, August 17, 2009

~ DAY-CATIONS WITH DADDY ~

Mia's daddy has been on vacation and, boy have we been having fun! We planned out places we wanted to go and things we wanted to see beforehand, and it's really worked out nicely. Everything we are doing is really closeby too, and it gives us a chance to do things we haven't done in a while...or haven't done at all!


One of our "day-cations" was to the Central Park Zoo with our buddies, the "C" family! It was a first for all of us and we got a hot, muggy & beautiful day!:





The kids are looking at the penguins, my camera could not get a decent photo because
of the glare. This was one of our favorites ~ the penguins swan right up to the glass and
looked us all over ~ they were adorable! We couldn't figure out who was on display...
where we checking them out OR where they checking out the human display :)

Mia has gotten so very attached to daddy, since he's been home so much.
It has been so sweet watching them spend these days together;
he keeps saying, "she has some personality!!"


Red Panda!!

Ant & Mia watching the polar bear ~

Watching "Mr. Bear" was another favorite ~

"he" was so interesting to watch ~

He was huge & so pretty, but I always think the animals are so sad
to be out of their "element" and on display...

The sea lions always remind us of Penny,
they have that guilty, yet adorable expression!

This was in the "Tisch Childrens Zoo" - part:



After the zoo, we walked through Central Park and found this play area
with water sprays: I even ran in to cool off (nope, no photo of that! )

We left the city and stopped at a favorite place for dinner; P*F Chang's ~ yummy! Mia devoured her noodles, double fisted as is her normal routine :) Afterwards, the kids spotted these mall-rides; and I think they like it here better than the zoo!!!





Another fun adventure was:
CAMPING...
in the "comfort" of our own backyard!
Daddy made a beautiful fire and we popped j*ffy pop popcorn,
remember that?! The kids loved to watch it pop!it was really good too!
(notice the baby in "E" arms, he was pretending he had just been to Taiwan
and came back with a baby; of course, her name was Paige :)
Ant got to use his new telescope for the first time ~
(thanks U.Roy & Anne!), it wasn't the clearest night; but it was fun!
After I put Mia to bed, ( Mia & Mommy slept inside not out with the boys!)
daddy and the boys went for a night swim...
Then, I left the boys sitting around the fire to dry off, while I watched
"Confessions of a shopaholic" ~ love it!


The next morning, I found daddy and the boys back at the fire pit...relaxing. They looked a bit tired, they didn't sleep very well ~ it was a bit uncomfortable. The boys were very hungry, so daddy cooked over the fire pit flame and whipped up a yummy breakfast:


"Cheers"

I know this is something the boys will remember forever;
I can just hear them years from now,
"remember the time dad camped out back with us..."

Our day-cations continue all this week! We have some more fun things in store...

6 comments:

Colleen said...

Joanne, what beautiful and fun times! The kids all look so happy! I'm sure they have really enjoyed this time with Daddy! Backyard camping is THE way to go! I can't blame you for sleeping inside!:) I'll have to rent that movie for myself! Enjoy the rest of your week!!!

Dawn said...

Wow it looks like you are having a great "daycation"!!! I can't wait to see what you do the rest of the week!

Lisa said...

It sounds like you guys had a blast. You always take such great pictures of everyone. Of course I love the picture of E holding little "Paige". You have to bring the boys over to see her.
LOL
Me

Tamara said...

We love our staycations too! Especially sleeping in my own bed after a busy fun fille day. What a beatiful family you have.

3 Peanuts said...

What a GREAT idea. The night swimming and the fire pit are awesome. I rented Confessions of a Shopaholic this summer too. Have you red her new book..it just came out and I finished it last night...really cute.

Barbara said...

Great shots...I just love the one with the three of your loves all huddled together and laughing. Such great memories!