Halfway through the fall, and we've barely had any "true" fall days.  Mostly warm and humid through the month of September.  Just posting a few images from since mid-September. :)

The boys wanted a photo in front of this old car, I am not sure why.  It reminded me some of the first car I can remember my Dad owning...same lines, but his was bottle green and a convertible.  Someone on Instagram said it looks like the "Ghostbusters" station wagon.

Coming back from a farm visit we stopped for dinner in Pawling NY. Found a neat little pub and the boys were posing with mom's beer.  They tried it, though, but weren't fans.

Dash and I played our first games of chess! I dug my old set out of storage.  Anyway, the funny part of our games was the trash talking Dash was doing :).  Really?! The kid's 8! Playing a board game with Dash reminded me of playing cribbage with Nana Brown and my Aunt Nancy :).  I still have Nana Brown's old crib board, but it's tough finding anyone who wants to play crib...maybe when Dash gets a bit older.

Good friends of ours have a stake in a farmstead in upstate NY.  They host parties on the farm and it was so fun to get out of the city...chat with folks, drink a beer or two, eat good food, watch the world go by...and your kids play with fire :).  They had a bonfire.

Trip upstate, we stayed at a HoJos. They had a pool. This photo is totally posed, but I was reminded of icebergs when looking at it.  You only see the top 10% of Dash, the other 90% is below the water :)

Photo day for Hugo.  He's not a fan of button-frint shirts at all, but if he was forced to wear one, which he was, this one is his favorite.

New sweater.  Dash got his afternoon school bus and he told me that some of his friends said that he looked like he was in the army with this sweater on.  I asked him if that bothered him, and he said, no he didn't mind at all.

One of me.  No reason. We were buying costumes for the kids. Those photos are coming later in the month.

Mid September photos and musings

Sharing photos as I take them from the last two weeks. Mostly I put these images on my Instagram feed.

Recently, we had some new kids move on to the block here on the fringes of East Elmhurst NY.  As the weather cools, Hugo and Dash have been heading out more to hang out with these friends.  It reminds me of my own time spent on Vance Drive; I had a pack of kids I was constantly hanging out with on the street. Apartments turn over quickly in New York, and people move out and on to new things constantly. But, I am glad the boys have kids to play with on the street, for however long it lasts. 

Every now and then, we get these notes from Hugo and wonder where they come from.  If I had to guess, it might stem from feelings regarding our new friends, mentioned above.  With all signs indicating that Hugo (and Dash for that matter) are growing up to be handsome boys, I guess Jen and I can take a small amount of comfort in this note...at least before they demand cell phones and set up dates.

That's right, I made my own pies!  Using some recipes and working from memory from the last time my mom was here (when she showed me and Dash how to make apple pies), I made the crust from scratch and apples we recently picked from Pochuk Valley Farms in New Jersey :).  We have to do something with those apples.  Upon first taste, the night they were made, they were simply okay; they tasted better when they had a chance to cool and sit for a day.  Giving myself a grade of "B" for my first pies. 

I don't usually post much about where I work but if you're curious, Temple Emanu-El just marked the Jewish High Holy Days (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur).  One of my jobs at the temple is to make sure the livestream broadcasts go off without a hitch.  Even though I am not of this faith, the services feature beautiful music (contemporary and classical liturgy), ritual (honoring legacy and community), and meaningful sermons...it's not "fire and brimstone," more about wisdom, ethics, and introspection in my opinion.  The temple often advocates for "interfaith," and we often get people from other faiths watching and enjoying.  

Happy dog, Diego!  The boys, lately, have been more into helping out with dog walking.  I was able to get this photo of Diego, now 14, just out the door for a walk.  At first, he's got this energy, usually, moving from patch of grass to patch of grass doing his business.  But, true to Chihuahua form, once the nose starts rooting in the grass for any length of time, the walks slow to a saunter as he's got to sniff out everything, looking for any morsel of food he can find, usually buried by cats or raccoons who loot the garbage bags on garbage nights.

Pochuck Valley Farm

Sort of our thing we do every Fall.  This year we went early enough for peaches and plums...and apples of course 🍑🍏🍎🌞

Keepin' it local

Dash showing off his second pair of glasses with "transition" lenses.
This from a block party in Brooklyn...hence the cotton candy.

Fashion sense! Dash with the double-octopi shirt and shorts.
With Shark-fanged/Pac-man themed backpack...
He wore this to school.  :)

Around the corner from us is Astoria Bowl.
Hugo loves bowling.  So every odd weekend or so, we go bowling.

AND! He beat me in the first game. 

Labor Day Weekend so far...

Just a few photos from today and yesterday.  The boys got a new frisbee and Dash got some new glasses....and we found a pool with a diving board in Queens!

Dash...off to third grade!

Dash dislikes having his picture taken when he's not in the mood. He was grumpy here so I told him, "it's not for you, it's a gift to your parents, in the future." Also told him that if he didn't smile l would come over there and tickle a smile out of him.  That worked. :)

And yes, that's a bulldog-on-a-skateboard print on his shirt.

NYC summer

With jobs and kids, it's easy to forget how easy it is to get around Queens, and also get into the city.  Just got back from taking the boy to a park Jazz Festival on the Lower East Side. They were a bit bored. Yesterday we were at a favorite playground in Central Park.  This past week I ended up biking the kids to camps...with Hugo and I hiking into Manhattan one day as he spent part of a day at work with me.

So, we've been swimming alot...

I, too, was a fish when I was their age.  🐟🐟🐟

I sometimes forget...

...how big and boyish they are becoming...then I see it in pictures.  😀

Hi Blogger...

Just posting some recent photos (with captions).  

So old now I need two sets of classes, sunglasses (because it's too bright) and reading glasses (because it's too blurry up close). :)  Anyway, just me and the boys hanging in the park in Union Square, NYC.  We come from time to time to hit up the Farmer's Market, which is where Jen was while I was taking this picture...the boys have little to no interest in the Farmer's Market.

We are members of the New York Hall of Science.  I took Dash and his friend there the other day as they had a day off from camp.  They have an interactive digital environments exhibit, where you can point to the screen to seed various plants and "logs" behind them can be used to divert water on a digital river.  You only get 15 minutes, but I could spend an hour or more creating these environments...they have a desert, rainforest, wetland, and grassland. I can't remember which this one was.

The funny thing about this photo is that it's not accurate.  Dash merely paused for 5 seconds here...it looks like he's super curious, but honestly, there's so much to take in at the Hall of Science that no kid can stand still.

The Hall of Science had a massive playground out back.  Honestly, this is what the boys want to do...climb a giant rope web-thing.  The playground also had an awesome water-play section, but it was turned off...too bad.

Hugo has a rock collection.  As he couldn't go to the NY Hall of Science, I found a bin of small polished stones for his collection.  My dad could probably name these stones by sight.  I'd need a book.  Hugo just called them gems.

A recent photo with a long-time Hugo schoolmate.  They were classmates when they were in preschool in the city, but went to different elementary schools.  We met his family at a pool in Smithtown, and they got a chance to play together once again.  A nice reunion.

Hugo wants to see the latest Jurassic Park movie.  Once every week or two weeks (not sure which) his summer school class goes to see dollar movies...not sure if he's seen this or not, but watching the trailer, it seemed scary.