Apple and pumpkin picking

We borrowed our friends car over General Conference weekend and went upstate to Alstede Farms. It's a pretty fun farm with lots going on! It was expensive too, but I think worth it for all the things the girls were able to do. There is pony rides, a bouncy house (which they went in about 5 times!), a tractor ride, petting zoo and a corn pit. We let the girls play for a few hours and then we took a hayride around the farm and stopped at the apples to pick some yummy apples. There were so many different kids! We wanted to try each kind so Spencer would find a decent looking apple on the grass and we would try it to see if we wanted to pick that kind. Some of our favorites were Empire and Crimson Crisp.  

It was a fun day with the family! I love fall days like this. The air was crisp and I was able to wear leggings which are my favorite. After the hayride we picked a few pumpkins to take home and ended the day with ice cream. When we got home we let the girls paint the pumpkins for FHE and Spencer cut into one to get the seeds out. We cooked the seeds and girls LOVE the seeds! We will have to cut into the other two pumpkins to cook the seeds because they devoured them. 

September fun

Here are a few pictures that I had taken recently. I love this blog because it is a huge scrap book/journal for me. This is where all my photos go so I can write about them and also journal about our adventures. 

Bergen has really taken to sleeping in different places for her nap. One day she decided to sleep on the toy bin :) and most days she just wants to sleep on the floor. It's pretty funny where she ends up, but I am fine with it since she still naps! :) Charley has been loving making forts lately and made a fort and invited Spencer for tea. It was pretty cute! 

We had a fun Labor Day BBQ upstairs on our roof. The neighbors were up there, the kids played in the pool and we just enjoyed the summer night. It was a perfect evening. My friend Lizzie and I also took our kids to the beach one last time before it got cold. It was a great day and the kids loved playing in the water and sand. They love the water and I love it! They both would want to play in it all day if I let them. 

Charley and Bergen both started a coin incentive chart. Every day they earn a quarter for being a good listener and being nice to each other. Charley saved up her coins to buy this jewelry pack with bracelets/rings and earrings. She LOVES them and wears them a lot. It was pretty cute watching her pick it out and be so proud and happy to have her reward. Bergen also chose some slime to buy which is sooooo messy but soooo her! She likes playing with it and it gets all slimy and messy everywhere so we threw it out, but it was fun while it lasted :) The last few pictures are of the date Charley and I went on a week ago. With baby #3 coming any day, I wanted to take each girl out on a date. I took Charley to Park Slope while Bergen napped we we went to a place where you can paint some pottery and then they glaze it for you. She chose a heart jewelry box for her new earrings and bracelets. We painted it together and then she wrote her name on the top. Then we went and got some frozen yogurt and then rode back home. It was a fun little outing and she loved having a "date" with mom. 

Bailey and boys came to NYC!

The Stewart Family came to visit us in NYC! It was a lot of fun having them here and we were able to get out and do a lot. Justin came for work and worked in New Jersey during the week and would come on the weekends but Bailey and the boys stayed with us. Bailey was a champ and got out everyday to do something. Me and the girls joined them on a few outings too which was fun. The kids had fun playing together. We had a lot of fun exploring with them and getting out into this great city! These pictures seem to be out of order but some highlights were Central Park and Levain Bakery, visiting the Oculus near the 9/11 Museum, Brooklyn Bridge (and this amazing stranger helping us down the biggest stairs at the High Street stop! He had Bergen in one hand and Bailey's stroller in the other!)

We also went to the Transit Museum one day which was a lot of fun! The kids liked running through the subway cars. AND the Children's Museum was a favorite for the kids. We have a seasons pass and go a lot but we were able to get Bailey's kids in for free and so it was fun showing them our favorite museum (which is really close to our house too!). 

Bailey watched the kids one night so Spencer and I could see Wicked! Bailey and Justin were able to go see Wicked and Phantom too. It worked out well. 

We also made our way up to the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. They are a trek to get up to but there is a Chihuly Exhibit going on right now which was really cool to see! The kids wanted to touch each sculpture and play around which was a little tricky getting them to "just look" but then we went into a kids area with huge pumpkins, a puppet show and things to play with and then they were happy :) 

On the last weekend they were here we were able to do quit a lot! We took the train up to the Cloisters which is this really cool Museum connected with the MET but just had a lot of different artifacts from Europe. They built the Museum specifically for different artifacts which was cool to see. After the Cloisters Spencer took the girls into Central Park to play while Bailey and her family and I went to the MET. I was able to walk around kid-free and enjoy the MET. It was amazing! I loved the paintings from the renaissance period and was able to see some cool Van Gough, Picasso, Monet and Rembrandt paintings. We went to the top of the MET to get a good view of the city and then met back up with Spencer where we took the train to China Town to get some yummy dumplings at Vanessa's. We then topped it all off with some ice cream at Morgensterns! So yum!