I’ve been a little lazy lately

as we are all well aware and I have not been getting the Little Guy out and about as much as I should be.  If you recall, when we were in California, we made it our mission to see as much as possible.  I had joined not only a walking group, but an outdoor playgroup started by a friend who knew the area like the back of her hand.

Fast forward to now and I am barely finding time to get the minimum completed each day, much less investigate new places.  I realized that a big part of the problem is that we could be considered 'local' and know the area too well.  We done so much that we forget things change, places are updated/expanded and we need to keep seeing them, not just checking them off and filing in  'bucket list complete' folder.

After spending nearly two hours with the LG at the Long Branch Nature Center (well, really most of it was playing with sticks and rocks in the water) on Friday, I knew we needed to get out again on Saturday.  Of course, sometimes in this area things can be more enjoyable should the weather be sunny, but not too warm (for Peter's sake).  The morning rolled around and I could tell the day was going to be spectacular by the time I dropped Kelsey off for her Brownie camping trip.  I kiboshed all nasty ideas of laundry, pantry-organizing and yucky indoorsy stuff and headed home to get ready for a day on the town, beginning with a trip to the farmers market.

The start to the day was delayed a tiny bit by the pre-teen who needs 18 hours of sleep on Saturday mornings.  I get it as I was the same way at her age.  Sleeping Beauty stayed home, we made a quick trip to the market, thankfully avoided the 30 person line for the balloon man (who authorized THAT?) and returned to collect the Cait.

I realized that in order for an outing to work, we need to have an exact destination.  Peter's only item on the agenda was a BBQ dinner of sorts.  The morning drives to and from Sibley each day have me passing by areas that I keep meaning to rediscover, so I quickly created an agenda that was easy, free and guaranteed to be enjoyed by all:  a walk around Roosevelt Island and a trip to Gravelly Point (anyone with a toddler or a love of flying/planes knows the joy that IS Gravelly Point). 

Despite the parking lot seeming to be jam-packed, we quickly found parking at Roosevelt Island.  The only minor issue of the day was sending Cait back to the car to drop off her books (she brought two to read on our nature walk).   She was a little less than enthused in the beginning, but began exploring and forgot all about everything else.  The walking paths were a paradise for Nicholas (water, rocks, sticks, oh my!) and when his little legs began to tire, Peter did that wonderful dad-guy thing and hoisted him up on his shoulders.  

We meandered around the island for more than an hour and walked at least two miles (no idea on pace, left the GPS at home…probably a good thing).  The only disappointment was the noise from the city on the outer edges of the island…though Nicholas loved the sounds of the cars flying over us on the bridge just a few feet above us about 2/3 of the way through the walk .  We ended the trip with a stop at the memorial (the area around it is under construction, but still worth a look) and made our way back to the car to continue our journey.  

I have been meaning to take Nicholas to Gravelly Point for ages.  It is a park very close to National Airport and has grassy areas perfect for picnics, frisbee games or just relaxing and watching the planes zoom overhead.  He loved it and watched at least 6 planes take off.   As it was nearing dinner time, we assured him we would return, next time with a picnic basket and a few extra hours to watch the "the plane!".

We ended the day by easily finding a parking space in Old Town and having dinner at King Street Blues (have their portions always been that big??).  To make our day complete, we chose to have dessert in Del Ray and tried the Fairy Godmother for custard and ice pops.  I fell in love with the crunchy granola and we enjoyed our treats while walking the neighborhood…ah, if only we had a cool $750K to put down on a house around there.  I'd love to be back in a more walkable neighborhood, if only it didn't mean not being able to eat while living there.

The day could not have been more perfect.  We missed having Kelsey around, but knew she was enjoying camping with her friends.  The weather was superb, we spent nary an hour inside and we were reminded that there is plenty to explore in this area.  Now what to do next week when Cait is at her 6 hour (yes, six hour) birthday party?