9/11 Museum

Doug and Will and I took an afternoon and went into Manhattan to visit the newly opened 9-11 Museum.  They took turns pushing me in my wheel chair and all worked pretty well. Still sobering to see it all, inspiring, but mostly sad.  

 

This is just a portion of a mamoth quilt that commemorates all the victims of a 4 plane crashes.

The new Fredom Tower is getting close to completion and has already become a landmark.

Aeri

Auntie Stephanie got here today

Aeri's "other grandma"

Family DeBoer

Sleepy Hollow

We were in Tarrytown, New York in the Hudson Valley and spent a couple of hours in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.  it was the most interesting place!  This is the cemetary made famous by Washinton Irving's "Ledgend of Sleepy Hollow" and with just a bit of fun imagination, it all comes to life here.  It looks just   exactly like you would picture an old 18th century cemetery to look. The Old Dutch Church built in 1667 is still there and still in use.  

Headless Horseman Bridge is there although not the original one, it works for me!

Washington Irving is buried here and his grave is well marked.  Other famous people buried here are the likes of Andrew Carnegie, William Vanderbilt, Leona Helmsly.  Gravesites from pre-Revolutionary, Civil War and on up to the present.  

A little farther down the road brought us to "Lyndhurst."  

The "castle" was not open for tours but we could walk the grounds and enjoy the views.  It had several owners over the years but most famous was Jay Gould, a former Governor of New York who made his fortune running Union Pacific Railroad.

Abby and Brian

We drove across the border into Connecticut last evening to meet up with Will's grand niece for dinner in Stamford. Abby and Brian Metzger moved here from Michigan for job opportunities earlier this year and are both enjoying their new life in the city.  So neat to see them and keep up with their busy lives.
  Oh and the little Italian restaurant in downtown Stamford was the best!

Taking Lia to pre school

Lia goes to Pre school every day and of course she loves it

We got to help take her to school this morning.

This is her classroom!  She learns Korean and English here.

here she is signing in.  The rest of the kids are waiting for her!

Boscobel and Poughkeepsie

Tammy had a doctors appointment today so Will and I decided to give the kids a day to themselves and do some exploring around the Hudson Valley.   We drove up to a small town on the Hudson named Cold Spring and toured an amazing mansion.

Boscobel is a neoclassical mansion on the banks of the Hudson River built in the Federal style, built in 1808.  It almost was lost in ruin but money from Lila Wallace, founder of the Readers Digest, saved it during mid 20th century.  It has been restored back to original.  Where they couldn't restore original furnishings, they at least used appropriate period items closest to what they knew the family had through records and documents.  Interesting that the original owner was a Loyalist who returned to New York after the Revelutionary War and after amnesty and settled here.  I wanted to take pictures inside so badly but it was not allowed on the tour.  The docent really made the tour interesting and informative.

The house was moved to this location when it was saved from destruction.  Quite the view.  Those buildings that you really can't quite see through the tree on the right is West Point.

Poughkeepsie has turned an old rail bridge across the Hudson into a pedestrian bridge.  It is pretty fun to walk out over the river and view the whole Hudson Valley!  It is connected to a rails-to-trails bike trail that looks super fun.  We obviously did not bike it this time.

Meeting Aerina

Yes, she is beautiful!!  Let me help you with her name. . .pronounced like "Er'-in-a."  Accent on first syllable.  Her nickname has already been chosen--Aeri, ("airy.")

Aerina Park DeBoer.  Tammy doing better but still needs some TLC.  Doug  taking care of all three of his girls.  Lia is thinking being a big sister is kinda ok.  She is going to do just fine.

Lilliana and Aerina

Latest picture of baby and big sister!!  Hard to believe that Lia was once that tiny!!

Catskills

We are still a day out from our destination but we stopped on the edge of the Catskills at a very picturesque campground.  Our site was right on the stream that flowed through the campground.  Very soothing to sleep near.

We could see on our New York state hiway map that we were right on the edge of the Catskill Park so thought we'd go exploring.  Our maps didn't give enough detail to be much help so we decided to drive into town to find some information.  We had the hardest time finding anything or anyone who could give us any kind of direction.  We finally gave up and struck out on our own and managed a scenic loop up to a reservoir and back.  Found a couple of covered bridges by turning onto the everpresent Bridge Street in small villages.  They were both fully functional.

We drove through a cloud of Fritillary Butterflies and had to stop.  The Joe-Pye Weed was full of them. Don't know what the attraction was but it stopped us in our tracks!  Was magic!

A short hike up the stream in the campground we found an old water wheel from 1900 when there was a working mill here.  It was all overgrown and dilapidated but its size was still a testiment to the industry that was once here.  Wasn't hard to imagine it turning again.

  We only really saw just a corner of the Catskills and know there is a lot more here, but not this trip.  We will have to come back another time.  We have a couple of granddaughters waiting!!  Next stop will be the small town of Florida, New York where we have stayed twice before with our motorhome.  We know this campground well and feels like we are coming home.   

She's here!!

Aerina Park DeBoer surprised us all and came two weeks earlier than her due date!  She's not waiting for anyone!  Mom and baby girl are home and doing well.  Doug is there also being a great Dad to both his little girls!! 

Born July 19.  We were still in Canada with our phones off and did not get the news until the next day.

Word is, she looks like her big sister!

    We decided to hang back and not rush to NJ to give the kids a few days before we decend on them.  Although I am pretty anxious to get a chance to hold her.  Am also looking forward to giving Lia some lovin' too.

  There will be many more pictures to follow!!

More Finger Lakes

Finger Lakes.  Farms, Vineyards, historic buildings everywhere, whole towns on National Register, woods, water falls, farm markets, tourism centered on wine industry and the lakes.  Very picturesque.  Tons of bike trails and hiking opportunities. . .well, next time.  We happened to hit a heat wave with very high humidity so hiking and biking would have been pretty uncomfortable anyway.  Forecast is better for rest of the week.  Did a lot of driving through the countryside.

Dinner overlooking Cayuga Lake

Finger Lakes region of New York state

Granger Mansion in Canandaigua with its Carriage Museum with over 100 carriages, cutters and  sleighs.  Interesting to see these antiques, especially after seeing antique cars so recently.  It makes more sense to me to understand where the design for early cars came from.  There is so much innovative design as the carriages developed for specific use.

Sonnenberg Mansion built as a summer home by wealthy New York banker in 1876 who's holdings became what is today Citybank.  Seven formal gardens surround the mansion, one of which was an authentic Japanese garden. All lovingly restored.

We actually birded in Ithica on the grounds of the Cornell Ornithology Research Lab.  Wheelchair birding, yes!  Nice trails around a pond through a natural area called Sapsucker Woods.   I am a member of this non-profit institute dedicated to interpreting and conserving biological diversity through research, education and citizen science focused on birds.  I use thier on-line resources all the time and get thier monthly publication so was fun to stop and actually see thier facilities.  Big complex housing staff, research library, indoor observation facilities, education center, etc just outside Ithica, New York.