Trunk or Treat

Look closely to see the giant black fuzzy spider hanging in front of our trunk. 

Lots of kiddos, lots of families, big success, petting zoo, food trucks, jumping castle--lots of great costumes and smiling faces. Went thru a LOT of candy!

Carol and Andy, good friends next to us.

Last hurrah before home

Aeri's school sponsored a Trunk&Treat which was pretty fun to attend with her. I guess her costume is one of "Mario" characters which I don't get at all-- but is a digital game??

Dad and Son --keepers of the candy

Lat night here we went to Japanese/Koean restaurant for a great dinner--katsudon, udon, sashimi, even shave ice. Everybody happy

Drive up Hudson Valley

We have been doing some projects around the house, helping out with getting girls to where they need to be, enjoying hanging out with everyone --but today we borrowed on of the kid's cars and took off to see what fall colors we could find up the Hudson Valley. Once we got out of the city and out of New Jersey into New York State we could see it was peak color, especially along the Hudson River.

Bear Mountain State Park

View of New York City skyline from the top of actual Bear Mountain

As far north as Poughkeepsie, New York to walk the bridge over the Hudson. Was built as a rail bridge over the River in 1886--in use for 85 years--and still the oldest surviving steel  cantilever bridge in the world. Was turned into a walking bridge in 2009 and a great attraction. Great fun, great views.

Stopped for an ice cream cone on the way home. Will's plain chocolate was big enough but mine was ridiculously large!! I had to eat it too fast so it wouldn't melt all over the place! 

Entertainment

Tammy is great about getting discount tickets for plays on Broadway. Aerie, Tammy, her brother Gene and I got to see "Hades Town," Seems to be a hot show right now--it was a quirky plot--a Greek Myth set in Industrial South and then turned into a musical!! The production and staging and the music was great!

Lia's highschool music department put on a fundraiser dinner and then  mini concerts by all the groups --band, choir, Acapella choir, etc. Food was just OK but entertainment was excellent. So fun to see her on her environment!

Life in Haworth

Haworth is such a nice community. Established neighborhood with big trees and actual sidewalks. The kid's house fits right in. 

Waiting for the crossing guard as we walked Aeri to school just maybe three blocks away.

The girls are really busy with all their activities after school. Lia at her biweekly Archery.

Aeri at Swim lessons

A nature preserve close by was great for Will and I to take a hike.

Doug and Boba clowning around

Never far from the New York skyline across the Hudson River from New Jersey.

Haworth for a week

one night in Drury Inn in Phoenix so we could catch an early flight to Newark to spend a week with Doug and Tammy and the girls. On time flight, in fact arrived 45 mins early! Flying is stressful these days with shutdown and delays but we had good one.

New York City skyline from our Lyft ride from airport to Haworth, New Jersey.

Haworth is really nice area, big trees, established neighborhood,-- lots of wildlife. These deer were in the kid's yard as we drove up. 

Saturday morning and we rode along to take the girls into Manhattan for dance classes. Love just walking the streets, we are such tourists. It's noisy, busy, traffic awful, dirty, always construction somewhere--but we love it all.

A stop in Fort Lee on the way home for Lia to Orthodontist. And lunch of poke bowls and bubble tea

Surprising how green it still is in city, trees haven't lost many leaves yet. But we found a few colorful ones in the neighborhood.

St Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery

We started out heading for Catalina State Park for a nice Saturday morning hike when suddenly it started to rain. A hike in the rain is no fun so we quickly changed our mind and drove up to Florence, Arizona to visit the Monastery there. The last time we were there was several years ago with brother Larry and Jean and remembered how beautiful it was.  It is truly a spiritual and literal oasis in the desert. The grounds, the architecture, the artistic collage of Orthodox iconography is breathtaking and serene. 

The tomb of the founder

An explanation of the Orthodox Cross which I didn't know before. 

Will at work

Will was asked to do a celebration piece for our neighbor Sophia who is getting married this fall. It's finally finished and ready for the bride! It actually is a colabration between us, I did the center tile, and of course Will did the stained glass. The big green leaves are actually "floating" above the piece giving it more dimension. It was a fun project and turned out great. (The mother of the bride gave us her heartiest approval!)

Added the frame/stand.

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Dear friend Irene did this small bookmark for me. It was so precious that I asked Will to mount it on some glass and copper foil the edges so I could hang it. What makes it so precious is that Irene can not longer do such needlework because her arthritis has gotten so that she can no longer hold the needle. It's one of the last pieces she has done!

 

And my hummingbirds continue to delight out my kitchen window!