New York City Mice

The Tahoe country mice visit the Big Apple!

We arrived in NYC early in the morning and immediately hit the town!

After a short walk to Doughnut Planet - fresh, luscious, scratch-made doughnuts in heavenly flavors like lavender vanilla & hazelnut chocolate - we made a long walk to Battery Park to get on the boat.

 Someone suggested bringing a stroller - best piece of advice ever!!

Poor Kenzo was so exhausted and slept between seeing the sights.

It was a gorgeous day to be a tourist!

Wait a minute, is this the same kid that ate doughnuts for breakfast?

Okay. Just checking.

Cheesy souvenir. 

Check.

More walking to Little Italy to our favorite pizza place, Lombardi's. 

We easily devoured a large pizza.

NY pizza has ruined us for pizza anywhere else.

Icy cold beer to cool down on this warm day!

After checking into our hotel, taking a shower & cooling off with the AC blasting, we headed back out.

Of course, no vacation would be complete (for us) without a stop at a local fire station.

Engine 9, Ladder 6 - the Dragon Fighters crew in Chinatown!

Cruisin' the streets with a cranky kid.

Beautiful evening glow in Chinatown.

Our hotel was right at the base of the Manhattan Bridge - awesome location and a fun/funky neighborhood.

The next morning, we had a delicious breakfast at the cutest little cafe, just down the street from our hotel. 

Massive french toast for the kid.
 

Shashouka, pita bread & Israeli salad for me. I was, needless to say, on cloud nine.

Down to the subway...

Easy, quick & we even saw a rat - BONUS!

Kenzo's trademark "booty dance" while we wait for the train.

Yes, Soft Bear came with us everywhere. 

At Rockefeller Center.

FAO Schwartz!

Zoltar, as featured in "BIG." 

With Star Wars guys. He's never even watched anything about SW, but somehow it's in his blood.
 

The Lego department was a huge hit!

Hiiisssssssssssssss!

And, the piece de resistance....

Spider Man AND Iron Man!

These guys (and the rest of the store) made it very hard to leave the store and the city.

Trade Center One, gleaming in the afternoon clouds, waiting for the impending thunderstorm.

We were escorted with quick rain shower, as we drove our little rental car out of the city.

New York Country Mice

Our little rental car brought us upstate 2 hours to the Matises farm!

Dinner on White Lake with Lynn and Art, aka: grandma and grandpa.
 

Beautiful, lush, quiet farm life.

We consider ourselves "country mice" living here in Tahoe, but this is the REAL country with tractors driving by all the time. 

Chocolate pony lollipop snack at a gorgeous pony farm the next day.

 

Frankie!

There are so many lakes around this area!

A little mini golf - check out that form!!

He's obviously watched Tiger sink a few putts...

Great open spaces...

And ponies, ponies, ponies!

These horses got a LOT of carrots this past week.

Kenzo loved driving the tractor and helping grandpa with farm chores.

Yummy dinner at our favorite Greek restaurant, complete with Aunt Patty and...
 

...Uncle Brant!

 

Outside the restaurant, Kenzo was invited to sit on a Harley.

Do you think he is just a bit excited??

More ice cream. Busted.

Another day, another tractor.

 

Our hard working little farmer dude.

Funny, with all those horses around, we had to go to another farm to ride one!

Yes, this is Frankie from the above photo.

Yummy, HUGE dinner at Eric's old favorite, Frankie & Johnny's.

 

Kenzo placed his bet at the Monticello Raceway.

We came in dead last.

Our favorite horse, Max, had an infected hoof, so was on barn rest.

Don't worry - he got extra carrots! 

Another day, another fire station.

 

"Scary guy" sculpture at dinner.

One more of Max.

He was so sweet, resting his head low and still so Kenzo could scratch him.

For those of you keeping count, that's three tractors and three ice cream treats.

Freckles. "Like mommy."

We also went to the Forestburgh Playhouse to see a production of "Beauty and the Beast."

Great old barn-like theater, with gorgeous gardens outside.

 Soft Bear was really enjoying himself on this trip.

The cast signed autographs and posed for pictures after the performance.

Kenzo liked the Beast and Gaston the best!

 




And one last clip from driving around on the windy, curvy country roads. 

He said the same thing on the airplane when we would hit a bit of turbulance! 

A great trip to NY - we all had a blast!

Challenger Soccer Camp

This week Kenzo attended Challenger British Soccer Camp in Tahoe City.

His group, for 3 & 4 year olds, met for one hour every day. 
 

Warming up the first morning. 

Each participant got a t-shirt and a ball - so cool.

 

Coach Harry with his group of minis.

He did a fabulous job with these little ones, keeping it super fun and silly while teaching great ball skills.

The coaches are all from the UK and spend the summer traveling around with the camps.

The line-up.

Kenzo was the youngest in the group, but he loved keeping up with everyone else. 

Writing our "thank you" note to coach Harry.

Day 5. Stick a fork in the kid - he's done.

We didn't end on a high note, with some crying from not understanding the "game" we played and just from being POOPED! 

 

All in all, a wonderful experience and first introduction to the game. We'll be back for next year's camp!














  

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