Bouncin' Through the Boroughs

Well, I know I sound like a broken record, but it was another jam-packed weekend.  We focused on the "B" boroughs: the Bronx and Brooklyn.

Friday night we met up with our friends Mimi and Joel and their two boys Ansel and Arlo at their favorite ramen restaurant for dinner.  They're a great family we met when we moved here through a mutual friend back in San Mateo.  It was great to see them and to find a good ramen restaurant (Ella's favorite).  The night was gorgeous - still about 70 degrees at 8pm - so we took our time getting home, wandering through Columbus Circle first.

Saturday we met Maeve's family at the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx.  Ella and I went a couple weeks ago for her class field trip but Kevin and Holden hadn't been yet.  The weather wasn't nearly as nice as the day before but it turned out we were really lucky to go this weekend since the blossoms will likely all be gone in the next week or two.

We got to see even more of the gardens than when Ella and I went.  They are spectacular.  I know this is going to be a regular place for us.  The kids even got to make their own terrariums to take home.

After Maeve's family had to leave for a party, we stayed on for another couple hours and enjoyed the little bit of sun that poked through and then took the real train (not the subway) back into Manhattan, which the kids loved.

Sunday was all about Brooklyn.
Our original plan was to check out an Earth Day festival but we never found it and instead stumbled upon a fantastic food fair called Smorgasbord DUMBO, which apparently is every Sunday.  DUMBO is the name of that neighborhood in Brooklyn and there are dozens of food stalls with every kind of food you can imagine and all gourmet -  BBQ, Asian, tacos, wood oven pizzas, Argentinian, gourmet grilled cheese - you name it.  We all picked some yummy food and then found a spot on the grass in the beautiful Brooklyn Bridge Park which runs along the East River under the bridge and listened to live music as we picnicked.

There was even a carousel there.

And our first New York beach.

After we were all stuffed we wandered around the DUMBO area a little more and then decided to walk back to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge.  Ella said that was the highlight of her day.

After a quick stop in Times Square on the way home to pop into Toys R Us so Holden could pick out his prize for getting himself dressed all week without being asked (yes, we bribe our kids), we were all exhausted.  So what better way to end the weekend than with happy hour on our roof deck?

I hope you all had an equally fabulous weekend!
xoxo