Playing Hostess with the Mostess

Not that we aren't squeezing every last drop of fun out of this city anyway, but having visitors makes us push ourselves even more to get out and do the very most fun things this city has to offer.  This weekend was no exception.

My very good friend Sara and her family arrived on Thursday after a couple weeks on the beach at Cape Cod visiting her mom.  They arrived on a bus and we headed straight out to picnic in Central Park.  Her boys are just about the same ages as our children, which always works out nicely.  We kept Thursday low-key and stayed close to home, swimming in our pool and eating dinner out on the roof.

Friday we retraced some of our favorite steps in the city:

We walked the High Line,

and visited the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum.

 

We also walked through Times Square, hit the main library, ate real New York pizza, took subways and walked miles.  Poor Kevin came home on Friday after a tough week at work, ready to hit some cool, outdoor restaurant and have a cocktail, but we were completely pooped out.

After getting a good night's sleep we headed back out on Saturday morning for something new for our family - Governor's Island.  Governor's Island is a small island off the southern tip of Manhattan accessible by a free ferry.  It's a former military base that last year was opened to the public and turned into a recreation area.  It's only open during the summers and only on Saturdays and Sundays.  The ferry ride over was as much part of the adventure for the kids (and us big kids) as the island was itself.

 

 

There are no cars there and no businesses.  It's a beautiful place to picnic and rent bikes (or bring your own) and ride around and see the gorgeous view of downtown Manhattan.  There are art installations, a sculpture park and a vintage French carnival with old-time rides and games.

 

 

They even had a unique miniature golf course where each hole was created by an artist.  You can't beat the backdrop of the new World Trade Center on the horizon.

 

 

 

We spent the whole day there wandering around the island, eating delicious food and playing fun games. 

We sadly said goodbye to Sara, Doug, Leo and Dexter on Sunday morning (and by sadly I mean BOTH kids cried after they left).  Kevin and I had to quickly come up with an awesome Sunday to distract them from their grief so we left our day's plans completely up to the kids.

And they did not disappoint.

They chose bike riding along the Hudson River at Riverside Park, 

and baseball in Central Park.  

Not a bad ending to an already perfect weekend.