Hudson River Valley

A few weeks ago, I was looking ahead at the weather and saw that Saturday was going to have warm, sunny weather (at least for January standards).

I began to make plans. We had to do something outside! We had to take advantage of it!

I first thought about going to New York City. We haven't made it there yet, and it looked like we could find a lot of fun, kid-friendly activities to do, especially around Central Park. I called my sister in New Jersey and we began to make plans. We decided against New York when I looked into the crowds that would be in the area that day.

So we did what I often do when I'm not quite brave enough to commit to the main cool thing -- find reasonable substitutes (see my Napping Bear Sandbox series, for example).

What did we want?

• Time with the Paulsons
• Time outside
• Places for our kids to run around
• Maybe some museums
• Food
• Not too much driving
• Mostly free stuff.

The zoo seemed like a pretty good option, but the only one at the halfway point was the Bronx zoo, which was more expensive than we wanted for this excursion. We found some things to do in Connecticut that weren't too far -- dinosaur parks, waterfalls, museums -- but they didn't quite fit the criteria of being halfway between New Jersey and Connecticut. Besides, being in nature in winter is kind of lame when there aren't mountains for scenery, even if the weather is good. At least, it's lame if you have to drive for it.

So we started looking for what was halfway between us that wasn't NYC. Just north of the city is the Hudson River Valley full of mansions, rivers, and charming villages. As I looked online for cool playgrounds in the area, it seemed parents rated playgrounds most highly based on their safety features, rather than anything actually cool . . . but then again, we were going with 1-year-olds who didn't care that much about coolness.

By Friday night, we had the itinerary mostly formed. All the cool mansions in the area fell off the list as we realized they were closed for the winter, and I had learned from visiting Versailles that paying lots of money to see opulence isn't my cup of tea. So that was okay. That's what Google Images is for.

The next morning, we set off with loads of sandwiches and snacks to see what the lower Hudson River Valley had to offer in the middle of January. Our first stop was a museum in Yonkers (yes, we talked and sang a lot about Hello, Dolly as we pulled in). Once the Paulsons arrived, we began our tour of the mansion attached to the museum. (I have much more patience for mansions that are not outlandishly expensive). Kaylie was good company, providing commentary on the elegance and details and wondering aloud if people actually read the books they had in their parlors. 

After that, we explored the rest of the museum. One of the hallways was full of dreamy landscape pictures of the Hudson River (the Hudson River School didn't get its name from nowhere, after all). Downstairs there were a few exhibits on the Civil War.

One room was full of paintings about the battles themselves. Some were a little gruesome (in almost humorous ways), which made us sort of wonder what kind of person would want that hanging in their front room. I mean, you should definitely have art depicting important events, but all the same I feel like it would be hard to find a buyer.

The little ones were getting antsy, so we wanted to find the toy room, but we first were sidetracked by the discovery of the cardboard art room and then the ecosystem room. (Who can really resist a room with buttons, even if they're just teaching you about erosion?) 

After several magical minutes in the toy room watching our kids instead of wrestling with them, we headed up to Tarrytown and adjacent Sleepy Hollow to see what they had to offer when the mansions were closed and the headless horsemen were hibernating.

The answer, of course, is that it had cute buildings, a park with decent playgrounds (that seemed safe enough, too), and more good company. 

They loved running around, especially when Kaylie was chasing them.

Joseph was happy to have his bike with him.

The pictures of these stone bridges were half the reason we even bothered coming. They were pretty fun for those on bikes or in strollers.

I took this because we didn't have many pictures together. I think I meant for the Paulsons to be in it too but we forgot.

When I took the picture just above, we were on different sides of water, and the only way we knew to reach each other was by climbing up and then down a flight of stairs. Derek was sure there was a better way.

When we decided we were hungry, we walked downtown, admiring the charming town as we went. After eating some forgettable pizza, we headed back to our cars and then headed our separate ways. 

If I'm being fully honest with myself, what I am craving most these days when it comes to recreation are things like movies, plays, museums where I don't have to push a stroller, and restaurants where I don't accidentally buy $4.99 quesadillas for kids who don't even eat them. (It's almost like I should find a babysitter in the ward or something.) But a close 5th is definitely spending time with family, especially my own siblings. I forget most of the conversations we have, but I do remember that we spend a lot of time laughing.

So this was a really good day.