Pics from our recent NY trip!

K and I recently returned from a wonderful, restful visit with the grandparents in upstate New York, having returned on July 31st.  It was a solid two weeks, and we both had all sorts of fun!  For me the fun was more subtle...I've realized that one of the best aspects of the trip was the constant company--it was truly wonderful to "share" the day-to-day simple moments with two other people who love her too, namely her favorite Grandma and Grandpa.  I joked with my parents that I had slipped down in the rankings...Grandpa and Grandma were tied for first (she almost always wanted to be picked up and cuddled by them first, and not her ol' mama!) and Mommy was okay if the aforementioned two weren't around!  I imagine that my need for this kind of daily sharing would ordinarily be filled by a hypothetical partner who lives with us, so it was really nice to be able to enjoy "sharing" her with the other people who love her *almost* as much as I do.  I realized that I also enjoyed being taken care of instead of being the one constantly doing the taking-care-of.  Everyone needs that every so often, I guess.  I really loved seeing K revel in her grandparents' love and attention, and vice-versa.  You can see it in every picture of her with them...it was so touching to see.  But as wonderful as our visit was, two weeks was about my limit, considering that the start of school is right around the corner, and I've been so busy getting my classroom and our house ready for the new school year. 

Teacher stuff starts on August 13th, and the first day with kids is August 20th.  We have an appointment to check out a prospective daycare for K on Tuesday afternoon, and I'm chomping at the bit to see this place, a home daycare set-up, and to meet Jackie, the care provider.  Our original appointment was tomorrow afternoon, but she has an appointment and is having a sub (a friend of hers who often helps out) stay with the kids for the last hour or so.  I have a few other places to call tomorrow, but I'm really hoping that Jackie's will be "the one" for K.  It really looks great on paper, so now we need to go check it out in person.  K has been going to the same daycare center since she was five months old, but it's really too much of a stretch for me right now financially (they have raised their prices each year she's been going there).  Her old daycare center isn't the be all, end all (even though I still like it a lot), and I know that there are many other workable daycare situations in town.  I'll be happier once she's set with daycare for the school year.

Without further ado, here are some choice pics from our trip...

We went hiking at a fabulous park called Labrador Pond where there is a boardwalk around the pond.  The third picture below is actually of Tinker's Falls, where we went after we walked around the Labrador Pond area.  Sadly, not much water right now due to dry conditions over the summer.  I loved seeing K walk with her grandpa:

K decided that she LOVES the beach!  We went twice to a wonderful state park called Green Lakes State Park, where I used to go all the time as a kid and as a teen.  It was K's first foray into water that isn't pool water, and she wasn't sure about it at first, especially that weird sand substance.  She refused to take her sandals off in the water and sand the first time she went, but she was braver the second time.  I expected the water to be freezing, but it was so warm!  Ever since that first visit, she keeps constantly asking, "I go to the beach!"  We do have sort of a beach here, at Prospect Lake, in a large park downtown.  It's a sand beach apparently, but we haven't visited yet.  We'll need to soon, before summer ends.

Green Lakes also has the perfect playground for toddlers, and K loved that, too...

We explored a new section of a massive and popular mall, Carousel Mall, that people apparently drive down to visit all the way from Canada.  The lighting that day was so nice for photo opportunities (with Grandma, of course) that I couldn't resist:

We spent lots of time playing outside in the backyard and at a few different playgrounds:

K and her great aunt Judy

That last picture is of K with my aunt, who was able to overlap her visit with ours.  My aunt Judy lives in the Roanoke, Virginia area, and I felt so blessed that we were able to spend several days with her, since I don't get to see her very often.  She's only seen K once before, and she was a baby then, not the active toddler she is now. 

I have a few other pictures of K with both her grandpa and grandma that I need to add to this post, once I upload them from my camera.  But it really was a fun visit, and a great last hurrah before the busy-ness of school starts up again.