Bits of Our Weekend

I usually try to keep our weekend outings on the inexpensive side. There's so much to do in New York that you don't need to spend a fortune to enjoy it. However, this weekend I treated Audrey to a trip to Victorian Gardens at Wollman Rink in Central Park. Victorian Gardens is a small amusement park geared towards younger kids. Most of the rides have a height minimum of 36 inches to ride alone. Audrey is slightly above this but still not into riding alone, so I had to buy my own unlimited ride wrist band. Admission plus an unlimited rides wrist band is $24 each. After snacks and water bottles, it was a somewhat costly outing, but Audrey had a blast, so it was worth it. The swings were her favorite ride, we did that one three times. The Hot Air Balloon ride came in at a close second.



Photo from Victoriangardensnyc.com

 

 

Photo from Victoriangardensnyc.com

 

The "silly faces selfie" was Audrey's idea ...


After Victorian Gardens, we headed over to nearby Heckscher Playground. It's a huge playground, with a big sand pit, a splash pad area, and a couple swing sets. The sand pit is surrounded by several pyramid-like structures. Kids can scale the side or go into a tunnel and climb up a ladder in the middle, and then slide down into the sand. Audrey had a blast climbing up and down the ladder, pretending it was a castle.

 

 

 

 

Finally, we finished the day with some ice cream. Audrey chose a Hello Kitty shaped pop (I'm sure full of sugar and other not so good stuff, so fortunately she only ate about half of it). I treated myself to a Frozen Yogurt with sprinkles, which of course Audrey snuck a couple bites of.

We kept Sunday low key - some errands and cleaning, followed by a trip to the local park, the playground at Chelsea Waterside Park. We spotted this awesome graffiti on the way:

 

 

The park we went to has a splash pad with some pretty neat fountains - they look like something froma  Dr. Seuss book. So Audrey wore a bathing suit and played in the water and the sand for a bit. We forgot to bring sand toys, but we had an empty plastic cup from stopping to get a drink. It's amazing the things kids can amuse themselves with. She filled the cup with water and dumped it various places. She added sand and told me she was making a smoothie. I forgot what it's like to be so easily amused!

 

 

On Sunday evening, I made a pot of this Tomato Basil Soup (Recipe Here). I like to do make ahead meals when possible, especially in the summer. I don't want to have to be in the kitchen all evening when I get home from work during week, particularly when it's 90 degrees outside. This recipe made a big enough pot of soup that it'll last for several meals - with a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner or with a salad for lunch. Audrey did her own "cooking" while I made the soup - consisting of a bowl, a spoon and various pretend ingredients. She even narrated what she was doing out loud, so it was like her own little cooking show.

 



Overall, a great weekend with my sweet little girl!