First Train Ride

Charlotte mentioned to her Nona a few months ago that she wanted to take a ride on a train. And while it was probably a mere flashing blip in the wandering, scattered mind of a two-year-old, you can't make such a cool request of your grandmother and not have it honored. Especially when her own father was a lifelong railroad employee.

The initial plan was to find a little round-trip Amtrak excursion we could make, but then I stumbled across the Saratoga & North Creek Railway, a dedicated track and train used exclusively for touristy jaunts into the Adirondacks. It was more expensive, but definitely the way to go.

We bought tickets for the second level dome car, with full table-side meal service (breakfast on the way up and lunch on the way back) and huge bowed windows for premium sight seeing.

Taking an off-peak trip on a Monday in the summer was ideal planning. The dining car and the rest of the train were empty, meaning that Charlotte could take as many walks as she wanted without interrupting anyone else's trip.

Our half hour layover in North Creek basically just consisted of Charlotte burning off energy by running around the beautiful wooden platform, but technically there is a tiny little village we could have taken the "shuttle" (read: golf cart) to.

The only downfall worth mentioning is that because the rail cars are vintage, the stairs, hallways, and seats in the train are all extremely narrow.  When I first sat down in the dome car I felt a little claustrophobic, but it went away very quickly.

Additionally, we were very comfortable at our table for four with two adults and two small children, but it would feel very tight with four grown adults. (This could be worked around by purchasing four tickets with two separate transactions - then they'll sit you at two separate tables. You would only have your seats filled if the train was completely full. I'm sure this happens during leaf peeping season, but not in the summer)

 

Baby Animal Days

Charlotte's preschool class took a field trip (her very first one) to see the baby animals at a local farm and orchard. It's something we've done every year so it was good to continue the tradition.

* Here are our pictures from two years ago.

First solo outing while outnumbered

While B spent his usual Saturday at the library, the kiddos and I went to the NYS Museum. It's free, never crowded, has lots of (taxidermied) animal exhibits to look at, tons of open space, and a carousel at the top.

We don't have a double stroller yet, so B sat down with Charlotte before we left the house and had a talk about holding my hand and not running away and coming when I called and somehow it worked. My child never remembers anything you tell her for more than six seconds, so I can't believe this actually stuck. My wild child was a little hand-holding angel.

"Mom! What this bird?!... What this little guy called?"

"Hold my hand, k, mom?"

Can you spot Everett?

Also, can you spot my "is this thing actually taking our picture?" face?

3rd time on the carousel, this time on the bench seat that rocks back and forth.

Everett had a blast as well.

Contemplating the elk and the penny pond

Relaxing with the elk and some almonds before going home.

Adventures at the cardiologist

Scene: At the cardiologist getting an ultrasound of my heart to rule out any problems from the whole cardiac incident back in December. Laying on my left side in an extremely awkward tilted position so the tech can get the clearest view.

Sudden rush of intense pressure to my chest.

Oh my god!
I'm having chest pains!
They JUST asked me about this.
I've never had chest pains.
Oh my god!
I can't believe I'm having my first chest pains AT the cardiologist!
What does this mean!?
Should I say something?
Is the ultrasound causing this?
Oh my god, it's really intense!
There must be something more wrong than they thought.
I need to go back and tell them!
..
..
..
Oh.
Wait.
..
..
It's my milk coming in.
It's been two hours since I fed the baby.
..
..
Nevermind.



 

Just like Florida, but closer

Since I'm too pregnant to fly anywhere warm this winter, we took a little weekend getaway to an indoor water park about an hour from here so we could at least experience some manufactured warmth. It was a huge hit with the whole clan and a lovely distraction from all of the health issues and accompanying chaos that's been going on at home.

Charlotte was a total water bug and loved every minute, and I learned that floating in a lazy river removes every single pregnancy symptom I've been dealing with. No heartbeat issues, no blood pressure issues, no cramping, no dizziness, etc. B said he'd swing by the farm store this week to get me a big tub to put in the living room so I could float for the next four weeks. He thinks he was kidding, but I would rock the shit out of that farm tub...

 Sundaes in the room

 Whispering secrets to the bear before sliding

 Strawberry smoothie

Lazy River.

Now if only I had a picture of her laying on her arms in the inner tube, B holding her up, floating along like an Egyptian princess. She got so used to her station in life that towards the end of our float she turned to me and said "Daddy go?" and I had to reply something along the lines of "Oh my god, you DIVA!! He's BEHIND YOU, and has been holding you up this entire time. Turn around!" Oh to be an adored two year old...

The swing was a HUGE hit. Apparently you don't have to actually be IN the water to enjoy the water park.

  

Christmas Tree Shopping

Charlotte - Fish swimmin'?
B - Yup
Charlotte - Charlotte go swimmin' too?
B - No, honey, it's yucky in there, it's only for the fish
Charlotte - Yucky 'cause fish go poopy?
B - (laughing... trying to respond to the ever random musings of the toddler mind) Uh... yeah, they go poopy in there.
Charlotte - Go pee pee too?
B - Yup, they go pee in there too
Charlotte - Water yucky

Just hanging out with the tree.

Fake sleeping - one of her favorite games

     

Cans & Eggs

It was a low key but lovely weekend around here. Our plans for Margaritas and Mexican got nixed when I came down with a bizarre stomach bug on Saturday night (SO sad), but Friday at the museum and Sunday at Nana and Papa's house still provided plenty of excitement. Well... in that way where your definition of "excitement" changes in a post-kid universe. 

Here's the Canstruction exhibit I had mentioned on Friday. It's a collaboration between the museum, the local food pantries and local architects. Ten groups of local architects raise the money to purchase their cans (around 3500 per sculpture), build their piece in one day, and then all of the cans get donated to local pantries in two weeks. Additionally, each visitor is asked to bring in a can of food and vote for their favorite display by putting their can into bins.

 Here's B with the Rock 'em Sock 'em robots.

 See how I'm in focus and she's blurry with one foot off the ground? The picture is an accurate portrayal of our days together.

 In front of the Angry Birds sculpture

 Charlotte casts her vote for the "tweet tweets"

Unlike every other time on the carousel where she dove off the minute it started to move, she had a passionate change of heart this time as you can see by the explosive smile on her face.

 The happy chaos of dying eggs with toddlers

 

Georgia Aquarium

When we decided to take our trip, I knew we would have one day in Atlanta to see something great, so I Googled something along the lines of "best attractions in Atlanta" and immediately hit upon the Georgia Aquarium. Built in 2005 by Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus (price tag = $250M), the aquarium is the largest in the world and the only place in the country where you can see whale sharks and manta rays. (If you've never seen the scale and beauty of a manta ray, they alone are worth the trip)

When you hear "world's largest" before anything, you tend to really gear yourself up for a long day. B put on his knee brace, I took preemptive Advil for my back, we ate before we arrived, etc. But we actually had it all wrong. Zoos require a lot of walking, but aquariums really don't. It was the calmest, most peaceful, coolest attraction we've ever visited.

To add to the experience, we were there before tourist season, and also mid-week, which meant that we could luxuriate at the exhibits, sometimes sitting there with our coffees for 20 minutes at a time, just observing and taking pictures. It was almost like an art museum. I can't say enough good things about it, put it on your Must Do list if you're anywhere near Atlanta.

 The jellyfish (AKA: Sea Nettles) were a personal favorite of mine. I was in total awe of their colors and movement.

 Sea Dragon

(We took tons of pictures, but shooting through glass meant that several of them are a little blurry, but this little guy came out great)

 Penguin crawl space

At the penguin exhibit you have the option to crawl on your hands and knees through a tunnel to get to this little viewing area. There are also little pop up tubes where you can stick your head into a viewing area right in the middle of the penguins.

Hey little buddy. No idea what he is, but he swam slowly enough to get a clear picture.

 In the viewing bubble at the river fish exhibit.

This was one of the window seats at the main tank. Again, it was heaven. We sat in the window with our coffees and watched and watched. After a while one of the volunteers came around and answered all of our questions. This obviously couldn't happen on a Saturday in June, so keep that in mind when planning a visit.

 Tunnel through the main tank. 

Can you believe this!?! HOW is this real?

This is the skinny end of the main tank and the silhouettes of the people will give you an idea of how large it is. We sat in the viewing area and watched them feed the fish and the whale sharks (the large creature on the right half of the picture)

Sitting on the floor at the main tank.