Weekending it

This past weekend was long and full. Soaking up as much summer as possible. The weekdays were filled with crummy weather but fortunately the sun came out, just for the weekend!!

On Saturday we planned to go to Governors Island again to meet up with some other people from church. The ferry from Bay Ridge wasn't operating like usual so we opted to take the subway into the city and switch to the Governors Island direct ferry in lower Manhattan. It ended up being a good idea since we got there faster anyways.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch before meeting up with friends and doing a guided tour of the forts on the Island.

There are two forts on the island. We had walked through Castle Williams before but hadn't done the tour. It was SO interesting and they even took us to the roof!!

We also got a spontaneous tour with the Parks Ranger at Fort Jay, also on the island. Very interesting history dating all the way back to the dutch colonial days. If you ever have a chance to come to New York (and it's in-season) definitely spend a day on Governors Island. It is being constantly revitalized and there is so much to see and do. BUT, it's not over run with tourists and a fun little hideaway.

After the tours we grabbed ice cream and then decided it was time to get Kip back home. Dan traversed two ferries with Kip to get back to Bay Ridge while Mandy and I took the ferry back into Manhattan.

I surprised Mandy with tickets to see School of Rock on Broadway as an early birthday gift. She really wanted to see the show but figured she never would since I'd already seen it. Well, I loved the show the first time and wanted to see it again so it worked out perfectly. Bonus, the show is closing in January so we got tickets just in time.

We got back pretty late but we really enjoyed the special sister time.

On Sunday we went to church, got lunch out, and did our usual grocery shopping.

In the late afternoon Mandy headed home and Dan, Kip, and I headed to the park for a birthday party for a little friend. Fortunately, Kip took a late bonus nap in the stroller so he did well staying up a little later. He LOVED the bubbles theme and was really interested in the balloons as well.

In less than two weeks it will be Kip's first birthday and I'm so excited to celebrate with him!!!