Spring in Central Park

I'm taking a break from laundry and packing to share some pictures from our day in Central Park last Saturday. The day was beautiful so we met some friends at the northwestern corner of the park and then wandered around for a few hours. I think much of the city had the same idea, as the park was quite crowded in areas. Nothing like enjoying nature with a couple hundred thousand of your neighbors! :)


Joshua at the playground



Jordan and Joseph playing with a group of kids on this rotating structure



One of our friends helping Josiah on the slide...doesn't Josiah look serious! He really was having fun!



Jon in a spinning seat thingy...it made me dizzy to watch him, but he loved it!



Josiah


Spider-Man, I mean Jon, climbing headfirst DOWN the rock climbing wall



There's a little stream with some small waterfalls in the northwest part of the park. The boys had to stop to climb on the rocks and check out the water.






Joanna was perfectly content to observe the action from her stroller.



We rested for a while next to a pond called The Pool so that I could feed Joanna. The boys, Jeremy, and our friends played a card game under a tree for a while.



Then the boys did their version of wheelbarrow races...



...followed by lots of rolling down the hill!



A view of The Pool...it's absolutely gorgeous here once everything starts blooming and the trees have leaves again!


I talked a few of the boys into posing for me during their downhill-rolling session...here's Jonathan.


Jordan


and Joseph


Tired of rolling down hills, Jon, Jordan, and Joseph take a break to watch another family throwing a ball back and forth.



What's a trip to the park without stopping for ice cream? It's especially fun if it's shaped like your favorite super hero AND has gumball eyes!


Jordan just finished his ice cream...he's trying to hide from the camera, but I caught him anyway!


A pile of leaves just begs little boys to jump in and play! Joey, Jordan, and Jonathan had a wild leaf fight!






The boys all LOVE to climb the huge rocks all throughout the park.



Everybody say "cheese!"



The boys standing in front of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir near the center of the park. There is a jogging track that runs around the perimeter of the water, with this iron fence running along it. We walked about halfway around the track.



Joshua leaning on the fence. I love this picture, although I wish that decorative bit on the fence wasn't quite so close to his face.



Jonathan



The Reservoir with some of the buildings of midtown in the distant background



On the southern side of the Reservoir is a wooded area full of pine trees. We had never been to this part of the park before. The boys enjoyed playing with the giant pine cones scattered under the trees. Here Josh and Jon play pine cone "baseball" with a stick. It's hard to tell with the big rock in the background, but Jonathan is swinging a stick as the pine cone whizzes past his right ear.



Look what I found! Josiah thought the pine cones were pretty neat!



Jonathan found a low-hanging branch and decided to build a pine needle nest in it. Where do they come up with this stuff?






Josiah diligently picked up pine cone after pine cone, carried them over to this fence, and carefully dropped them on the other side. I think he thought he was cleaning up!






Joseph in time-out after a brother took a pine cone to the head...

Unfortunately, my camera batteries died at this point. Our friends had also gone home by now, but we continued our walk all the way to the southeast corner of the park. We walked down 5th Avenue, stopping to look inside St. Patrick's Cathedral and then for dinner at Chipotle. (yum!) We continued on down past the Empire State Building and stopped to check out a sale at Old Navy before finally catching the subway home from Penn Station. Overall, we walked about 6.5 miles! Whew! But we sure had fun!



Well, the laundry and packing are beckoning and we leave tomorrow! I'm planning on posting part 3 of my travel tips tomorrow, so check back if you've enjoyed or found the other 2 helpful!