Autumn in New York

Fall time in New York is absolutely enchanting. I was so grateful because we had a bit of an Indian Summer this year. The warm weather and green beautiful days lasted so much longer this year. I've been quite smitten with Ithaca this school year, which I know says a lot considering the dramatic break-up the two of us had after last winter. I never thought this relationship could be mended, but I honestly find myself thinking that I'd love to live in a place like this.

I love this picture because it documents something Garret could not do all last year. He tried so hard to climb up these spider legs and then hang down but his legs and arms weren't quite long enough to make that big gap and get to the top. He must have grown over the summer, because he came back able to climb on everything and even do the monkey bars. Gross Motor skills were worked on all fall and Garret showed a ton of growth and progress in this area.

chasing ducks at Cayuga Lake

and climbing trees

Love this sweet moment with Reid. We got some tasty treats at the Farmers Market here and then just sat on the bridge watching/feeding the ducks in the water below.

Taking the plunge into Treman Falls

One of the best things this that happened this fall, was finding this sweet little gem of a place. Flat Rock. The kids and adults could play here for hours. We did a playgroup here and then had such a great time we brought Ace back for a visit later that week.

The weather changed slowly and gracefully, leaving us with beautiful views like the picture above, and gave us warm wonderful days spent outside like the picture below.

Picking Fun at Grisamore Farms

One of our very favorite things to do in New York is go to all the U-Pick farms and pick, play and stuff our faces. We made sure to do this pretty immediately after returning to New York and we made sure to do it several times before the weather turned too cold. Again, one of our very favorite activities.

One day we invited a couple of the Dads along to pick blueberries. They weren't our best pickers, but they enjoyed the beautiful weather and good company and we just enjoyed having them around.

Garret is a pretty big fan of sweet Logan

The best picking crew around....and by far the cutest.

This year we even picked our own pumpkin. The boys found a pretty perfect one, but fell in love with a painted Minion faced one, apparently named Kevin. So we walked away with two pumpkins from Grisamore Farms

We are lucky to have so many great friends here; both big and little.

A Quick Stop for some Colorado Summer

I just love this fuzzy picture of my two sun kissed, decently groomed boys. These two and I flew from San Francisco to Durango to spend a week with my family in Colorado before Ace joined us and we headed back to New York.

We spent some time at the fair watching Brock show his lamb and heifer. And of course, since we were at the county fair, we had to go on a few carnival rides.

Sweet Maryann and Reid were so excited to go on the pink elephants.

At Grammy and Papa's house we did a lot of crafting. And by we I mean Garret. This kid loves creating things. I've never loved crafts but I am learning to enjoy it more and more when I do it alongside this sweet fella. This is a trick hat like the one George made for the Man with the Yellow Hat. You can put food in it and then open a little door and the food comes out....like I said, a trick hat.

And just because we spent a lot of time playing in the water in California, didn't mean that we were tired of it. I spent a lot of my childhood playing in this creek and I absolutely love that my boys have gotten a chance to play here as well. Roadside Park is a family favorite.

 This picture is proof that my sweet fair skinned Mr Ried got a summer tan. When do I need to start teaching my kids about modesty?

Roadside Park does this to us every time.

And every time we visit Colorado, we spend time with our favorite dog. Sully is still considered our dog and if anyone ever asks the boys if they have a dog they always tell them about their Sully.

And just like that, we were off again! New York, here we come.

Some Dance to Remember, Some Dance to Forget

When life gives you lemons, you make sweet sweet lemonade. And that is exactly what we did ALL summer.

This was really a summer for the books. Ace and I decided to let my body heal and to let our emotions heal for the entire summer and then talk about trying to get pregnant again maybe in the fall. So I started running again and the three boys and I played and took every moment we could to enjoy the sunshine and California summer.

First of all, lets talk about this sweet little house!

Right near downtown Palo Alto and a 25 minute bike ride from HP. I honestly know Heavenly Father was sending us a HUGE HUG with this little house. It was perfect! It had a fenced/hedged in yard with a lemon tree, it had a back little alley so Gar could ride his bike without worrying about cars, we were on a bike boulevard so honestly the car traffic was limited anyway, and it had a washer/dryer. Like I said a warm hug from Heaven. 

Ace was around a lot since his work was so close, no need to deal with that crazy rush every hour traffic. 

We LOVED all our time with ACE!!

We can NEVER get enough of him...seriously. Poor guy doesn't get breaks very often, but he seems to be ok with it, most of the time.

I love the above picture of Ace with the boys so much because it describes how he parents so so much. He is a very in the moment kind of guy. I love it! Honestly I do. The boys did ended up having to ride back home from the beach in the buff, because of course living in the moment never considers dry clothes for after the moment.









All the space and privacy we had allowed us to, well, run around in our underwear if we wanted. We all got to let our hair down and be our silly, loud, bouncy selves. After a long winter in a stacked apartment, this was a breath of fresh air.



Like I said, we let all our wacky selves out.

There were so many fun plants in our yard so Garret made lots and lots of fun potions

Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Stephanie Stryker live in Danville, which is about 50 minutes from Palo Alto, so about every other Saturday we enjoyed dinner in Danville with family. It was so good to be with cousins this summer, and we loved getting to know this side of the family better.

I even got to celebrate my 30th birthday with the family. Aunt Terry and I got to celebrate together since she too is a July babe and was visiting from Kansas. A very memorable birthday indeed.

We played outside a lot, and lots of that was spent in and or near water, which I absolutely loved!

Ithaca made us very very pasty, but we just lathered on the sunscreen and enjoyed the glorious sunshine and some of us walked away with a tan...mainly Ace and Garret but Reid and I had a few lines here and there as proof of our summer in the sun.

Lots of beach moments were had this summer!

Exploring tide pools. So cool!

And it was so nice to have already made friends there!
Laura and Melody and I probably got the kiddos together at least once a week and we did a ton of exploring during the week while the fellas were at work. It was a pretty magical that we crossed the country and found some of our best pals just waiting on the other side.







A man, his harmonica, his dog and a picnic in the park. Best time.

We also got to meet up with my good friend Emily Minson who lives in Modesto. Emily and I were in the same Early Childhood Education Cohort and probably hadn't seen each other since my wedding day, so it had been awhile. The boys and I were able to get together with her to play once and then we joined the Minson family one weekend for a little getaway to Truckee California and Lake Tahoe.

The Minson and the Stryker Boys!

We went to an airshow in Truckee and got free slushies at the local 7/11 because in was 7/11/2015

And then there was Lake Tahoe. I love some time at the lake.

Such a wonderful evening, at a beautiful lake and with incredible people.

We played hard this summer! I love that. 

Waiting on an owl for the library to open. 

The Magical Bridge Park in Palo Alto. Coolest park ever.

And of course, there are always forts to be built.

We spent one Saturday morning riding Thomas the Train through the some Redwood forests. Like I said, it was a pretty spectacular summer.

And when it was time to go, it was ok. We knew we had been given something special and we were so grateful. I don't have any regrets from this past summer. It all turned out so much better than I could have hoped for. It was a wonderful blessing after the long and difficult months prior. So we packed up our stuff and left with thankful hearts for the summer we had in California.