The Zoo

Aunt Christy got us a family membership to Da Bronx Zoo, or rather the Wildlife Conservation Society. Anyhoo, they have member's nights in July and off we went (after an hour or so on the Cross Bronx.) First stop was Tiger Mountain where the tigers obligingly lazed by the glass, took a dip and wandered around in close proximity.
Tiger, Tiger, burning hot, took a dip, now you are not.
Lela's favorite beast of the moment, courtesy of Lion King (1, 1& 1/2 and 2 - we've seen 'em all, many, many, many times.) We were treated to roaring and pouncing.
A breeze break in the gift shop. Did I mention it was HOT?
Zoo employees get a little flaky at the end of an extra long day.
Out of the 8 zillion stuffed animals in the gift shop, Lela chose.....an elephant (tucked tightly under arm.) Go figure. Lela is all in yellow because that's required to be a lion - not sure of she was Nala , Kiara or Sarabi at the moment. The Thinker.
Some people go this way, and some go that way.
The Zoo had a tattoo booth - and not just a regular old stick-on tattoo, airbrush tattoos. Lela got (naturally) a lion. Lian went for a tiger.
It's not a perfect outing without food. Pizza in the food court, yum.

4th of July

Grandma has the biggest flag of all.
Pedaling at Grandma's house.
Friday night concert at the band shell.

The forth dawned dank and drear. Not a beach or picnic day. Jamie plays in the local community band on Fridays, so after a low-key day, we sat on the lawn to hear the concert. And immediately after this picture was taken, it started to rain, a heavy drizzle. Luckily I had a big golf umbrella, and we and most of the audience toughed it out. The conductor told an anecdote about a rainy concert where after hearing no applause, the conductor was about to call it off until he realised - you can't applaud while holding an umbrella. But the rain stopped before the concert was over and we had local pyrotechnic displays going off all around, so we got fireworks too.

More June Goings on

Friday nights at the beach has become a regular family event. Watch the sail boats, the setting sun over the water, eat pizza, swim, have a glass of wine - what could be a better way to start the weekend?

Jamie and the girls driftin' away.
Even our dog, Sally, gets a swim.
Bathing Beauty All bundled up.

HarborFest - another big local event. Craft vendors, art show, music, food, a big kids area. I was manning or womaning rather the Audubon booth under the big tent. L and L had fun at the kids area. Lela decided she was ready for face painting.

Obsession du jour was Dalmatians ala the 101 Dalmatians (we've since moved on to Princess Kiara from Lion King 2, which requires she dress all in yellow, but of course.)

Lian was not to sure, but liked the results too. Monkey see monkey do is a big motivator around here.

Swimming Time. Our dear friend, "Grandma" Barbara has given an open invitation to her pool. Lela is "swimming" with a life vest by herself. Lian is pretty brave, and wants to learn, but we have a problem. She needs to wear an infant size vest (0-30lbs) but they are designed to roll a child face up - which makes swimming pretty tough. Guess we'll have to up size her to the next model.

Lela chillin' in the pool.
Lian ventures out into open water with Barbara.Playing on the pool steps is fun too.