Carnival crazy

We've gone carnival crazy. In late August the kids enjoyed the rides at Dutch Wonderland and even at a county fair near State College. In September, we took advantage of every opportunity to go on carnival rides ... so many, in fact, that we officially have met our quota until sometime in the spring of Henry's freshman year of college. 

Not every picture below is of the kids enjoying an amusement park ride. We do have lives, people. But if you look closely, you'll see a theme beginning to emerge.

Early in the month we took advantage of our membership to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which is actually very kid-friendly. Come visit sometime and we'll take you here. 

We then went next door to Prospect Park (the Central Park of Brooklyn) to picnic and listen to a very loud concert. (This is Henry boogying to the beat).

We then all got sick for a week, except for me (Justin). I started getting the sniffles and then I punched that cold in the face and told him to stay away. So far, so good.

During Gigi's visit early in the month we introduced her to the NYC aquarium in Coney Island and all the fun carnival rides in walking distance.

This picture is so cute! 

We then went, oh, just about seven days before we noticed the kids going through adrenaline withdrawal, so we hung out at nearby playgrounds and played with blocks as long as we could until it was time for another fix, this time for a birthday party in Coney Island, but not at the amusement park on the boardwalk (yes, it was a surprise to me too, but apparently there is more than one amusement park in CI).

E's first roller coaster by herself. Yes, it was a kids' coaster (no loops) but it was still an accomplishment!

Not that many people know about the OTHER CI amusement park

This only whet E's appetite and made H jealous, so the next day we put on our favorite sweaters and visited our neighborhood Greek festival for some more heart-pounding, blarf-inducing fun (which, as you'll see, H didn't enjoy as much as he thought he would).

Grandparents, we recommend you put this photo up in your homes and offices. E-mail us for the original.

The kids then decided they had so much fun together that they wanted to get married (on a cruise ship, Kate tells me). So they gussied themselves up and tied the knot (even though E is just learning to tie a real knot, she will have gotten married at least a dozen times by age 4).