Our Home Region

We live in the lower Hudson Valley about 1 hour from New York City.  Our home’s location allows us to enjoy the splendor of the four seasons, and there is always something fun to do!

In the Summer

Living near the Hudson River there is always something to do along the river or the many lakes in the area. We like checking out the local band or the full concert orchestras that regular perform in the various band shells found along the river.  One favorite is the outdoor theater at West Point when the concert band, jazz band, and orchestra regularly perform.  The season highlight is when all three groups play together on the 4th of July ending the night with the 1812 Overture complete with fireworks and since it is a military academy, real cannons!  We also love water activities so we sometimes rent a rowboat or canoe and travel around the area lakes. We also have a family boat so many weekends we can be found boating the waters of Long Island. Usually we try to spend a week on the boat at Fire Island which is like a campground for boaters.  As its part of the National Park system they even have “little ranger” programs.

In the Fall

One family activity that we like is a visit to the local Apple Orchard. We will pick lots and lots of apples. We like making our own applesauce and canning it to use the rest of the year. It’s so much better than the commercial stuff. Of course Lauren will make apple pies with some of the apples too. A trip to the orchard is a perfect fall day. We all love walking outside together through the orchard, selecting the apples to choose, and tasting them as we go along. We will also have a picnic lunch while there. The orchard also generally has either a DJ or local band singing. Alek’s is always up for dancing to any tune. This year we will take Alek through the corn maze and if he’s brave enough maybe the haunted house!  Playing with the leaves in the fall is also fun.   Last year Alek even helped rake them and put them into the leaf bags. Of course this turns into throwing them in the air and seeing them float in the sky, or jumping in the pile and scattering them around again.

We also like to go to the Adirondack Balloon Festival. It is one of the largest balloon festivals in the area. It absolutely amazing to see dozens of balloons take off together and you were so close to some you almost felt like you should be able to jump up and touch the bottom of their basket.  Alek was amazed by the different shapes and colors of all the balloons.

In the Winter

There is plenty of snow and the fun activities that come with that.  There’s snowman making in the backyard.  There are also numerous sledding hills nearby and ponds for ice skating.  Just a little bit further away are the Mountains for all types of skiing, snowboarding, and sleigh riding activities.  We hope to introduce our son Aleksander to skiing this winter in a little tykes program.

In the Spring

It is so nice to see the flowers start blooming from the crocuses, the daffodils, then the azaleas, and the mountain laurel that is a part of our landscape blooms in June marking the time of transition to summer. Alek enjoys helping his mom with the weeding that might need to be done, or helping to plant some of the plants in planters. He always wants to help his mommy or daddy.  Our property also makes for great Easter egg hunts in our yard. We hide plastic eggs with various prizes in them for all to find.  This summer we even found one that was missed.  Of course we also color real eggs to make them pretty for the holiday.  

Family Gatherings

Occur throughout the year. In addition to tradition holidays, we will all get together for birthdays, Father’s day, and summer get together days with a large family barbeque. We will set up a badminton or volleyball net. There is usually a game of horseshoes or tag going on too.

Lauren also has a cousin who hosts an “the Saturday after Thanksgiving dinner” each year.  This allows all the cousins, second cousins, and extended family to get together who otherwise are with their own families on Thanksgiving.  On this side of the family there are 12 little second cousins which make for quite a crowd and plenty of playmates.

We also see Erik’s family frequently too. In the summer as Erik keeps his boat at his mother’s house were often going down there for water adventures.  The day usually ends with a family barbeque.  Erik’s niece and nephew’s are quite involved in travel soccer teams, so whenever they’re in our area we also catch their games.

Our house 

We live in a newer 2 1/2 bath, 4 bedroom colonial nestled on about a 1.5 acre lot with plenty of trees.  The yard is very large and provides plenty of room for all types of outdoor activities.  Your child would of course have his very own room.  Our home also has the usual dining room for big family gatherings, living room, office and den with a fireplace great for watching movies from.  We also have a very large play room with plenty of toys it even has a pool table which Alek loves.