Tales from Trumansburg: April 2008

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Bushkill Falls PA

Today we visited Bushkill Falls Park just a few miles from where we are staying. a beautiful day for a hike.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The Villas at Treetops in the Poconos

Here are some pics of the Villa where we are staying. There are two bedrooms, two bathrooms and laundry downstairs, living room/dining room/kitchen upstairs, and a loft with two more beds off the LR. We overlook a wooded area. The Villa is in OK shape, partially rennovated and definitely livable for us. We make most of our meals while we are staying here, which is very convienent with two young children. This a quite a big place so there is a shuttle to take you around the resort if you don't want to walk.

Miniture Golf in the Poconos

Near one of the playgrounds and pool facilities there is an activity room with ping pong tables, air hockey, etc. They also lend out basketballs, tennis rackets and balls, and other fun stuff. Right next to the activity room is a miniture golf course. We borrowed some putters and balls and had some fun before dinner.

Kid Central

They have a building here called Kid Central where staff plans crafts, games, and activities for guests. Its include in the stay and available at most of the resorts we've stayed at. It kind of reminds me of the Catskill resorts of the 50s, you know like in Dirty Dancing. On Tuesday Abby and Isabel colored and decorated stuffed bears to take home with them. Daddy made a flower-picture frame-magnet to put on our fridge. Today we made bumblee mobiles. Abby is holding hers. Daddy is still working on his. We also went for pony rides today at the stables. Abby rode on a gentle quarter horse named Shadow. Later in the afternoon, we stopped by Kid Central again for an Ice Cream Social and met up with the new friends from Syracuse. After filling up on the make your own sundaes, we headed to the pool for a swim and some playground time. The Syracuse friends are leaving tomorrow. But the good news is Aunt Madeline and Uncle Kon and baby Eva are coming out tomorrow!

Playground fun in the Poconos

We've met lots of nice families here and made lots of friends. One of the families we've met with kids the same age as Abby are from Syracuse. We have found three cool playgrounds so far but we hear from the other kids there are more to find and play on!

Swimming Fun in the Poconos

So much fun. Abby was teaching Isabel what she learned in her swim classes.There are 4 outdoor and 4 indoor pools here. Three of the indoor pools have a kiddie pool areas.

Sugaring Time --Making Maple Syrup

We tapped the trees outside of school --a little late this year,mid-march,because we were all sick but the sap stilled flowed. We boiled the sap outside of the school. We had two burners cooking. Each pot held about 40 quarts and boiled down for about 5 hours (while adding more sap throughout the day). At the end of the dy we moved what was left to the stove at home to finish it off and can it. We ended up making about 36 pints of syrup. Yummy!!!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

What a difference a week can make...

A week ago we had 8 inches of snow, today it was 68 F and sunny!

These are the days that make us love living in Ithaca so much....the girls and I took a hike to Taughannock Falls and had a picnic lunch. It's about one mile hike in to the falls but pretty flat so it's just the right length of a hike for them. We did it, including lunch and play time, in about 2 hours. These are the tallest falls in NYS and with all the snow last week the water is flowing pretty fast. Poor Stan stayed home and worked at the school...he hurt his knee last week playing soccer and can't put any stress on it. He had an MRI this past Thursday and will meet with the doctor tomorrow to see if he needs knee surgery.