Stamford Parade

Last weekend (sun 22 nov) we decided to go to a large parade in Stamford. Parades seem to be well done out here and we hadn't yet been to one. I'd briefly considered the thanksgiving day parade in the city but quickly wrote that off. 

The parade was full of marching bands, dancers, police motorbikes and most impressively huge balloons. We watched for about 30 minutes before going to get lunch but it went on for another hour!

Here are some pics.

Ethan in awe!

Bear Mountain

We've started a bucket list of things we must do before we return. One of the places was Bear Mountain, about an hour drive away. It's a state park and has a reputation of being a good day out. So last Sunday we set off with Bruno in tow and packed lunches.

This was the mountain. 

We started off walking round the lake. I refused the first route as it looked far too steep with a child each on our back. So we picked an alternate and seemingly more popular route up the mountain. It was a tiring but great hike with worthwhile views. Here are some photos. 

The view from our lunch spot

Lunch... Eating outside with a 1yo is never easy!

Matt had the short straw on what/who to carry

View of the Hudson from (nearly at) the top

The boys enjoyed the playground afterwards. Ethan was too busy playing 'emergencies' for a photo. 

Autumn leaves

Still one of my favourite elements of autumn in the US, the leaf collection. Ethan will miss this!