Day trip to Fire Island

We finally got around to going out to Fire Island on the weekend, the largest barrier island off the south shore of Long Island. No cars are permitted out there and it is only accessible by a half-hour ferry ride, from Bay Shore or one of the other adjacent towns on Long Island. It was nicer than expected, and it was great to replace all the car noise and sirens on Manhattan with only the sound of the Atlantic Ocean surf and people laughing. Xavi had a lot of fun playing on the beach, though water was only 17 deg C. Fire Is. obviously got hammered by Hurricane Sandy last October but was basically back to normal when we went.

Although it's feasible to go to F.I. as a day trip, it would be nice to stay out there. but unfortunately it seems most rentals are for a minimum of 2 weeks and $3-4K/week.

TWO TODAY, XAVI !!

Happy birthday buddy..TWO today -- incredible!! He is 80 cm (35 in.) tall, on the 75% for height, weighs about 12-13 kg (50th percentile) and 93rd percentile for head circumference (Americans must be pin heads :) ) He sleeps 12 hrs a night, has given up his day time nap, can count to 10 and knows most letters of the alphabet. he is essentially a vegetarian and has hardly eaten any meat since returning from Australia, but likes a cup of tea with breakfast. He loves diggers, Thomas, pizza and jumping in muddy puddles! And as bonus, Souths have won more than 75% of their games since he was born. In summary, he is smart, charming and funny. here are some pix from today's celebrations and our trip to Brooklyn bridge Park on Sunday

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Heatwave (almost)

Has to be 90F (30C) three days in a row to be a heat wave. We had 89-90-87 this weekend. What a crappy climate here with 2 seasons: freezing cold then stinking hot. But we made the most of it, a ferry ride on the East River Saturday, then then a coffee at La Colombe in Tribeca and the sprinklers at Pier 25 playground, in the shadows of the Freedom Tower on Sunday (only recently re-opened after repair work following hurricane Sandy)