Happy Halloween

There has not been much hype and preparedness for Halloween in the days following Hurricane Sandy but that has not stopped us dressing up and heading out this evening.

Minnie Mouse, the Green Man, a bleeding skeleton and a scary, masked, black-robed alien all ventured onto Columbus Avenue for some Trick or Treating.

Halloween in the city is mainly 'treating' and by 'treating' I mean the kids walk into all the restaurants and stores along Columbus Avenue and surrounding streets in our area and grab hand loads of chocolates and lollies.  They eat and pick up so much candy, it gets quite sickening!

We bumped into some of the boys' friends on our way up Columbus Avenue so together made our way through the streets.

The highlight was definitely walking along 69th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Central Park West which is closed to traffic on Halloween.  Most of the brownstones decorate their stoops and facades with witches, goblins, ghosts, monsters and ghouls and the whole street becomes a Halloween Party!  Loads of fun.

We also decorated our doorway in case some kids in our building came by.
As you can see from the pictures, we had a great time....

Australian chocolate

Our front door

Sam's pumpkin

Ben's pumpkin

Making friends with Sandy

As most of you are aware, Hurricane Sandy has taken New York and other parts of the US hostage.  We are very lucky to live on the Upper West Side - no where near rising water levels.  For us it is mainly the inconvenience of being stuck indoors as we ride out the immense storm.
All public transport has been suspended, all schools are closed Monday and Tuesday and we have all been advised to stay indoors.
Its amazing how a city as busy as New York can come to a complete standstill in such a short amount of time.  There are hardly any people on the streets and virtually all stores are closed.  It's actually quite eerie.
The kids didn't mind having a day off school today.  We managed quite well with the day divided into 2 hour segments to keep everyone occupied.  We had Bill's Ricotta Hotcakes for breakfast to remind us of Sydney.  What a treat to have the honeycomb butter (made from Crunchie's sent from home)! The boys played a lot of Wii and Claudia and I spent some time doing nails!  We read, baked a cake, watched a movie and are now starting dinner and winding down. 
One day stuck at home is fine, relaxing even.  Tomorrow might require more thought and ingenuity!
Thanks for all your messages - we are 100% fine.

Wind and rain outside

Down on the farm

The tradition every Fall (known to us Aussies as Autumn) is to drive out to the country side to the many farms and orchids to pick apples and pumpkins.  I had been researching all these quaint farms about 2 hours away when I stumbled upon Queens County Farm Museum, not far from Manhattan at all.

So last Saturday we piled into the car and headed out to Queens.  The farm dates back to 1697 and has various animals and grows vegetables, including corn & pumpkins.

For the past 10 years, the farm has created a maze through the corn fields that people can work through, with clues, maps and many dead-ends!  It took about half an hour to find our way out. The kids really loved working together to find the clues and figuring out the map.

Here are the kids with one of the many decorated scarecrows

Boarding the hayride

 After a short hayride, we went to choose our pumpkins.  We came home with 6 pumpkins of various sizes and shapes.  We are currently painting them to use as Halloween decorations in the hallway on our floor.  Once finished I'll send through some pictures.

We ended our afternoon eating fresh corn on the cob - delicious!

The Debate

Last night was the 2nd of three Presidential debates.  As you would expect the news coverage and commentary today was immense.  I was not expecting the boys to come home discussing the merits of Obama and Romney's arguments and philosophies!
Apparently many of the kids in their respective classes watched the debate and today there was much discussion in class.  The boys were aware that Romney wants to 'reduce taxes' and were appalled to learn of his desire to significantly alter social security and welfare allowances for the poor and needy. They all believe Obama will win and think its very interesting to discuss whose parents will be voting for each candidate!
Next week, an adviser of Obama will visit Sam's class and they will hold their own debate.
Somehow I can't imagine them comparing Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott!

"This is going to be the worst day ever!"

It was Simchat Torah yesterday and lucky for the kids another day off school.  It was also the last day of Della's visit so we decided to take advantage of what New York has to offer us.  After a quick search on Time Out Kids NY, our day was planned - the new Picasso Black and White exhibition at the Guggenheim, followed by Hansel and Gretel's Halloween Adventure at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre in Central Park.
One problem though was that on hearing what Della and I had planned, the boys cried "This is going to be the worst day ever!' We had our work cut out for us.  Long faces, tears and feet dragging - we left for the Guggenheim.
Sam and Claudia fell in love with all the weird shapes and Picasso's style.  They spent the hour lying in front of the paintings, copying and drawing.  The other 2 were no happier than when we started!
Next up was the Marionette theatre, a gorgeous old cottage set in the middle of Central Park.  Unfortunately the show was not as exciting or enjoyable as I was hoping - goes to show not all kids entertainment in NY is great!
So, it wasn't the 'worst day ever!' but it wasn't the best. But it was still better than doing nothing and we had a fun day out!

'Fancy' theatre for little people

While we have been living here, we have tried to take advantage of all the cultural experiences on offer in New York, having seen a number of Broadway shows, Coldplay, ballet and opera.  Today I opted for Theatre for the youngest member of our family. Claudia and I went to see 'Fancy Nancy, the Musical' at the Vital Theatre with 2 of Claudia's friends, Emmy and Zion.
It was a short walk from our place to 75th and Broadway where many little girls were dressed up in their fanciest outfits to see one of their favorite characters, Fancy Nancy.  Claudia was especially excited as we have been reading the books each night for months now.

The show was great, the girls loved it. Each bought a momento of the show and had their programs signed by the cast.  They were most excited to have a photo with Fancy Nancy. We really had a wonderful time!