Sunday Darpan and Erica invited a bunch of us over for brunch. Maya and Layla entertained Noah.

Layla.

Yankee Fans… (Lou and Avi)

The dancers take over.

Veronica was still warming up to the party as we were getting ready to leave.

Thanks for having us!

Had to check out the red giraffe.

Noah tried to smack the smile off this suns face.

Sizing up the competition.

Magic carpet ride.

Almost ready.

“Where is that 60 foot kicker?”

That might not have been exactly how it went, but Noah gave it a try three times that day and seemed to get the idea. Kate would walk in front of us and while still holding holding his hands I would have him go towards her using either his toes or his heels.

High 5′s to Grampa Holt.

Apres snowboarding with a little juice and watching some Diego, who just by sheer coincidence was snowboarding in the episode that was on my phone.

Auntie Mindy brought out the 4-wheeler and Noah wanted a ride.

Careful in these woods, people are out to get you.

(The next few photos are by Kate)

Snowboarding, so hot right now.

Helping Aunt Mindy pack.

Bath time with Nana.

Taking a walk outside.

The slow ones.

Noah hitting Grampa with a snowball.

Aunt Mindy took some fire too.

First snowman of the season.

Cold!

Grampa sneaking up on Kate who was taking care of some work.

Back to the hotel.

Goats. Not sure why they didn’t make it on the sign.

I see your pumpkin shortage and raise you a pumpkin launcher! Ballin!!

Andy, Aransas, Savannah, Derby, Scott, Dawn, and Chester piled in a van and met us for the muddiest, bumpiest hay ride in history.

Hay was a hit.

Saying good-bye to Nana and Grampa who had to drive back to NH.

Grandparents are gone, break out the band!

This might have been a slow song.

Chester trying to make some tough decisions.

Derby’s handler.

Them Savas’.

Back in Brooklyn.

Nana and Grampa brought a present from Nina and Jasper.

Some great new clothes.

Nana and Grampa brought a present too.

Outside with Grampa.

Singing Happy Birthday to Nana T.

Chelsea skatepark.

The carousel at Chelsea Piers.

All of the animals on the carousel are native to New York State. Noah chose the falcon.

Kate chose the skunk.

Noah’s second choice was the fox.

The Richard Serra show at Gagosian.

The elevator up to The High Line.

After The High Line we had dinner with the Savas’.

Always great to have Nana and Grampa in town.

Lunch photo by Kate.

The rock wall above, by Andy Goldsworthy has great dimensions, 5 ft by 2,278 ft. If you’ve never seen “Rivers and Tides” I highly recommend it (Netflix has it).

Richard Serra has three or four of these there.

Noah is picking the Buddha’s nose…

Noah and I were really into this Mirror Fence by Alyson Shotz.

Alyson Shotz, Viewing Telescope.

Noah still psyched on the American Flag.

We went up to 57th St. to see a few photo shows. Noah made himself at home in the galleries.

Sitting on the counter at the lunch spot.

Central Park.

“Let’s check out this carousel”.

“Whoa, angry horses”.

Noah thinking that I didn’t “sell” this idea well.

Playground. No, really it is.

See, there were things to climb.

Rocks to slide on.

Look, there’s mom watching our stuff.

NYC Parks. Fun for all!

This was our last full day on Mount Desert Island, and we were (Kate was) determined to wear us (me) out. We started the day at Otter Cliffs.

A quick lunch in Bar Harbor.

After lunch we walked over to Bar Island. A small island just north of downtown Bar Harbor that you can walk to at low tide.

A Bar Island resident.

This strain of fungi is known as banana-chipis.

The view of Bar Harbor from Bar Island.

From there, we drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain, the highest peak on Mount Desert Island.

This sums up our trip.

Check out Bar Island now. The trail/path we walked was to the left, under all that water.

Dinner.

Asticou Map House.

We took a different trail back that went up over a small peak, Elliot Mountain, then as we made our way down the trail we cut through Thuya Garden.

Through the door to the garden, the landscape completely changed.

Back at the house.

My view to the right as I grill in the drizzle.

My view to the left.

Self timed group photo.

Lunch (© photo by Katherine Holt).

Big hugs.

Sad good-byes.

It was great to spend so much time with you. Thanks for making the trip and thanks for all the help.

Wild 3 year olds doing dances for their Nana.

Wild birthday deliveries (they do that in Maine?) from generous Aunt Mindy.

WILD!

It was so wild at the house, that Kate and I went for a hike. Just the two of us. I’ll recap a little.

Our car, growing smaller.

The hike getting steeper.

The view getting better.

The sap, getting sappier (and the bugs, to the left of Kate, getting hungrier).

Our post hike lunch.

Back at the house, wild boy grew another tail.

At the playground in town.

Dinner.

The typical mid-meal distractions.

Dessert!

Presents!

Tidy cookie eating.

Fancy lunch at Jordan Pond.

Eagles and stuff.

Obstacles that needed to be overcome.

Then there was an accident and a wardrobe change.

Learning that some obstacles are easier than others.

Feels like there is a troll at every bridge lately.

Fellow hikers.

Back at the house, waiting for sunset.

Right before sunset Kate and I went to check out the Bass Harbor Lighthouse. A: to see it at sunset and get an easy photo, and B: to see who else was out trying to get some easy photos.

Fellow photo-enthusiasts.

The pier near the house we rented.

Nosey roommates.

A high-tech story with Nana before bed.

Lunch time exercise on our drive to Kennebunkport, ME two Friday’s ago.

In New Hampshire we hit some serious rain.

Luckily our campsite was completely dry.

Noah watching something on my phone while we ate dinner.

Leaving dinner.

Back at the campsite, Noah in the sleeping bag that Aunt Mindy got him for his birthday.

How did Noah’s first night in the tent go? I’ll tell you tomorrow…