September 28, 2016 - Tanya's Trip to Florida & Bahamas Cruise - Day 5 - Queens & Long Island Day Visit

Elisa's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 9 DAYS

Astoria Park - Great Day Getaway

Hump Day and I definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  

My baby Punkin woke me up crying, which is par for the course, (good little girl, lets me know she has to go out and do her business), but after she went out, I still had about 30 minutes to rest before the day had to start.

Before I got a chance to lie down on the couch and get comfy, my fur child jumped on and made herself at home and I had to position myself "around her."  Annoyance number one.  This did not make for a restful rest.

Next, as I may have mentioned to you earlier, Gianna will be in her first-ever horse show this weekend.  The plans for this show have gone back and forth and all around for the past week.

First, it was to be on this coming Sunday.  Then it was changed (by the show organizers) to Saturday, making it necessary to squeeze in a lesson on Friday afternoon, to give Gianna a chance to "practice" before the show and Kelsey an opportunity to ride since there would be no lessons on Saturday, due to the show

Then, Monday we were informed there would be no show at all - that the show coordinators said they could not get approval to hold a show at all for Jumpers for the rest of the season.

So, I deal with all kinds of disappointment (understandably so) from Gianna and we are now back to riding on Saturday, per our usual schedule. Well, last night, Gianna gets a call from her trainer that now, the show is BACK ON - now it's Sunday!

And poor Gianna brought it up to me as I was telling the girls at breakfast about my "plans" for our free Sunday (which included packing for Disney World, among other chores) and she advises me the show is back on.

Folks I cannot tell you how pissed off I was.  The poor kid thought I was mad at her, but I assured her it had nothing to do with her and I was going to bring her and support her, but that this back and forth is totally annoying and unprofessional.

​UGH!! Rant over (I think).

On a happier note, our day includes getting together briefly this afternoon with Tanya, Cosette and Dominic.  Unfortunately, yesterday's plans didn't work out since Kelsey was still under the weather on my end.

Today, she seems on the mend and is back in school.  We'll only have a few hours since Tanya has stuff to do later on since she leaves for Florida tomorrow and my girls have homework and studying to do.

Hard to imagine we only have 9 days to go till our Disney Trip. My girls are super psyched! 

TOO MANY CHORES

It's still early but I've already made a bunch of calls and completed errands.  I had to pick up my laundered comforter, which "someone" (I wont mention names a-hem) had an accident on last week. 

From there, I had to go to the camera store to advise them to replace Gianna's camera, for which the repair was going to cost almost as much as a new camera. 

Made reservations for Punkin to be boarded during the 5 nights we are in Disney World. And, now, for the past hour, I've been washing and re-washing Gianna's saddle pads so they are clean for her show on Sunday.

W2GW

I saved this little excursion story for today, (Where to Go Wednesday) although it happened about a week ago.

Me, Gianna and Punkin went into Astoria for a lovely lunch with Aunt Ro at an adorable restaurant with AMAZING food, which is situated right across the street from Astoria Park. (click link or 16 Facts About Astoria Park).

(Incidentally, I'll be returning since the hunger level was so high, we gobbled everything and I took zero pictures  We exclusively ate appetizers - which we shared with Punkin since this particular restaurant was dog friendly - but, I will definitely be doing a Foodie Friday feature on this little dining destination in the near future!!!)

Gianna & Punkin running in Astoria Park (c)travelincousins.com

Anyhoo, it was Punkin's first trip to a park and boy did she LOVE it!!

There are some gorgeous parks throughout New York City, and Astoria Park is one of them. 

So much open space to romp and play, and the views of the East River, The Triborough Bridge and the Manhattan Skyline are truly breathtaking!

The park hosts fairs and festivals, dog training and lots of other events on a regular basis.

If you and your group enjoy physical activities, the park is home to bocce courts, fourteen tennis courts, two playgrounds, a skatepark, and one track for running.

And should you be in the mood to just lounge about, this is the place to come and relax, watch the boats go by in the East River and soak up the rays. 

Hells Gate Bridge in Astoria Opening on March 9, 1917, Hell Gate Bridge was an engineering marvel at the time of its construction and gained notoriety as the inspiration for the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Sydney, Australia. (c)travelincousins.com

The beautiful Triborough Bridge, also known as the RFK Bridge, described by The New York Times as a "Y-shaped sky highway", was dedicated on July 11, 1936. (c)travelincousins.com

Punkin having a blast romping along the path! (c)travelincousins.com

Astoria Park's famous outdoor swimming pool, is 54,450-square-feet, making it the oldest in NYC, was planned by Robert Moses, and used for qualifying events for the 1936 and 1964 Summer Olympics. (c)travelincousins.com

Two of my "babes" (c)travelincousins.com

For all events and more information about the park facilities, check out their website: 
 www.nycgovparks.org/parks/astoria-park/events
Astoria Park
19 St. bet. Astoria Park S. and Ditmars Blvd.​

Back to today, I just read the 10-Day weather forecast and there is supposed to be lots of rain in the coming days - including Sunday, the day of Gianna's Jumper Show.  I hope that changes.  

Enjoy the day!!

-E
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: NEW YORK 

Another Day Dun Well

Good Day everyone! And Happy Hump Day to you!

Today is our last full day here in NYC for this segment of the trip, and since yesterday didn't quite go as planned, we plan on making our way out to Long Island and visiting with Elisa, Gianna and Kelsey before making our way down to Florida tomorrow for some Disney fun & Cruisin' The Bahamas - and let's all pray that there are no hurricanes this time around!

Hurricane Cruisin' & Key West Kraziness

Although yesterday didn't go as planned, it did turn out to be sweet...As we made our way into Brooklyn and over to Dun Well Donuts for goodies and over to Champs for our lunch time meal which also ended with dessert.

​This trip has been nothing if not foodie filled so far, and we are doing more than our share of eating...Which was the plan all along!

But we'll soon be down in sunny Florida - and have far fewer places that we're "looking forward" to eating at, since Florida is not exactly known for it's food. LOL

However that is not at all to say that we won't be filling up on the local goodies from the places that we do have on our itinerary. Which by the way I have finally added - though it is a work in progress.

Tanya's Trip to Florida and Bahamas Cruise - Fall 2017 

And then there is the Cruise, to which I've recently been very happy with the "surprise" vegan dinners that the chefs have come up with for us.
​
How to be a happily fed Vegan aboard a Cruise Ship! 

Anyhow schedules happen and schedules change. Like I said, yesterday didn't quite go as planned and thus we did not get to see our cousins...any of them!

And instead I got caught up in a bit of family drama - I won't go there any further than to say it's never fun and that I could do without. Enough said.

So today we are aiming for a lovely though short visit with Elisa and the girls, then we'll head back to Queens to visit with an old family friend - of whom we haven't seen in a few years and then if all goes as planned another cousin will swing on by to see us once more before we bid our farewells to NYC this time around.

While visiting Elisa this afternoon we plan to chat it up about our future planned cousins trips...so you can imagine how much we will both enjoy that!

Lastly, today is W2GW (Where to Go Wednesday) and there are always things going on back in SoCal and of course here and this weekend is no different. While we might not be able to participate in, but perhaps you will:

In SOCAL
55th Annual Sand Castle Competition

WHEN: Sunday 10/02/2016 - 10:00 am - 3:30 pm
WHERE: Corona del Mar State Beach - 
​3100 Ocean Blvd., Newport Beach, CA

This year’s theme is “Fantasy Castles and Cars.” This long-running event is presented by the Commodores Club of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce and attracting thousands of spectators to "Big Corona Beach" to view the amazing sand sculptures created by contest participants ranging from seasoned professionals to first–timers.

In NY
​KICK OFF TO FALL

WHEN: Saturday, 10/01/2016 -11:00 am - 4:30 pm 
WHERE: Queens County Farm Museum
73-50 Little Neck Pkwy, Queens, NY 11004 

Celebrate fall at the farm!
Country western band Savannah Sky will keep your feet tapping as you wander through the Pumpkin Patch. The Amazing Maize Maze will be open (see listing) and our livestock coordinator will demonstrate sheep shearing with our flock of Cotswold and Romney sheep.
The oldest continually farmed land in NYC, the now-47-acre stretch offers a petting zoo. But after a 2008 expansion of the growing fields means everyone can benefit from the vegetables, wine and meat that the farm cultivates. In the fall, pick your own pumpkins here, and test your navigation skills in the corn maze. 

While both of these events sound like fun to me, our group will be down in Florida enjoying the company of our friends and family, Disney and Universal Parks and the lovely Islands of The Bahamas!
Sure to be a good time :)

​Time for me to get offline and get the day started.

I'll catch ya back here again tomorrow with all the SCOOP from today and before we fly out to kick off the next segment of this vacation!

Ciao 4 now,
​-T