Mission Complete

Thursday July 16, 2009
The kids wake up to find that someone is sleeping in the van. The super-secret mission was a drive to the airport to pick up our friend Nick Cypert. Nick wished to join us for some adventures and since we had an extra seat in the van and his parents are so cool he is now part of our adventures. Nick is almost 16 and has been one of our family’s best friends for the past 5 years or so. He fits right in and is welcomed with loud cheering from the kids. The grownups are tired from their late night raid to Newark so we decide to have a quiet day near Highland Falls. So we visit the new Fort Montgomery Historical Park and learn about the key battles in the Revolutionary War fought just down the road from Nana’s. The visitor center is very interesting and we see a good movie about the battle for the control over the Hudson River. We hike down to the river and enjoy a small snack of ripe wild raspberries that just happen to grow near the trail. No-one gets poison ivy! It is a hot day so we troup back to Long Pond. All the kids but Dida swim and then in the evening we drive back down to the county to enjoy dinner at the Nanuet Restaruant. This is an old pizza place that our family went to when Chris and Kim were little and where our Dad enjoyed many lunches. It hasn’t changed a bit. All the kids enjoy the thin crust pizza, the sparkly ceiling, and the interesting decorations of signed straw hats and framed photos of old Hollywood movie stars. We are a happy, tired and full group as we head home early to gear up for our trip to NYC planned for tomorrow.