Eight Years with Nora!
My Beautiful Girl,
Another year around the sun, and another year filled with wonderful memories to cherish for a lifetime. This was a year of many firsts for you – your first trip to Adventureland, joining a sports team, horseback riding, and losing so many teeth (5 to be exact!). You also took your first big road trip to Colorado last December, that was thirty plus hours in the car one way! And, then our spring break road trip to Tennessee. You had a blast meeting up with friends and exploring each new town we visited. But, you are happiest snuggled up at home spending time with family, and cuddling your cat, Lola.
Summer to Fall
AUGUST
Celebrating your birthday at Adventureland was the absolute best surprise! It was your first time on the pirate ship with Dad, and riding a super fast roller coaster with me. We spent hours riding the rides, and playing games where you helped Sadie win Fuzzy the Llama, and you won Rainbow, your bright pink teddy bear. But, your absolute favorite ride was the pirate ship – the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree because Dad and I loved that ride too! August also marks the start of Second Grade, and our second year of homeschool. We also spent lots of time at the spray park at West Meadow beach, playing our first round of family mini -golf and taking our very first road trip upstate to Beacon, New York. Wow, I almost forgot about that…
SEPTEMBER
Was a month filled with happy moments but also very sad when we said goodbye to Nana. We made our first visit to the butterfly garden at Sweet Briar Nature Center, and you sat so still that a butterfly actually landed on your arm. We were all surprised because you are our little hummingbird, always moving. Then, there was the trip to Fink’s Country Farm with Mima and Pop Pop, where we fed all the farm animals, especially the baby goats. You also tried out your brand new roller skates at rocket ship park, one of your favorite playgrounds to visit because its always packed with kids, and you love the opportunity to meet new friends. Roller skating was hard work but you’re still giving it a go! We also spent many afternoons wandering through some of our favorite neighborhood nature trails; where you and Sadie would pretend to be Harmony and Strawberry and build fairy houses too!
OCTOBER
Your first horseback riding lesson! You loved every minute from grooming Jerry, the horse to spending time in the stables and riding around the pen with him. Seriously, your smile was glued to your face every time you took a trot around the pen.
October also marks the time you got a little too adventurous with your scooter on that hill around the block. That memory is one that will surely last a lifetime but, sometimes lessons are learned the hard way…
We spent Fridays exploring new nature trails around Long Island, like the Meadow Croft Estate, and visiting one of our favorite farms on the East End for the Fall Festival, Waterdrinker Farms. Remember the haunted house we had to walk through to get to the corn maze? Yea, we didn’t quite make it past the front door, lol.
Our Fall weekends were packed with soccer games, baking and nature walks at Avalon Preserve. And to cap it all off we celebrated Halloween a handful of times around the Island – there was the parade and trick or treating in Riverhead, then in Stony Brook Village and finally around the neighborhood where you ran into a group of your friends for the last bit.
You dressed up as a vampire, and because I know you’ll ask…Sadie dressed up as Shine from Shimmer and Shine.
Fall to Winter
November
We were sent flat Chelsea all the way from Florida, and took her to Prosser Pines Preserve to explore the TeePees there, and were surrounded by beautiful Fall colors – golden yellows, greens, and reds. We also took a ride out to Bridgehampton to explore the South Fork Nature Center, and grabbed lunch afterwards before the long drive back home. There were lots of science experiments, arts and crafts, and preparation for the holiday season at our doorstep. This is also when you lost your very first tooth! And, when we got our very first visit from Tinsel Merrybottom, right after Thanksgiving!
DECEMBER
What a whirlwind of a month! December was mostly spent preparing for our mega roadtrip to visit our friends in Colorado for the holidays. We left on December 19th and didn’t make it back home until New Years Day.
With stops in Zanesville, Indianapolis, Topeka, Kansas, and Colorado Springs, we spent a lot of time in the truck until we made it to Salida. We happily spent the holidays enjoying all that Colorado has to offer, and spent some amazing quality time with our friends.
We explored Westcliffe, and Salida but I think we all agree that our favorite experience of the whole trip was our afternoon in the hot springs at Mt. Princeton. There was a beautiful backdrop and it even snowed! You had a blast running around with Sadie, E+A. you were all prunes by the time we left.
JANUARY
This winter brought a lot of snow to Long Island, and we happily went out sleigh riding as a family to a local spot a few times. The perfect opportunity to test out those new sleds you got for Christmas. We spent most of this month at home enjoying the quiet and slow pace that winter brings.
Let’s face it, we needed a time out after our epic Colorado adventure. However, towards the end of January we started exploring at home again with trips to the Cradle of Aviation Museum, Seal Watching from the Nautical Mile, and then to the Long Island Children’s’ Museum.
This month was capped off by yet another epic snowstorm, that had you and Sadie dressed up in all your snow gear, and playing in the yard until your toes got too cold. Any excuse to ask for some more hot chocolate.
Winter to Spring
FEBRUARY
We went on a lot of Friday field trips in February! There was the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton where you and Sadie played in the kitchen, the Soda Fountain, and even put on your own puppet show in the library. We also visited the Explorium in Port Jeff. It happened to be unseasonably warm that day so we spent the rest of the afternoon looking for seashells on the harbor front.
Then we hosted our very own Valentine’s Day brunch! One of my absolute favorites, and yours too because of all the treats – like those amazing cupcakes Aunt Rachel sent to us all the way from California, yum!
Together we went on a seal walk in Westhampton Beach with the hopes of viewing a seal up close but we weren’t so lucky. But that’s okay because in the winter, hot chocolate cures all! And, of course, our afternoon tea at Robinson’s Tea Room, where you and Sadie ordered your favorite Peppermint and Chamomile tea with a sponge cake, which was huge! We all had a blast, and you asked when we could go back before we left.
Then, perhaps the most life changing event of the month…when we added another member to our family, and welcomed little Roxy Roo! So, it seems February was packed with mini adventures to get us through the rest of the winter. I really can’t believe all of the exciting things we managed to do!
MARCH
But, winter isn’t over yet. It seemed that spring took an unusually long time to show up this year. In March there was more snow, field trips, arts and crafts, nature walks, and birthdays to celebrate. Some of the highlights were that nature walk we took one Saturday, we discovered about an hour into our walk that it was just 25 degrees! And, immediately headed out for some hot cocoa before returning home. To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, you made a leprechaun box along with Sadie to try and catch that mischievous leprechaun! But, this month we spent a lot of time close to home visiting Frank Melville Park, Avalon, and a few of our other favorite nature preserves. Winter is one of your favorite times to head into the woods and explore!
April
More family birthdays, plenty of time outdoors, and our second major road trip of the year to Tennessee. We didn’t know it at the time but, this trip would be the start of a major change in all of our lives. We stayed in Sevierville for our spring break trip. Our cabin was simple but had everything we needed. You and Sadie caught four caterpillars right outside, and built fairy houses when we had some down time at our AirBnb. But, during our 10 day stay we were out exploring, and you loved looking around the antique shops, spending time on the river banks of the Gatlinburg trail in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, and forging your own knife at Smoky Mountain Metal Craft. Let’s just say we were all smitten with Tennessee.
Spring to Summer
MAY
Back home, and the weather started to warm up, finally! Oh, don’t get me wrong, May definitely brought many gray days but, there were also days we were able to dip our toes in the water over at Sand Street beach. That’s when we discovered that Roxy LOVES the water too. A major highlight from this month is when you and I went on the Owl Prowl. A night time event at Sweet Briar Nature Center where we got to see the owls up close and learn more about them. Your favorite was Nebula, a white barn owl.
JUNE
Our gray spring was turning into a very bright and sunny summer. And, this June went by in a flash with all of the activities we had planned. First we discovered that the swans had seven swan babies this year over at the pond! Lovely days we got to spend at West Meadow beach, and quality family time with cousins who visited from Florida. We also spent a day at Harbes Family Farm, and of course your favorite thing to do during our visit was the obstacle course. Then we went kayaking on the harbor one last time where you and I shared a kayak. This month is also when a lot of our plans were set in motion for our big move in July!
July
July brought more visits from the tooth fairy, pool days at Mima and Pop Pops, a trip back to the butterfly garden, the end of second grade, and our very first trip to visit our new home in Tennessee. It’s also when we said goodbye to our little house in Stony Brook, our home for the last 3 years. And while change is hard, you little girl view it all as an exciting adventure.
Nora's Favorite Things
Favorite Food: meatballs, oatmeal, and tacos too
Fave Color: gold + purple
Favorite Books: Warrior Cats
Fave Song: Did I Mention, Descendants
Favorite Movie: The Hobbit 1, 2 + 3
Fave TV Show: Pokemon, Teen Titans, The Thundermans, Nicky, Ricky, Dicky + Dawn
Favorite Animal: Roxy Roo Roo and Lola Bab-bola
Fave Game: tag
