Jane's Carousel in Brooklyn.

^^^ Kudos to my husband in taking this shot of the Manhattan Bridge with the Empire State Building in the center! ^^^

Summer is becoming my favorite time of the year, and so is Brooklyn. Brooklyn rules this time of year with so many places to go and see. Every time we come to the city we usually go to Manhattan but on this day we decided to walk the sidewalks of Brooklyn. I truly love it here, and the kids did not want to leave. I think it's the fact that they would prefer riding a scooter over driving in a car, parks that have fountains where you can wear your bathing suit and get wet, eat good pizza, Coney Island, and having a nicely, beautifully renovated carousel for all to ride in Brooklyn Bridge Park.  

An interesting fact about this carousel is that it was created by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company in 1922, and in the '80's an awesome couple bought the entire carousel at an auction rather than it being sold piece by piece, and refurbished it. You can imagine how this carousel looked like when they bought it, and having it renovated must have taken a lot of work. Apparently they scraped off 62 years of "park paint" with an X acto knife so that you can see its original 1922 carvings in the horses...WoW! The couple then donated it to the city of New York and now has its permanent home in the Dumbo section of Brooklyn. It is such a beautiful carousel and the kids loved it. The best thing about the ride is the scenery. You literally are in between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridge and that is an added bonus. The price isn't too bad either. It only costs 2 bucks to ride, and as long as Noah stays under a certain height he gets in free! We could have ridden this over and over again. Why not when there are three rows of 48 horses to choose from! It was so awesome and I guarantee we will be coming back again. 

^^^ Mandatory pics with our main man... ^^^

Walking the streets of Brooklyn can be tiring especially when you're used to driving more than walking and we had us some hungry kiddies...including us! We have always eaten pizza at Grimaldi's whenever we go to Hoboken, but just found out about another pizza place that's right next door to Grimaldi's called Juliana's. And let me tell you...I personally prefer Juliana's over Grimaldi's. Sorry Grims...but it's a fact. Everything about Juliana's pizza was perfect. The taste, and how they take their time in making it. I can tell that the owners priority about this pizza is the quality...not the quantity. It was absolutely delicious, and I'll tell you something...we will be back for more! 

^^^ Don't you just love Noah's expression on his face. ^^^

There are days when I just want to pinch myself because of all the things that I am allowing to do with our family. Taking my kids outside of Jersey, and exposing them to a variety of culture, and there is so much of that here in New York. This week has been pretty awesome, and although I miss Lexie, and Sierra coming with us on our trips I still manage to take these two out into the 'real world' to fuel their imaginations while in the city.

And it never gets old.

We just keep coming back for more.