brooklyn escape

yesterday we went to brooklyn.
there's a park in this borough that's an equivalent to central park, but for brooklyn.
prospect park's the name.
i've been wanting to go check it out for a very long time.
it was designed by the same designers of central park.
some of the highlights:
a 90 acre meadow
a 60 acre lake
a zoo
585 acres of parky bliss
swans galore
a splash pad to die for
with an adjacent ice/roller rink...

the train that would take us right to the doorstep was having switch problems so we had to walk a ways.
it felt like real wilderness-
besides the paved walkways...
it felt way more wilderness-like than central park.
it's kind of the ghetto central park with more beautiful waterfront property.
we took a trek along the lake and there was more than one occasion i thought i'd walked into a drug deal.....
but the main path for runners, bikers, and bladers- like a rustic course through branchy heaven.
when we first arrived we were lost.... but google maps found us.

when we became un-lost the first thing we found was the lake

it was fertile. 

there was a pack of swans wading through the fertility.

mary played in it- until we saw sickness warning signs caused by such activities

 we saw this boathouse- and i felt like i was in the south from then on

 wadding ducks

 mary gathered us a pet leave bundle and about 5 sticks.

nature is her alma mater. 

 after our wilderness adventures we followed the sound of children and ended up here:

(teeny toddler in flight***)

 there was old school music

water

a million kids

really the perfect combination for fun. 

 she tested my flexibility abilities.

 and her dads toddler juggling/simultaneous dancing abilities

 after our grand park adventure 

we headed to ikea- it's been on my to do list just because it exists. 

this was the view..... (pardon my cameras poor quality)

 we questioned whether mary had every been to a playground by the way she let loose here. 

 after some perusing and purchasing we had to get a treat

mary digs ice cream

 ikea is right on the water

so we walked down to the docks/pier to check things out.

 then the sun set

and i was lucky enough to capture this.

 then we had a mini photo shoot while she wandered around. 

 she made friends

got kissed by 2 strangers

we got asked by strangers if we knew those strangers that kissed her... 

we didn't- but we secretly loved the love of strangers for our teeny daughter. 

brooklyn was good to us.
i feel like my personality is more in tune with brooklyn.
i love me some manhattan- but brooklyn is more relaxed, they seem more down to earth, more real.
we had a lovely day checking out some of it's finest man-made treasures.

you know while i was at prospect park i couldn't help but think.
i looked out at that splash pad.
heard that 70's tunnage blasting.
saw those kids frolicking in water spouting bliss.
it was like a time capsule come to life in real time-
there wasn't a worry in our worlds-
our only priority was summer.
it was a much needed break from the craziness that is manhattan.
sometimes you just need a wilderness refuel- even if you can only get it at a city park.

hope everyone's summer is bliss.
today we head to the beach- for more city recouping.