Storm King: Storms Not Necessarily Included

How sad is it that it's only Day 3 of Camp Mom and I am already bone-tired?! You know, the kind of tired where you wake up and you feel bruised and woozy and hung-over even though you haven't been drinking (although you wish you had been). I suspect that my exhaustion is probably more of a result of a certain one-year-old's proclivity to rise with the roosters (okay, so there aren't actually any roosters in NYC--at least that I know about--so let's just say his ability to get up for the day when many revelers are still straggling home from the bars) rather than my three days' worth of activities. We all know that moms never really get a day off, but I did get a respite from all the enforced fun and the blog today because Steve took two of the three off my hands and Jack and I stayed home and cuddled and ate and did laundry and returned overdue books to the library.

Here is Steve's guest blog:

Today I took Charlie and Vivi up to Storm King Art Center in Mountainville, NY--about ten minutes north of West Point and one hour outside the city. Storm King is 500 grassy acres dotted with oversized modern art sculptures of steel, concrete, and stone and wide-open fields, rolling hills, and woodlands overlooking the Catskill Mountains.

We started our day at the picnic area near the South Parking Lot which had well-maintained, modern tables and clean port-o-johns. The kids delighted in chasing butterflies, picking flowers, and collecting pine cones. Their favorite spot was Moodna Creek on the eastern edge of the property and they puttered around its edge catching earthworms, mayflies, and dragonflies and trying to skip stones. Quintessential Huck Finn...

Pros: Gorgeous drive up 9W (don't miss the overlook just past West Point); kids 4 and under are free; clean and well-maintained; children's story hour at 2:00 PM (which we missed)

Cons: Long distances on the property not ideal for three-year-old Vivi; a little buggy; most of the artwork is off-limits for little (and big) hands; food only sold in the northern building.

Storm King Art Center, Old Pleasant Hill Road, Mountainville, NY 10953, (854) 534-3115 www.stormking.org; Open April 1 to October 31, 2010, Wednesday thru Saturday 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM (open until 8:00 PM on Saturdays during the summer); Admission: $12 for Adults, $8 for students (K-12); Children under 5 are free