(October 2016) Given that I hadn't been to my grandparents' pumpkin patch during the month of October since high school, I was long overdue for an autumn visit. I flew in and out of JFK and spent some time with Emily in the city before boarding my bus to Albany, where my Aunt Angela picked me up upon arrival. We spent the weekend leaf-spotting and spending time with family at the Pumpkin Patch. Angela had been keeping tabs on where we should go to enjoy the best fall colors and Thacher State Park did not disappoint!

At Grandma's house—William knows right where to find the ice cream, and it's so conveniently located at William-height. We all got a kick out of this—Stewart's ice cream for the win.

Jay and Angela and family dressed up as characters from the Princess Bride. Angela was teaching a yoga class, so I stood in as Princess Buttercup (it worked perfectly as there are no blondes in their immediate family, ha). My favorite part of this is the fact that they decided that William should be a Rodent Of Unusual Size and they based the rest of the family's costumes around that conclusion.

I loved these red church doors and paired arches. I miss vernacular architecture like this that you don't often see replicated in Utah.

Favorite sights at the Pumpkin Patch. It's astounding to see the flood levels through the years that my grandparents have owned the farm—the 2011 flooding during Hurricane Irene is absolutely astounding compared to floods in the 50s and 90s. Much of the artwork visible around the Pumpkin Patch was created by my dad's cousin Dutchie; I love the clever illustrations and the crows that crop up pointing out features and activities around the farm.

Hostess with the mostess <3

I wish I'd had more time with Em in the city, but we bookended the weekend with lunch visits. Plus, I got to visit her office at HarperCollins and sit agog in the lobby at the towering shelves (photos below) in their stairway as I waited for Emily to meet me for lunch.

The trailing ivy from the windowboxes gets me every. time.

I love how Central Park always holds new surprises in store—like this Naturalists Gate!: "This gate is dedicated to the thousands who have here entered Central Park to study nature under the sponsorship of the American Museum of Natural History." Isn't that just the loveliest?

As I was admiring the foliage and skyline from a lakeside view in the middle of Central Park, I completely and totally unexpectedly ran into my friends Kersti and Justin! It was so wild, as I'd expect to run into them in Provo, but not several thousand miles across the country, standing on the very same rock in Central Park.

I love these draping vines and the tiny jack-o-lantern in the front window of this brownstone. Don't you just love New York in the fall? it makes me want to buy school supplies (it also makes me want to get back on a plane to New York RIGHT NOW).

My dad grew up about an hour outside of Albany in upstate New York and I spent a significant portion of my childhood romping around the Catskills and Adirondacks—those rolling green hills are as familiar to me as any.

Naturally, three sisters with a Dutch surname, a tradition of summer vacation in upstate New York, and feminist ideals to boot... well, we're shoo-ins for modern-day Schuyler sisters. "Take a Break" is an obvious family favorite from the Hamilton soundtrack and when we were in town for our family reunion last summer, we decided a field trip (and photo shoot—my parents were all for it) was in order.

Eliza Hamilton's portrait on the right

Not pictured: the room and desk where Alexander and Aaron Burr studied for the bar!!

prettiest brickwork and crisscrossing groundcover

Lauren and Schuyler-kitty

The grounds of the site now are much smaller than what they would have been back in the 1700s, but the drawings showing the layout were amazing, as was Philip Schuyler's bookplate ("Take Philip Schuyler, the man is loaded"—as evidenced by their impressive hilltop location and view of the Hudson). The historical society volunteers said the site has been so busy ever since the Broadway hit and they were excited to share this piece and place of local history with us. Who lives, who dies, who tells your story, indeed.

Upstate New York is one of my favorite places in the world. I have spent a significant amount of my life there and it is the backdrop for many of my favorite childhood adventures. My family goes up every year around Christmastime to visit family, but I hadn't been back in the summer in 6 years.

This summer we had a family reunion in New York, and it's one of the larger ones we've had in recent years. It was so fun to see many of my cousins, who live all over the country (San Francisco, Las Vegas, Arkansas, Idaho, New York, North Carolina, just to name a few places!), bring their own kids to the farm! More than once I had young cousins approach me and ask me to chaperone their frog-catching escapades at the pond or their excursion to the four-story treehouse (I declined frog-catching, content to read my book on the porch, despite these children's assumption that I "[wasn't] doing anything"). 

My own 'dear photograph' at the farm. 

In true VanDerwerken sister fashion, my sisters and I all showed up to our family reunion in stripes and matching burgundy nail polish. Hence, a matching photo for posterity.

Lest you think the farmhouse backdrop and barn setting too idyllic, as my aunt and I set up tablecloths on the picnic tables in the barn, we had to artfully hide the mouse-eaten holes—in storage with other pumpkin patch gear, mice had chewed through the entire roll of gingham vinyl tablecloths! No surprises there.

celebrating my Grandma's 88th birthday!

what front porches were made for

Playing one of many rounds of the game "Bezzerwizzer," which I though was arguably the weirdest name, until I learned of the origin of its name: it's from the German word besserwisser, or "know-it-all." I did have some qualms with the game, as many questions were poorly written and led to heated arguments over the validity of answers. This would probably have happened regardless in a VanDerwerken crowd.

My dad brought prints of family photographs and I helped hang them in the barn. I love my grandmother's wedding portrait so so much and we miss Grandpa V. 

My Aunt Angela was the reunion planner extraordinaire! I love our reunion shirts (which feature the NY hometown and the Yankees, where most of the upstate family's baseball loyalties lie). The first afternoon of the reunion, Angela planned a scavenger hunt, complete with limerick clues à la Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me, which took us in groups to well-known spots around town. It was also a brilliant excuse to let everyone while away an afternoon in an air-conditioned car. I was in the all-girl group (sporting our pink bandanas with pride) with Aunts Angela and Cindy, my cousin Amanda, and cousin-in-law Hannah. We did yoga poses in front of one of the stops (the Flood Evacuation Route sign on Prospect and Main) in honor of the yoga class Angela taught the following morning on the front lawn at the farm—shoulder stands and an obligatory plow pose, also a nod to the farm. I love the BARN SALE sign behind us—quintessential upstate NY.

the view from the covered bridge overlooks the old Tory Tavern (which was another stop on our scavenger hunt; also speaking of Tories...)

Right by this covered bridge, there is an area that the local Kiwanis Club made into a park following Hurricane Irene, which caused devastating flooding through the valley, including at the farm. The path leading through the park is lined with wild tiger lilies which have been transplanted there (they grow everywhere on the side of the road). Part of our scavenger hunt was to go and pull weeds for 10 minutes, as much of the path farther down was overgrown. I saved some stinging nettle leaves (yay for foraging adventures!) with the intent to try making some nettle soup, but with all the commotion of the reunion, I didn't end up making any. That's still on my list to try someday!

Another item on the list: go to Amy's and order a large (we shared it).

When I was a kid, in the summer or fall we would go pick berries or apples, respectively, at a nearby farm. I was so excited to pick blueberries, but a late frost killed the berry crop. Luckily, we could still pick some raspberries. I love the photo below with William barely visible through the berry bushes.

Fireflies, fiery sunsets, and an epic game of capture the flag as an homage to old times. Playing with my cousins and their kids was so fun; the cousins' kids were so excited and it was so fun to pass on this tradition.

This post is long and a little scattered, but deservedly so, as this was one of my favorite trips of the summer. This area of New York is very dear to me, and I hope some of these photographs and stories can capture the essence of this special place.