Why I don't leave the room anymore...

I went into the bedroom for a few minutes to put nurse Simon and put him down for a nap.  This is what I came back to:

He was drenched in peach juice.

I now know which peach was ripe and ready to eat.  And I guess we will have fajitas (with avocado) tonight instead of tomorrow.

The Everything Weekend

This weekend was jammed packed full of fun!  It was one of those weekends where there was so much stuff going on in the city that I wished I could clone myself and do it all.  But no, we had to forgo some fun for other fun, which turned out to be quite fun!

Here's our weekend in (a lot of) photos:

For years I've wanted to take advantage of the free kayaking on the Hudson.  We happened upon it while just walking along the river (at W 72nd St) with no lines, so I did it!  Isabella was nervous at first, proclaiming she wanted to go back and just watch with Daddy, but within minutes she was having a blast and playing captain.

We met up with some of our favorite people, ate lunch at Pier i Cafe, and then frolicked in the grass.

We went to an awesome pirate-princess-party for another favorite little person.  The pirate-princess-party had a perfectly pink pinata, of course!

We went to the World Science Festival in Washington Square Park.  We had fun.  I rubbed elbows with several of my former competition.  And I kept thinking, "I could be here.  I should have a booth."  But reminded myself I am in the most awesome science adventure every day with these three little ones.  The booth can wait; these babies will not.

looking for fossils

playing with center of gravity

making patterns with magna-tiles

 We even stopped briefly at the Housing Works Street Fair and picked out some new books for the kids.

Right Now

Riding the "bug carousel" at the Bronx Zoo.

Imagination Playground

Mommy Poppins has a series called "Destination Playground" and I'm hoping we will make it to most of these playgrounds this summer (definitely all the ones in Manhattan).  I'm pretty determined to still "live" in NYC (and not just the UWS), but with three kids (two confined to a big stroller) it requires a bit more planning.  Specifically, finding our way with subway elevators.  

I love this next month because 1) the weather is perfect for playing outside (not too hot yet) and 2) the school kids are still in school.  So the playgrounds are relatively "calm" during the mornings.

We recently trekked to the David Rockwell Imagination Playground near South Street Seaport.  Yes, it is a haul from the UWS with 3 kids, but they loved it!   We took the 2/3 from W 72nd to Chambers St.  Then walked from there.  It took us about an hour, door-to-playground.  Isabella walked most of the time (scooted a bit of the time), which means we move pretty slow sometimes.

We did come to this playground last year, but the sun (and lack of shade) made it pretty intense in the heat of summer.  If you go remember to bring hats, sunglasses and tons of sunblock!

The playground is open 10am-6pm (9am on the weekends, I believe).  We got there right when it opened.  It took the attendant almost an hour to get everything done (set out all the sand toys, building materials, put up the umbrellas and unclog a filter) before he finally turned on the water.

The kids loved it and were completely worn out on the way home!

Memorial Day Weekend

Last weekend was awesome!  We really packed a ton of fun into 4 days.  Brian was able to "work from home" on Friday, so we hopped on a train to Connecticut and spend Friday and Saturday with family.  Brian's sister, Heather, kept asking, "What do you want to do while you are here?"  My response, "Nothing!"  And that's what I did.  I lounged on a shady swing as much as possible, holding my baby, and watching my kids run and play with their cousins.  It was paradise.  I was so lazy that I didn't even take photos (I kept thinking about it, but getting that camera was too much work!).  Okay, I snapped one:

My little Joan of Arc

We were back in the city late Saturday night and had a fairly normal Sunday except for a fun picnic with old friends in Harlem.  It was so lovely that I forgot to take any photos.

Early Monday morning we picked up a zipcar and headed to Brighton Beach (just east of Coney Island) with Brian's brother, Spencer, who flew in late Sunday night.  The bag full of swimsuits somehow never made it from our apartment into our car.  But the kids, of course, didn't care.  While at the beach I remembered how much I love to take photos.  My favorite thing to photograph?  My children playing at the beach.

I love this photo!  I think it may be the only one with me and my busy brood.

Oliver loved the water!  He couldn't stop laughing.

Isabella was very brave and loved it!

Out running Uncle Spencer--not easy to do.

Like I said, he loved the water!  "ow" as he calls it.

Artistic sandcastle.  Her first solo castle.

Once the beach got too hot (about noon) for our fair skin we grabbed lunch and then headed back to Manhattan to drop off Spencer so he could hang out with a friend.  Then our little family drove up the Palisades Parkway, along the Hudson River.  It's one of my favorite, just outside the city, drives.  We stopped in Piermont (super quaint little town) to relax and run at a playground.

A beautiful stop along the Hudson River.

Playground in Piermont

My beautiful baby!

Afterward we drove slowly home.  Not pictured: the many scoops of ice cream consumed over the course of the weekend.

Right Now

Oliver stomping. Isabella and (uncle) Spencer playing tag.
Me...reflecting on the proposal of the cute couple that just happened
on the nearby bench. I love my big backyard.

Signs of Summer

Summer must be on it's way, since this is how we are spending our days:

bulldozing

sliding

rock climbing

picnicking

water playing

swinging

boo-boos and tutus

munching mangoes 

more swinging!

When life gives you rain...

make rainbows!

I think yesterday was the first day in the last two weeks that it didn't rain.  We decided we needed some rainbows to celebrate the sunshine.

I can usually commiserate with others over such gloomy weather.  But I've actually enjoyed the rain these last couple of weeks.  Some reasons I'm grateful for the rain:

1. We had relief from our seasonal allergies (Isabella and I).
2. There wasn't a desperate to be outside as much as possible and therefore we were on schedule.  Something my little Oliver needs.
3. It is so amazingly green!!!  I love it!  As we were walking down our street today Isabella asked, "Is this Georgia?" (meaning Savannah) "It is so beautiful, just like Georgia!"

Right Now

Swinging in the blessed sunshine. Oh sunshine, we've missed you so!!!

The Brooklyn Half Marathon!

This is a "right now" post but deserved it's own title. I still can't
believe I did it. I reached two of my three personal goals for this
race 1) run to mile 9 and walk, if needed 2) run through the finish
and 3) finish in 2.5 hrs or less. I finished in 2 hrs 34 min. It was
awesome. Im exhausted. I'm sore. But I DID IT!!!!!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by my favorite blog: SouleMama

Happiness is...

Today, happiness is:

sleeping 4 hours straight

wrestling an active giggling (almost) 2 year old boy

being able to witness my baby grow and develop every step of the way

beautiful sunshine after endless days of rain!

an overly perceptive 4 year old who keeps me on my toes

spending time in the tiniest, most beautiful backyard 

Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you." Lao Tzu

Little Explorers: Color Mixing w/paint

Like I said, I love to mix colors with preschoolers.  It is so simple, but they love it so much.


Coloring Mixing

Here's what you need:

• 3 clear zipper bags
• red, yellow and blue washable tempera paint

Ask your child to pick two colors.  Put a generous squirt of each into a zipper bag.  Zip up the bag tight, hand it over to your little scientist and encourage them to squeeze, squish, and mix the paint.  Repeat until you've mixed all three combinations:

 red + yellow = orange

yellow + blue = green

blue + red = purple

What is happening:

This is the color wheel in its funnest form!  When you take the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) and mix them together you get secondary colors (orange, green and purple).  

Extreme experimentation:

If you are not mess averse you can just squirt the paint onto white paper and have the kids mix it with their fingers.  Make sure you wash their hands in between each combo to avoid contamination of colors and creating brown.

For some fun tactile writing practice tape a baggy onto a white piece of paper and have your child work on writing letters or drawing pictures in the paint.  Both of my kids did this a lot longer than I expected.  

Then, of course, the kids will want to actually paint.  It is paint, after all!

Isabella wanted to make a cake and pretended she was piping frosting on (I cut a small corner off).