A day at the beach

We all decided to get out of the city for a day and head to Jones Beach.  This time we went with friends Mary and her son Quinn and Ashley and her two kids, Andrew and Ryan. It was as close to a perfect beach day as you could get (minus Scott having to work).  It was cloudy, overcast mostly with short pops of the sun, not too windy, the water wasn't too cold, we had friends to play with, holes to be dug, beach toys to be played with, lunch to be had and waves to be jumped.  The kids were behaved and I remembered to put sun screen on them BEFORE we left.  I'm learning.  :)

I was even able to go into the ocean with Mikey while Katie was being watched.  Mikey loved the rythmic up and down of the waves and didn't care if a wave or two crashed right on us.  We stayed in about 10 minutes before I had to drag him out.  Although I didn't think the water was that cold, he was shivering and had blue lips. He loved it.  I'm looking forward to going to the beaches in FL in October, knowing now that Mikey loves to go into the ocean. 

I made sure to get some pics. of both kids down by the ocean this time.

As soon as you put her on the blanket, she's off.

Playing with buddy Quinn.

They are so cute together. 

Enjoying a snack.

Rubbing sand in her eyes.  You can see the boys digging a hole in the background.  This pic. gives you a good idea of how cloudy it was.  Perfect for the kids.  Even me (I'm not a huge fan of blasting sun anymore.)

Found a mountain of sand to play on.

Ryan smiling. 

Katie smiling.

Baby Quinn is the same size as Katie and is 5 months younger.  Isn't he adorable!?

Running away from the waves.

Waiting for a wave to catch him.

He loved chasing the waves.

Katie was constantly trying to crawl into the ocean.

She loves to water.

Splish splash.

So glad she is a water baby.

Ashley and Ryan.

Cold after swimming in the ocean.

The kids and I.

Summer Storytime Series

We decided to meet up with some friends and go to the Summer Series Storytime in Central Park.  We left an entire hour early (since I didn't feel like running and getting all sweaty) and walked from our home all the was down to 67th street and 5th avenue to get to the playground where they were telling stories.  Of course, my kids just wanted to play in the sandbox, run around the park and go down the slide.  They weren't the least bit interested in sitting to listen to someone tell a story.  Anyway,

I'm noticing more and more that my kids never want to sit still, they are extremely curious, needing to check everything out, have a very short attention span.  They never want to just sit on a blanket and play.  They like to keep me on my toes, chasing them. According to this book I'm currently reading on how to raise the happiest toddler on the block, I have what are called "spirited kids."  About 1 in 10 are spirited kids.  Oh joy!

Anyway, it was nice to meet up with our friends, Ashley and her kids, Andrew and Ryan and Mary and her son Quinn. 

After playing a bit at the park, we decided to climb some rocks (a first for Mikey) and kick around some balls. I love these relaxing afternoons just being outside with friends and having playmates for Mikey and Katie.

Playing on the blanket.  Notice the only way I got Mikey to stay on the blanket was to give him a lollipop.

A huge slide in Central Park.  Next time we'll bring cardboard to go even faster.

So happy to run around.

Jamie and Danny visit

Jamie and Danny drove up for a quick visit over the weekend.  We crammed a lot in while they were here.  We went to parks, enjoyed delicious pizza on the roof, took a late nite stroll to get some 16 Handles Frozen Yogurt, went to FAO Schwarz and Rockerfeller Center.

The wall of trucks we had to practically pry him away from.

He tried sticking everyone of the trucks within his reach into the stroller.

Playing on the piano.

Even little Katie hopped around.

He was thrilled to finally play on it.  He was waiting all week.

Had to prove I was there too!

Mikey really liked playing on the Thomas The Train Table.

Silly hats while waiting for the elevator.

We saw a couple taking pictures on their wedding day.

Danny and Jamie

She loved looking up at all the flags.

Taking it all in.

Look at that face.  He knows he shouldn't climb into the fountain.

Enjoying our 16 Handles.

I think he added more candy than ice cream.

Bailey even came to visit.  Poor thing was getting poked and picked on the whole time she was in our apt.

Asphalt Green Fun

We have been enjoying part of our weekends running around on Asphalt Green.  It's the soccer field right across the street from us.  We take some balls to kick around and grab the toys that Katie can push around all by herself.  She's such a big girl and Mikey loves running all around and tries to beat you to the ball.

She loves pushing this around.  In our apt. she can only go about 5 feet before running into something.

He ran and ran and ran.

Having fun kicking goals with cousin Bryan.

I love watching them play and interact together.

She's so happy to push the cart around.

Mikey stole it from her.

Love that they have lots of space to run around.

Random

I usually create a post on the website when we do something, but we do have plenty of down time where we just hang out, act silly and goofy.  I take pictures of these moments too but usually don't post them.
Here's some random shots of us being....well, us.

My little book worm.  She was playing peek-a-boo with her books.  When she's playing by herself, I usually find her flipping through books.

This is what she does when I say "show me Arnold."  See her muscles?  Yea, me neither.

Always curious about the camera.

I literally ran downstairs to get the mail and come back to this.  He loves when she falls asleep on him.

Tada!  Mikey said that while showing me his latest masterpiece.  Scribbling all over the new toy from Nana and Papa.

See how pretty it is!