Kicking off summer!

Today we our official day to kick off the summer season! For the past 2 weeks or so the kids have been getting up at 5am give or take 4 minutes every single day.  Yup.  5am!  Killer.

I decided to play a little hard ball today and my sole goal was to get them as tired as a I could. They were dressed, fed and out the door by 7am.  Our first stop was John Jay park.  We played and played and then stopped for a donut on our way to Carl Schurz park where the kids played and played some more.  Honestly, I don't know where they get all this energy.  We even ate lunch that I had packed at the park before coming home right before nap time for Katie.  So we were outside for 4.5 hours in the morning.

After some down time during which Mikey did not nap we ventured outside again to the Pyramid Playground at 3:30 until 5pm when we met friends in CP for dinner and more playing until 7;15pm before walking the 30 minutes home.

By the time we got home, Mikey's eyes were blood shot and he was so sleepy.  Yes!  Success....wait I'm ready for bed too!  Our first day of summer was a blast as we spent as much time as we could outside, enjoying the sun, sand, water, and friends.

The next day they slept until 5:45am! Wahoo!

Smiling at each other.

They both picked out a pink frosted with rainbow sprinkles.

She just ate the sprinkles and licked the frosting.

Mikey finished almost all of his.

Picnic dinner in CP

While Scott has been away in San Fran this week the kids and I have been enjoying these long summer evenings by spending it outside playing in water, in the sand box and playing in the parks.  Tonight we enjoyed a great evening with perfect summer weather in Central Park with a picnic dinner and friends and wine.  The kids played and ran all around together.  They were super tired and after we got home late it was time for a second bath of the day and straight to bed!  I love late summer evenings!

Mikey last day of playgroup!

Today we celebrated Mikey's last day of "school"/ playgroup at The Art Farm in the City.  They celebrated with an ice cream party half way through their day and invited all the siblings to join them for ice cream and a craft before having a dance party to end things.

Patiently waiting for ice cream.

Katie sitting in the corner with all the big kids.

Dance Party time!

Taking turns making face paint in school.

His teacher Miss. Kiera in the striped shirt. 

I tried to get a picture but had the camera on video instead.  This was the best pic. I could get.

Mikey and I on his last day of school being silly with my phone.

The Aliens are coming!

The kids love playing pretend at the playground.  When we are at Asphalt Green there will undoubtedly be a game the kids play call "the aliens are coming".  They both will hide under something that has a roof on it and pretend to shoot at aliens in the trees.  It's pretty cute.  Especially Katie's sound that her pretend gun makes.  They also shove me under the roof to make sure I'm safe and that the aliens can't get me.  Usually when you ask them there are between 5 and 100 aliens in the trees.

Mikey pointing at the aliens in the trees.

Stopping for some sweet playing.

Katie shooting at the aliens.

Funny phrases

Mikey has been a little congested and we think it might be allergies.  While we wait a few days to see if it goes away or if it's here to stay and he needs some medication he's been fighting a cough and has had lots of boogies.  While getting him to blow his nose and get those boogers out he said....

"Mom, put those boogies back in my nose.  I don't want to breathe!"

At night time he has been super sweet and says:

"Good night, Katie, sweet heart."

He really has some great manners if I do say so myself and frequently says please, thank you and your welcome....but he adds a little something extra and will say:

"Your welcome, cutie pie."


Warms my heart to hear him say that!


We also talk a lot about eating healthy foods to grow big and strong and have big muscles and happy bellies and the other day Mikey said:

"I don't want healthy food, I want sick food!"

W.S.P. and U.S. with Daddy

With a few very busy days of house and school hunting and the kids being strapped into their car seats and being told not to touch anything in all these houses we've been seeing we figured they have been confined enough and decided to get out and explore.  I just love days when we don't have any plans and we just hop on the subway.  It's exciting to see where we will end up and what we will see.  So we packed up the kiddos and the backpack and snacks/diapers/sunscreen etc. and headed out early.  We knew it would be a hot day wanted to get the kids nice and tired.

We ended up walking around the East Village and played at the playground in Washington Square Park.  It was such a nice morning in the park watching the kids play and listening to a man play the saxophone.  The kids ran around the huge water fountain with huge grins on their faces.

Stopping to listen to the music.  

I spy the kiddos.

Bestest buds.

Running around the fountain.

Here's the fountain.

 Once they tired from running we walked a little bit around the West Village and then headed back towards Union Square where we planned on eating lunch.  But it was still too early for lunch so the kids played on the playground and we headed back home for naps.

Weeee. These slides are so fast.

A huge half dome to climb on and slide down.  Mikey was so proud to climb to the top.  I was so nervous!

Happy Father's Day 2013

We had a pretty low key Father's Day.  Every once in a while it's nice not to do anything.  We had a busy couple of weeks not to long ago and we will have some busy weeks in the near future.

We played at the park in the am and went for lunch at Timmy's around the corner from us.  Both the kids took long naps and we feasted on a really yummy seafood dinner before spending the evening in Carl Schurz walking around, watching the doggies play, letting the kids run up and down the hill, pushing them in the swings and letting them play in the water.  Then it was time for bath, teeth, books, songs, prayers and lots of snuggles before tucking them away for the night.

Watching the dogs play.

Wee. They love the swing.

Piggy back rides are a favorite.

Yes...that's it. Keep running. Up and Down!!!

Getting the lobster out of the tank.  It's always something the kids like to watch.

Getting a close up look at the lobster.

Not sure what to think when I dangled it in front of the kids.

Lobster and pasta with clams and mussels and wine.

A perfect day.  Happy Father's Day Scott!

Scott also got spoiled with some homemade cards/pictures the kids made (he's saving them for his new office) and a custom book with his face plastered all over it.  It's pretty hilarious and a perfect gift that I've been reading to the kids every night while Scott's been in San Fran for work.

Katie's finger paint for Daddy.

Under neath is a pic. of those two.

Mikey made the frame at school and we added the picture and backing.

The kids get a kick out of seeing Scott in a book.  I bet you didn't know he was this flexible....

....or likes to pet alligators in his free time.....

....did you know he's a rock star?......

....or that he survived having pizza with a gorilla?!!