Lazy Days of Summer

Our summer started off very busy, with our trips to Florida and NYC.  Once Claire and I got home, things settled down and we've had a lazy few weeks.  The kids have been sleeping in late and by the time we eat breakfast it's usually at least 9:00.  We go out for a bit to Walmart, Wegmans, or...um, nope that's about it...and then we come home for lunch and naps.  I'm a teacher and I tell people that they should do lots of fun, educational activities all summer long, yet the fun, educational activities in this house have been few and far between.  Sure, we've gotten the playdoh out a few times, we've baked and cooked, we went on a nature walk, and we even went to Strong Museum, but mostly we've been lazy.  Ooooh, wait!  We dotted Claire's name with Bingo markers one day and even tie dyed shirts last weekend!  Feel free to send the Mother of the Year award my way anytime.  Anywhoo, I have a feeling that my kids are getting ready to go back to daycare, where they have lots of fun and do activities all day long!  In exactly one week they will both have spent their first full day back at daycare, in their new classrooms, with their new friends and teachers.  I'm in complete denial that our lazy days together are coming to an end.  In the meantime, in no particular order, some with comments and some without, some random pictures from these lazy days...

 Embracing our "backyard" and squeezing a pool into it!

Our first real tea party, complete with the glass set that was given to us at my baby shower when I was pregnant with Claire.  Note the pan of vegetables...that's my girl!

The next Bobby Flay?

Homemade water slide!

Note the pile of Veggie Booty on the floor.  Thanks, Jack!

I'm going to be sappy for a second.  Jack's shirt says it all....these kids are SO lovable.  How did we get so lucky?  Sure, they fight over toys and I never have enough attention to give to both of them at once, but they love each other so much.  Jack looks up to Claire and wants to do everything she does.  Claire doesn't put up too much of a fight when Jack wants her toys, and she tries to be his second mama, leading him around the house and helping him put his shoes on.  My sweet babies :)

Jack has started saying "CHEESE!" and making this face as soon as I pull out the camera!

We miss you, Hannah and Katie!!! (two of our very favorite babysitters, who deserted us, left us in the dust to go to college.  Who needs college???

Of course I fit in here, Mommy!

Such a good mama (I have no idea where she gets it from!!).  And check out the bling.  My little girl knows how to look her best, even when caring for a newborn!

It's no secret that I am a stressed-out, anxious ball of a mess the majority of my waking hours.  This summer I started doing yoga as a way to learn to calm down and slow down, without having to medicate myself.  It works!  Huge benefit is that Claire loves doing it with me, which I think is so darn cute. Namaste!

We do yoga, we meditate...and we make homemade sushi!  Go us!  I am way more fun than I thought I was when I started this post!

Okay, seriously.  I say it all the time, but how cute is she???  And yes, she tried the sushi!  Didn't love it, but at least tried it, and ate potstickers, too.  My dream is to get her to acquire the taste for sushi and take her out in Manhattan for it.  Nothin' cuter than a kid at a sushi bar!

I just love him.

And now...I love when this happens.  Completely unintentional, but same spot, just about one year apart...

August 13, 2009

June 19, 2010

My Happy Place

New York City... I love it.  When I'm feeling anxious or stressed, I picture myself in the city.  I think of all of the things I love to do there, Central Park, Museum of Natural History, Times Square, shopping, cab rides.  I picture the view from the top of Aunt Patti's building, looking down over 3rd Avenue or out to the East River.  I think of my favorite meal, Sala Thai's Drunken Noodles with spring rolls (mmmm...carrot sauce for dipping.  I'm drooling on the keyboard).  I think of the excitement I feel every time, without fail, when we approach the George Washington Bridge and I see the skyline.  Seriously, I'm like a little kid on Christmas Eve, with so much anticipation that I'm about to burst.


I was having a rough week in July and needed a break.  The mere thought of the city simply was not enough.  I needed the real thing.  So, on a Wednesday afternoon I decided that we were driving down the next day, Thursday.  And by we, I mean just Claire and me. I was a little worried about doing the 5(ish)-hour drive just the two of us, but I needed to go.  I knew Claire needed some Mommy time, so off we went!

 Claire was so excited to be there!

I was having some fun playing around with shutter speed.  Yes, the buildings are crooked and I'm sure there are a million other things wrong with this picture, but I still love it!


Claire loves the city, too, and becomes such a little "city girl" when we are there.  She starts fitting right in, paying attention to which subways we take, and she knows which way to go to get to the subway closest to Aunt Patti's apartment.  She knows that "Patti lives uptown and Shea lives downtown" and she calls Aunt Patti, Shea, and Shea's roommate Daryl her "city friends".  It was during this trip in particular that I realized how not a baby she is.   I didn't have to carry a diaper bag, a change of clothes or a sippy cup at all.  We left the stroller in the trunk of the car, parked in a parking garage, on the upper level (likely stacked on top of another car, mind you), 2 blocks away...aka, totally inaccessible...and we didn't miss it at all.  We took the bus, rode the subway, took cabs, and Claire just tagged along. We didn't have to stop what we were doing for a mid-afternoon nap. She got dressed up and we went to Arturo's for a delicious Italian dinner.  At 8:00 at night.  We didn't bring a bib or a lunchbag of food, and Claire sat through appetizers, dinner...and dessert.  Claire has become an awesome travel companion.  I foresee many girls' weekend trips to NYC in our future!

Claire's favorite city playground, just around the corner from Aunt Patti's apartment!

Lunch at Moonstruck Cafe

Claire loved waving to the people walking by on the street.  It was funny to watch everyone's reaction to the silly blond girl in the window...most people smiled and waved but then there were the people who pretended not to notice her, or were too involved in their cell phone conversations to see her.  I felt bad for her when people didn't smile and wave, but she just kept at it!

Aunt Patti treated us to manicures and pedicures.  Clearly, Claire enjoyed it!

Blowing bubbles on the roof instead of taking a nap.  Claire's idea of a great time!

I love this girl, more than she will ever know.

Turns out, the loveseat is a perfect bed for a 3 year old!

Blueberry pancakes at The Barking Dog.  Yum!


Somehow, the topic of The American Museum of Natural History came up at our house one day.  Jeff and I told Claire about the things she could see there, like dinosaur bones.  She became obsessed with the idea of going there, so I knew we had to take her on this trip.  Of course,nothing could have prepared her for what she would see there and the enormity of the dinosaur fossils. As we walked in to the crowded entrance and she saw the barosaurus (bet you thought that ginormous dinosaur was a brontosaurus, too...nope!  We learned on this trip that it's a barosaurus!) she got very nervous and told us that she wanted to leave.  That didn't stop me from forcing her to stand in front of it for an obligatory picture...or 3.

Poor kid, she was not happy!  Add this to the list of events in Claire's life that will haunt her and cost me hundreds of dollars in therapy bills to fix...


Luckily, we were able to entice her into going into the actual museum (there may or may not have been a bribe involving the gift shop) and she ended up having a great time.  She still talks about the dinosaurs she saw and tells anyone who will listen, "The barosaurus is my favorite dinosaur!"

We continued our day by going downtown to meet Shea, went out a secret window in her building to a secret rooftop spot, ate a very late lunch at a great cafe near her apartment (I can't remember the name!), and took a visit to Chelsea Market where Claire got to attend her very first sample sale, make a wish at a wishing well, watch bakers bake some delicious-looking bread, and we ate some of the best gelato I've ever had.  Chocolate orange?  Yes, please.  We finished our day with shopping for new sunglasses and a trip to a playground.  We covered more neighborhoods in a few hours than I ever thought possible, especially with no stroller!

We can't wait for our next trip!

Family Trip to Florida, June 2010

I'm baaaaaaack!!! How I have missed my blog! I have so much catching up to do, it's not even funny. This summer has gone by way too fast and has been so much fun. Let's get started...Florida!!!! We left on June 29 and flew to Fort Myers. The kids were very good on the plane, though we had to work hard to keep Jack entertained. Claire had a great time playing with her little toys and watching tv. Jack liked playing peek-a-boo with the other passengers by standing on my legs, popping up, and laughing. He made lots of friends everywhere we went. We got into Florida late that night, then got up the next day and drove up to Orlando. We stayed at the Pop Century Resort, a Disney property, and spent Thursday at the Magic Kingdom.


All ready to go down to the pool!





Jack decided that Florida was the perfect place to start walking! (Finally...at 14 1/2 months old!)





The resort was so big that each building has a huge statue so that you can find your way "home". This was our building! Claire loved the "big dog" even though she has never seen Lady and the Tramp.




Kiddie Pool!





Hanging out with Daddy!




Dinner at The Rainforest Cafe, making Daddy sing Jack's favorite song, "I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee"!!




Claire got her first pack of "Silly Bandz" and proceeded to wear all 24 at one time!




Downtown Disney, doing some shopping. If there's one thing Disney knows how to do, it's guilt you into spending ALL of your money on your kids! Hey, you want them to have a magical vacation, right???




Claire was so excited when she saw the statue of Cinderella, I couldn't even begin to imagine how excited she would be when she saw the real thing the next day!





All ready to into the Magic Kingdom!






Ooooooh, I still get excited when I look at these pictures! It was so surreal, actually being there with our kids. I'm not ashamed to admit that I got teary eyed many times throughout the day.




Claire was in awe the whole time. There was so much to look at, I don't think she even knew where to begin!




Allison was awesome, pushing the stroller and giving me a break from that job!





In line for our first ride, It's a Small World. Yes, I cried. Yes, I'm getting a little sentimental right now remembering it.




Jack made a little friend while we waited for everyone to get on the Dumbo ride. He also practiced walking all over!




 Dumbo!





I got to ride, too...and nearly got sick. Claire and Emily loved making our Dumbo go up and down and up and down.......






Waiting to see Mickey's Philharmagic 3D movie, which was so fantastic (and air conditioned!!). And let's discuss for a moment that Claire was absolutely in her glory spending all of that time with her big cousins, who she adores.




Jack was such a trooper, hanging out in his stroller all day in the 100+ degree heat!






Speaking of the heat, thank goodness Aunt Sarah had the foresight to bring these water bottle/fans! Claire clearly loved hers.




Minnie's house!







Checking Mickey's Mailbox.  Claire was very disappointed that it did not open.





Mickey's living room





My pretty girl, hanging out in Mickey's Garden.





I love this picture! Visiting Mickey's workshop!





Despite Jeff's scowl, he really was excited to see the princesses with Claire! She had no idea what to expect, and boy, was she in for the shock of a lifetime...




Yup, I totally cried. It sounds hokey, but it was like a little dream come true, watching Claire interact with the princesses. She was so excited that she didn't know what to do with her hands and could not stand still! She told Cinderella as we were walking away, "Cinderella, I have something to tell you. I have a favorite princess. It's Cinderella. It's YOU!!!!" At that moment, my life was officially complete.



She was so happy after seeing the princesses, and she still talks about it. One of her favorite parts was when Belle bent down and was talking to Jack. Belle said, "Come over here, little beast!" Claire just thought that was too funny!






Sarah was such a good tour guide and made sure that we got to see everything we (um, I mean Claire) wanted to see!






We went back to the hotel for a nap and someone was very sleepy!






Awwww!






We went back to the park after dinner to watch the parade and fireworks...unfortunately, the weather had other plans and it started downpouring! We had our ponchos and did not let that rain stop us from having fun. We were soaked, but we got to see the parade and watched the fireworks from the bus window on the way back to the hotel. Only in Disney does the fireworks show go on even in the midst of a torrential downpour!








On our last day of our vacation, Sarah and Ron took us out on their boat to look for dolphins. We saw a bunch and had fun riding through the canals and the river.






Jack loved the boat, too!














On our way home. It was a great trip and we can't wait to go back. Thanks for having us, Aunt Sarah and Uncle Ron!