Saturday was really, a really happy birthday. Really! It was great because of all the things I got to do, and especially the people I got to spend time with--my honey, my babies, my friends, and even a little time for myself.
The perfectly full day included breakfast in bed, a mani/pedi, a long nap by the kids, Central Park with my little fam of 4 (all four!) and a bunch of friends we met there (for the Colby's goodbye party, boo), a delicious dinner with a smaller group of good friends, getting sung to by seriously the entire restaurant, and not changing a single diaper all day! Such a great way to start another year of life. Yay!
The man who made it all happen.
We all love him. A lot.
My city babies & me.
The girls at Saggio (a good Italian place in WaHi!)
Yesterday had a fairly normal start-- kids up by 7, breakfast, out for a walk, back for lunch, down for nap by 11:30/12. And while they slept, a nice mama wrapped their gifts for the birthday girl, Audrie.
Then the partying began.
Bethany & Isaac's friend Audrie turned 3 and had an adorable Tangled party. It started with crown-decorating for all the little princes and princesses, but Audrie and Olive took to decorating Isaac instead. He loved it, and would have worn these stickers all day long.
Olive thought some body art seemed like a good idea for herself as well.
So did Bethany.
While Isaac entertained the girls, Bethany made friends with Gabe. I love seeing the twins branch out and play with other friends and not feel like they have to cling to each other.
Abbie threw a great, great party! Didn’t miss a detail.
After Audrie's party, I then had an hour to get home, feed the kids dinner, wipe off some excess glitter, put them in bed, smooch Jared as we passed at the door, and take off for the next thing--Erin's goodbye party. We're all so sad to see Erin go, but we managed to soften the blow with a nonstop dance party topped with Pinkberry and our very own flash mob. Oh yes, that's what I said--our very. own.flash mob.
First was the hip hop dance class at Alvin Ailey. It was 2 hours of awesome. We finished with a dance-off, one side of the room versus the other.
BEFORE
Raleigh, Deb, Iris, Leila, Erin, Anna, Abbie & Carol
AFTER
Bunch o' sweaty ladies
With Robin, our instructor, who taught us, "There is nobody flyer than me."
We were so pumped from the class that the night could not possibly have ended there. On the way out we decided to get some Pinkberry. On the way there, we passed by the almost hidden entrance of the swanky Hudson Hotel and next thing I knew we were riding up its green escalators. We walked right through the lobby like we belonged there and followed the music into their private park, which was full of people who looked amazing and smelled really good (like they hadn't spent the last 2 hours in a dance class). Every single person looked famous, or like they were with someone famous. And then there was us crazies, practicing our hot new dance moves.
At some point during all this, someone mentioned the words flash mob, and soon enough we were all headed toward Columbus Circle, just a block away. We found a guy who looked like he could use a little excitement to snap a quick video of us dancing. He happily agreed. (Oh my, I can't believe I am putting this on the blog... Erin, this is for you! Please note that by this time I had forgotten most of the steps of our little routine.)
Yesterday, just before bedtime, Bethany & Isaac were running under and around the "tent" their daddy made and just cracking each other up. If anyone's had a weird week--like pretty much everyone I know, it seems--then this one's for you. :)
Isaac - socks, Bethany - no socks. (I guess it's just natural for babies to end up in just diapers and socks--or not--at the end of the day. I promise we weren't trying to copy the adorable talking twins of youtube fame!)
Begin at 5 am Monday morning by finding a baby sitting in her crib, in her own vomit.
Gradually, over the next 7 days, add the following:
2 babies with stomach bugs
4 immunization shots for babies
1 doctor that warns you they may be irritable for the next 24-72 hours
2 babies* with colds
1 baby* with croup (I'm pretty sure)
1 husband out of town (again - 18 out of the last 34 days!)
10 days of forecasted rain
*Please re-use the same 2 babies; adding more babies is not recommended.
Take a deep breath.
Drink honey vanilla chamomile tea while you pound it out on your blog. Think about your oasis. Decide to paint your nails in the Jade is the New Black that your friend bought you, while you catch up on the last couple Thursday nights of TV. Thank the heavens for hulu.
There's this perfectly peaceful little spot in the city - lots of them, actually - and one just happens to be right next door. We love the garden! It's never crowded, there's open space and a fence (yaaay! it makes all the difference), and there is puh-lenty for two curious 16 month-olds to explore. Yesterday was the perfect day to go because Bethany & (especially) Isaac were not feeling too great from getting their shots earlier this week, so it was a good middle ground between going full speed at the playground and staying in our little apartment the whole day. It was just what we needed. They played, played, played and then they actually sat still on the grass with me for a few minutes while we (I) sang every song I could think of with hand motions. All three of us forgot about all our silly problems for a good long while.
Looking back on her conquest. She's getting really good at stairs (for not having any at home).
^This really cracked me up. Bethany was scooting down the ramp on her bum.
It took me a minute to realize she thought it was a slide!
B buries herself alive.
I'll give you this flower, but I'm still a tough guy, k?
Mom, let's go.Let's gooooooo.
What? Did this picture really happen? On the first try?
Decent pictures are usually attempt #15.
So I took #s 2-15 anyway...
Both on. She's off. He's off. He's under. He's behind. He's back under. He's out. She's out.
Waving "aiiieeee" to passers-by.
Totally posing.
Getting goofy/back to normal. We can go home now--we're cured.
Just looking back on our afternoon makes me so happy. I can't resist--click the image below (or here) for the full set!
Did you even know there was a playground at Union Square? I had no idea. It's masked by the awesome farmer's market and shops and people doing strange tricks that I normally see when I go down there. But there's a playground, and it's great! It's got sand, slides, and steps to climb up and stuff to climb through--a 1-year-old's dream. We went there a few weeks ago and met up with some friends.
Ellie was there in her little red hood (with her mom and grandma, lucky!):
Two is tough, but a good pic of 3 babies? Absolutely impossible.
And Lisa came too! Lisa who I met on the playground at Beverly Farms when we were around kindergarten-age. She had taken the day off of work and we were honored that she'd spend a good chunk of it with us.
Lisa was a great help with the twins, and they totally wore her out. It's getting difficult again to be at the park alone with these two little rascals, so I was especially glad she could be there and we could let those babies run free.
We then hit up City Bakery for some good (but crazy rich) hot chocolate and cookies, and a family picture...
