My friend Miggy has an etsy shop. You'd think she's some sort of magician--she takes these pieces of fabric, "puts sewing on it" (as Jared says), and voila, adorable things appear! You should check it out and buy things. But only if you're into pretty things made of fabric and sewing and magic.
For example... Isaac and Bethany were recently spotted around town sporting these toddler bags! A boy messenger bag for Isaac and a super cute tote for Bethany. They looked good and they knew it.
Isaac finds wearing his over the neck both stylish and practical.
Pushing the Alarm button, of course. Cute baby alert!!
Bethany pairs her tote with boots and oversized shades.
She picked out her boots, by the way.
And I loooove her pose, by the way.
One day I might have Miggy make me one of these playtents--as soon as I have the space! My two would have the best time playing hide-and-seek in there.
And also some of these magnets--as soon as I have a fridge!
Our CMOM trip was part of our big bucket list week but I'm posting about it separately to avoid photo overload. (Yes, I do try to be conscious of that, believe it or not.) I've wanted to go to this museum for a while but admission is $10 per person, and I wasn't feeling like shelling out $30 or $40 for our family when there is so much great free stuff to do in the city.
So we waited until it was free! There's no charge on the first Friday of every month from 5-8 pm, and the whole world knows it. It was pretty crazy, but I'm so glad I went! We met up with a few friends and kids, and between the 6 of us moms (Whitney, Jen, Jen, Erin, Jess and me) we didn't lose a single one of the 9 kids who were with us.
Bethany and Isaac had sooo much fun. SO much fun. The 3 of us only stayed an hour and we spent the entire time on the 3rd floor, which was just perfect for toddlers. The kids made towers out of squishy blocks, drove an MTA bus and firetruck (Isaac's favorite), shopped for (/tried to eat) plastic groceries at the market, fed letters to the massive plastic lizard (I didn't get a chance to look at this one enough to understand it), and best of all, climbed all over and under the carpeted castle! I even managed to snap a few pics with my phone. A success all around.
We're here! (It's not an easy commute if you're double stroller-bound.)
Figuring things out
Squishy block tower expert
Isaac could have spent all day driving the MTA bus
...or the firetruck
...and he's back on the bus, with Bethany & Ellie
Bethany, Ellie, Isaac & Arden at the wheel
Isaac peers into a mini diorama under the castle - my favorite part
Bethany on the lookout from her tower in the castle
Now I know why the CMOM costs $10--because it's worth it! I'd even pay double that in a NY winter!
It's hard to believe it's actually June. June 2011 is a month we've anticipated for a long, long time. Coming up this month, Jared will be graduating his very last graduation, we'll be moving across the country, and we'll be celebrating our 10th anniversary! Wow, it feels weird to just out and say it like that--each of those things is such a big deal to us and I hope I'm able to write about each one on its own, but just in case I can't get to it... there it is. Plus, I'm in a little bit of denial about the move right now. Definitely bittersweet.
In the meantime, our days are numbered in this city and the kids and I are determined to make the most of it! There are still so many places we want to go and this week we were able to check off a few. Of course, my NYC bucket list is a bit different with toddlers than it would have been pre-kids, and now consists of mainly playgrounds around the city that are near stroller-accessible subway stations. But my great little travel buddies just make everything more exciting. Going to all these places with good friends made it even better.
Here's where we went this week...
Fri/Sunday: the garden
Monday: J. Hood Wright Park, our regular spot
Tuesday: Downing Street Playground* & popbar
Wednesday: Washington Square Playground** & A Salt and Battery
Thursday: back to J. Hood
Friday: Bennett Park followed by Children's Museum of Manhattan
Any downtime in between: spending as much time as possible with our good, good friends Miggy, B, Sassy Pants & Lamp (fake internet names, obv), visiting from Cincinnati!
And here's how we looked doing it...
Alright, I don't want to break Blogger, so CMOM photos are coming up next!
*Downing St became my new favorite toddler playground!
**...until we went to Washington Square! The area for little tots is PERFECT--everything is low, enclosed and shaded by big trees. There's no dirt or trash. I could actually sit on the bench with my friends and watch the kids play and explore on their own. It was the best!
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.)
