Jess in the City

Christmas 2011

2012-02-06T13:12:00.017-05:00

We had a very relaxing Christmas this year. We opted to stay close to home and celebrate with close friends and family.

Noah's class had a holiday party where we decorated sugar cookies which was loads of fun. I had volunteered to make the cookies because it seemed like the people planning the sugar cookie party didn't actually know how to make them! So, I planned on this being my once-a-year-sugar-cookie baking experience (not a huge fan of making sugar cookies!). Six dozen cookies later, I brought them into his class and someone had bought a bunch and had already handed out them out! I felt a little frustrated by this especially since I was pretty sure my homemade cookies tasted way better, but just ended up keeping my cookies and giving them out to friends as gifts! After all was said and done, it was a fun party and the kids had a great time.

The boys made out like bandits as usual this year. Thomas trains, Angry Birds, and Transformers seemed to be the general theme! We spent a nice Christmas at home after going to church and had Christmas dinner with my parents that evening.

The next day we ate Danish pancakes that I made with my new Ebelskiver pan (yum!) and then headed down to mid-town to be tourists for the day. PS -- the day after Christmas is a great day to see the Rockefeller tree and other such Christmas sights. So, we saw the tree and then went to the Top of the Rock. We've done the Empire State Building before but the Top of the Rock was a first for us. It was really fun! The boys are really into maps right now, so it was fun to have our map out while we checked out the different sights from 70 stories up.

Merry Christmas!

Karate!!!

2012-02-03T14:13:00.013-05:00

Noah has been taking Karate this past year at the Y and has really excelled. It's been exciting to watch him take interest in something like this an get excited about it. He took a class with some of his church buddies so that added some extra excitement each Wednesday evening. He's learning to count in Spanish and in Japanese and has already tested for his orange belt.

I still can't believe he's old enough to be in Karate and have a schedule of afterschool activities! Maybe it's more that I can't believe I'm old enough to have a son in afterschool activities! Ha, I'll save save that for another post!

Anyway, here are some pics of his orange belt testing day. Very exciting!

'horse' stance!

stretching!

Noah leads the knuckle push-ups... so tough!

little orange belts

showing off their moves!

Orange belt!

Orange belt test

Family Photo Shoot 2011

2012-01-27T13:50:00.020-05:00

So, we finally bit the bullet and hired a professional photographer to take some pictures of our family this year. And I'm so happy we did! Whitney Hardie is a good friend of ours and worked magic with our 2 energetic (and very cranky that day!) boys. It could have been disasterous... I mean really horrible. But she managed to capture some great shots amidst the tears and tantrums. Wow, family pictures can be really stressful... who knew?!?

I was really worried we wouldn't get any shots without Gabriel red-eyed and red-faced and Noah chewing on his sleeve while making a funny face, so you can imagine how pleasantly surprised I was to see the end result! And our genius photographer had us finish off the shoot at the playground, a place that pretty much always makes them happy!

Thanksgiving in Oregon

2012-01-20T15:37:00.010-05:00

We decided to fly out to Oregon and spend Thanksgiving with Jon's family this year. It was a fun little adventure and a great way for me to get out of hosting :) We ended up taking the whole week because it just isn't worth flying all the way out there with 2 kids and that wicked time change only for a weekend. So, we made nice trip out of it and had a great time.

Nana and Grandpa were exceptional hosts as always and the kids made themselves right at home! They love all of the extra attention (and pretty much avoid us at all costs) from their grandparents and aunts and uncle. Baby Eliza is not so much a baby anymore and that was really fun to see the cousins interact with each other and get along so well (at least Noah and Eliza got along really well!) Gabriel soon realized that Eliza was taking attention away from him so playtime was closely monitored from then on!!! Noah was really sweet with Eliza and they became fast friends.

We filled our week with lots of INdoor activities, seeing as it rained pretty much everyday we were there! Not surprising, but I think I am slightly surprised everytime we visit Oregon as to how little we actually see the sun! Luckily, we have awesome relatives that found super fun indoor playspaces for the kids and we had a great time. We hit the Children's museum, did a little bowling, and we even went to an indoor water park! The rain stopped for one day -- just enough time for us to go help Nana and Grandpa cut down a Christmas tree and see the Zoo lights at the Oregon Zoo!

Noah was a little concerned about missing the few days of school before Thanksgiving (so obsessive!) so we talked to his teacher and she suggested making a travel journal of our trip as a homework project while we were gone. He's pretty much in love with his teacher and will do anything she says, so it didn't take much convincing that that was the awesomest thing to do ever! So, now we have a lovely travel log of our trip and some fun pics to boot...

Enjoy!

Cousin time at the Portland Children's Museum!

a bowling lesson from Grandpa... starting him young!

(the Horeys are serious about their bowling)

Christmas tree farm

3 generations hard at work!

awesome Christmas colored kettle corn --yum!

Zoo lights!

making Grandpa's famous Christmas cookies

(wouldn't be a Horey family Christmas without them!)

helping Nana and Grandpa decorate their tree!

After all of those Christmas preparations, we were ready to head home and get our apartment decorated!

Thanks for such a great trip!

Halloween and more pumpkin fun!

2011-11-01T12:01:00.013-05:00

I was determined not to let Halloween get crazy this year! Last year it seemed like it was a bit of overkill with a million parties to try to make up for the fact that we didn't trick-or-treat on Sunday. I love having Halloween on a weekday - Monday was perfect this year!

It seems like pumpkins took over our home this year... Here's round 2 of pumpkin painting, and we couldn't forget the jack-o-lanterns -- luckily, Jon was on jack-o-lantern duty this year! I had zero energy left when that came around!

I had a great time volunteering at Noah's school party. I think I'm finally finding ways that I can help out at his school without feeling too overwhelmed, and I'm so grateful for that. The Halloween party was right up my alley -- I brought a fun pumpkin craft for the kids to do and helped hand out treats. Noah has such a sweet class and his teacher is really great.

The ward party was also a great success this year! Jon helped organize it with the YM/YW, and everyone seemed to have a great time, even barring the freak snow storm we had that day! What, SNOW?!? It was bizarre... it knocked down trees, put out power, and covered the roads for the first time this winter. Yikes, I'm so not ready for winter yet! Luckily, I had just finished gathering winter hats, gloves, scarves, etc. so we were prepared!

Finally, on Monday night, we set out to trick-or-treat with some friends. This was probably our best Halloween night we've had in the city to date. The kids had such a great time going store to store (gotta love trick-or-treating at Chinese Restaurants and Dry Cleaners) and then smashing into elevators of buildings and going floor to floor. People put pictures of pumpkins on their doors if they were welcoming trick-or-treaters in the few buildings that we went to. It was tons of fun! We're already planning our route for next year :)

And finally, the little goblins... not so much goblins as completely cute Captain America and Thomas the Train!

fortune cookies, anyone?

our friend from church that let us crash her awesome building!

smash into the elevator and go to the next floor!

the neighborhood pharmacy

cuteness!

saying goodbye to Uncle Caulin...

2011-10-27T17:28:00.009-05:00

We decided to spend the weekend at grandma and grandpa's house to have one last get together before Caulin left on his mission. The boys love going up to the "country". We hit the playground, painted pumpkins, and walked the "Walkway over the Hudson" while we were there. It was fun to hang out with Caulin and make some nice memories before he headed off to the MTC.

While we were saying our goodbyes, Caulin told Noah he wouldn't see him again until he was 7. It was really interesting to watch him process that! He kind of laughed and thought it was silly and kept telling Gabey, "You're going to be 4 when Caulin gets back!" But then later that night before bedtime, I think he realized what that really meant and got really sad. Then he started asking me how old I was going to be when Caulin got back and he thought that was hysterical!

Good luck on your mission, Caulin -- you're gonna rock it!

Apple Picking 2011

2011-10-20T12:53:00.017-05:00

Yet another successful apple picking trip! Lawrence Farms did not disappoint this year. We were able to squeeze in a visit upstate to see my brother before he left on his mission to Toronto. The weather was amazing -- nearly 80 degrees in mid October -- so we decided to hit Lawrence Farms while we were there also. The boys really love this place, and so do we! I fear it's gained some serious popularity with the city folk as it was pretty crowded the day we went -- almost losing a little bit of its quaint atmosphere. But luckily, the apples were amazing even after surviving the hurricane (the pumpkins, not so much!) and the children's village was super fun as usual! Next year, I'll think we'll try a weekday if we can manage it...

We ran into a few of my good high school friends, which was fun. So cool to see their little families! And then we even met up with our good city friends for some playtime in the village.

little city kids in the country!

still has the best spot for a family photo!

Finally some family fun

2011-10-18T12:56:00.017-05:00

September was crazy -- I mean SUPER crazy! It seemed like school just swept in and took over our lives, Jon was super busy trying to get settled back into work after being gone on vacation, and every weekend was filled with some random obligation that one of us had to attend with no time left for some much-needed family time. October finally made an appearance and we couldn't have been more excited. So, we tried to cram tons of fun into our first free Saturday!

We took Gabriel to get a haircut with at a kid's hair salon after several failed haircut attempts by me and grandma. He's totally let me and my mom cut his hair before with no problems at all, but he just wasn't having it lately (he's definitely 2 1/2!). So, we headed down to Cozy Cuts on the UWS hoping for a miracle. The miracle was not so much the barber or the awesome jeep to sit in or the Little Einsteins DVD blasting in front of him, as it was the GIANT Thomas train that he spotted right as walked in! Oh yes, these people aren't stupid. You walk in the salon and have to walk through a huge toy boutique filled with any/every children's TV character ever created in order to get to the hair cutting stations.

So, GIANT Thomas was brought to our station, opened, and sat in the jeep only to witness a huge meltdown from Gabriel. He totally freaked when he realized what was going on and nothing could calm him down. I wasn't really impressed with the barber either who just sat there and did nothing to try to help the situation. Finally I just sat on the stool and held him super tight and she cut his hair like that. We were all covered with hair, and there were several straggling hairs but it got done! Totally NOT worth the price or the trip or the other random toys that seemed to leave with us -- I should've just let his hair grow out until he got over this phase! But it got us downtown and we were able to do some fun things after that.

There's a great little playground (The Wild West Playground) on 79th and Amsterdam that we always pass, but never have time to go to -- so we stopped there for awhile to let the kids play. It's also conveniently located right around the corner from Shake Shack, so that was a must. Jon ran and got food and then we ate it at the playground (a much better dining experience with children!).

After lunch, we decided to go bowling! There's a great bowling alley at Port Authority that we had heard was really fun. It's been re-done and we were pleasantly surprised as to how nice it was. We were the only ones there which was super fun (I guess that's what happens when you bowl at 1:00 in the afternoon on a Saturday!). We all had a GREAT time. We had been in need of some good family fun for awhile, and this was the perfect activity that day. I highly recommend it! (Tip: it's a great rainy day activity because you don't actually have to ever go out in the rain... just come up from the subway at 42nd street and go right up to Port Authority without ever going outside!)

GIANT Thomas in all his glory!

Shake Shack picnic!

Wild West in NYC!

Noah bowls a spare!

Gabey keeping score

here it comes!

***Unfortunately the haircut situation was much too traumatic to photograph -- it would've been priceless though!***

Day off of school!

2011-10-13T20:33:00.008-05:00

In light of my recent post about the craziness of school, we were actually really excited about a day off of school! I never understood some of the moms I would hear talk about actually enjoying when their kids had days off of school -- I just thought they'd be happy to have them out of the house if they were in school -- but I kind of get it now. No school means a free day -- no running around, picking up/dropping off, planning baby brother's naps around everything -- and being able to go do something fun! So, thank goodness for NY and Jewish Holidays! We spent one of our Rosh Hashana holidays at our favorite Central Park playground, Hecksher Playground, and had a great time. And with the Indian Summer we've been having, they still even had the water on! It was a great day and a much needed break from our new daily routine and well-timed because we'd been missing summer.

Family Home Evening

2011-10-13T20:16:00.003-05:00

Monday nights are Family Home Evening and this is what it looks like in our home these days. Jon usually has his computer out to share the lesson and he started a trend! Noah is using his toy laptop he got for his birthday from Nana and Grandpa and Gabey refused to be left out so he got out our portable DVD player to join in the fun.

hilarious.

First day of Kindergarten!

2011-10-13T19:43:00.003-05:00

Seriously? Can this really be happening? I have a Kindergartner! Noah started Kindergarten in September and it's really blowing my mind. It's funny... I always thought of this time in our lives as being such a sense of accomplishment. Almost like an ending of sorts. Like, "Yes! We did it! We made it to Kindergarten! Our son survived the first 5 years of his life with us as his parents and now it's time to send him off to school!" There was definitely some of that feeling, but I've been so surprised as to how much I realize this is a HUGE beginning! The start of his school career, new friends, new interests, new teacher(s) -- every year for 12 years!, homework, making lunches, PTA meetings, etc., etc., etc.!

It's taken several weeks for us to finally settle into a good daily routine with getting to and from school on time (luckily it's only across the street! I can't imagine a commute on top of everything else!), homework (YES! homework in K -- every night and on weekends!), and getting to bed on time (he's SO exhausted every night). But I think we're finally figuring it out. I'm just so surprised at how quickly our lives have shifted to revolve around school -- and holy moly, it's only Kindergarten! I had no idea how intense this would be and I'm realizing now that having school-aged children is like one of those "unsaid" parenting experiences that other parents don't warn you about or is hard to explain before you actually go through it yourself (i.e. postpartum recovery, nursing, sleep deprivation with newborns, sleep training and infant, etc.). I guess I'm also just realizing that it gets more complicated every year as your child develops so I should really just cherish Kindergarten!

Nevertheless, he had a great first day. The first 2 days were shortened days with just half of the class, so that was a nice transition into everything. He seems to really like his teacher and has made some new friends. We were a little sad that there were no familiar faces in his class, but he knows several other kids in Kindergarten and sees them around so I know that's at least comforting to him. He's already impressing me with his handwriting progress. He's been really good at capital letters for a long time, but they have been pushing lower case letters and I was worried he would struggle with that right away. But he's been doing a great job and is so proud of the fact that he can write his name with capital and lower case letters now!

Here are some pics of his first day!

in front of our building

lining up with his class!

first day of school lunch at McDonald's with BFF, Eddie K.

(and baby brothers :)

Sandbox Music: Rudin Family playground

2011-10-04T20:02:00.010-05:00

I love the Sandbox Music program -- such a fun (FREE) summer activity for the kids. It gets us out of the 'hood exploring new playgrounds and learning fun stuff about instruments and dance. This summer I had big plans to get to some of the Central Park playgrounds that we've never visited, but it seems that the summer got away with us and we only made it to one performance. Nonetheless, we had a great time.

The Rudin Family playground is on 96th and CPW and is really fun. A great space for both of my kids -- lots to do for both and some great shade! There was this amazing wisteria-covered trellis that was built over the benches which was lovely on the hot day that we were there. A great sandbox, a water feature, baby and big kid swings and 3 different climbing structures. It was big enough that we didn't feel crowded but small enough that I could keep an eye on both kids. Definitely a new favorite!

the musicians

twisty slides!

Gabriel takes it in from the sidelines...

fun in the sandbox!

NYRR Sprint Triathlon

2011-10-03T19:43:00.007-05:00

I did it! I raced my first triathlon!

This summer, my friend Leslie and I did the NYRR Sprint Triathlon in Queens. It was such a great time. 400 meter swim, 13 mile bike, and 3 mile run. I had been training tons for most of the spring and summer -- especially for the swim since that was my biggest weakness. But it all paid off! Of course, it was THE hottest day of the summer up to that point and the heat index was record-breaking -- they even threatened to cancel the race, but it went ahead as planned and luckily everyone survived.

The swim and the bike went much better than I expected, but the run was definitely the hardest part and it was only 3 miles! I had gotten a lot of advice to train running after biking and I really didn't listen because that totally rocked my world. Just the sensation of transitioning to run after having been going so fast on a bike was really hard. I felt like I was going SO slow. My Garmin had needed repairs so I didn't have my pace watch to help me out and that was rough! But, it actually went pretty well and I came in faster on my run than I had anticipated.

It was such great feeling of accomplishment and a great pay off for lots of training. I'll definitely be doing another one!

Utah trip, part 3

2011-10-03T12:40:00.019-05:00

After spending a few days in the SLC area, we headed down to Price to meet up with Jon's family. It was so much fun to see more cousins, aunts, uncles, and another great-grandma! Jon's aunt has a fabulous home in Price with horses, 4-wheelers, a tractor, and a dog! The boys were in heaven there too. Jon's cousin has 2 little girls that are the same ages as my boys so that was really fun to get them together. They had a great time. Once again, the backyard reigned supreme as we were able to just let the kids play. No hauling around to playgrounds necessary.

We drove up the canyon on one of the days we were in Price and had a great time. Jon's aunt brought her trailor and loaded up the 4-wheelers so we were able to ride around on those (a 5-year old boy's dream). Such a nice day to relax and enjoy family.

After spending a few days in Price, we headed up to Park City, to enjoy the last part of our trip with Jon's parents and siblings. We rented a vacation home with everyone there and had such a nice time catching up. Baby Eliza (our little niece) is getting so big and it was really fun to watch the boys play with her. We also went up to the Alpine Slides and amusement park in Park City for a day. I had never been so that was a real treat. Noah LOVED everything about that place. I was super scared of the Alpine Slide, but I sucked it up and we all went down together -- even Gabey! Such a fun memory.

Price

tractor time!

Grammy and her grandbabies!

Nana and the grandkids

ready to ride!

Noah enjoying the wilderness

Gabey wishing he could dive in!

cute cousins!

feeding Aunt Patti's horses

Gabey loving Aunt Patti's pup!

Noah and Raeley

snapping!

Gabey and Kelsey

peek-a-boo with Nana

hotel swimming pool = awesome!

(even if it's 10:00pm and we'd been out ALL day)

the fam

Park City

Noah playing with Eliza

Gabey enjoying the view... and some ice cream!

Uncle Mike and cousin Eliza

Gabey on the train!

cooling off with an icee

mini golf

super trampoline!

Alpine Slide!

yay for vacation!

Utah trip, part 2

2011-10-02T09:05:00.008-05:00

Our adventures in Utah continued with a trip to the Children's Discovery Center in SLC, Liberty Park , and Cowabunga Bay (awesome).

The kids had a great time at the Children's Discovery Center -- it was a really fun place. The rock climbing wall, water table, and helipcopter on the roof were definitely favorites. We headed to Liberty park afterwards and had some fun on the amusement park rides (the super old ones that were around when my parents were kids!) and splashing around in the awesome water park.

Cowabunga Bay was pretty amazing. I was so proud of Noah for going down one of the big slides all by himself. It was just such a family-friendly place that it made the whole day so much nicer. I mean, "family changing rooms" -- you can't beat that! Gabriel enjoyed the lazy river and the pool the most. We even snuck in a trip to a Pizza Planet-like place across the parking lot (and added a second wristband to our arms for the day!) before heading to Price to meet up with Jon's family.

Utah trip, part 1

2011-09-17T20:40:00.008-05:00

Why does it always get to the point, no matter how hard I try, that I'm posting our summer vacation pics when it's nearly October!

In any case, we had a great family trip out to Utah to visit with aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmas, grandpas, and great-grandmas! It's been forever since we've taken a trip out there (I think Noah was 11 months old the last time!) so we thought it would be a nice spot for our family trip this summer. It was so great to see my brother and his family, some dear friends from college, and tons of extended family. Jon's parents and family even made the trip down from Oregon to meet up with us for a family reunion with Jon's grandma and aunt's family. We had so much fun catching up with everyone and also enjoying some Utah family-friendly fun. Can't wait for the next trip.

highlights for the boys: backyards, trampolines, cousins, puppies, tons of ice cream, having daddy around for 10 days straight!

highlights for us: seeing family, old friends, watching the boys play with their cousins (in backyards!), quality family time, Jon finally taking a break from work!

1st stop: Hogle Zoo!

I really love this zoo -- it' s the perfect size for young kids

Noah relaxing in the dinosaur egg

elephants!

the dinosaur exhibits around the zoo were cool -- but kinda freaky too!

ride 'em cowboy!

2 happy boys!

Noah at Heritage Park:

"This is the Place" Monument

The boys playing in our friend's backyard -- they acted like total city slickers...

it was kind of sad. Noah ran the toy jeep into the bushes several times and Gabriel had no idea how to get up into the tree house.

Everyone had a trampoline! The boys LOVED it.

ice cream at great-grandma's house = spoiled!

my cousin's cute baby Olivia :)

playing with the puppies in great-grandma's backyard

Gabey and Olivia have a bonding moment...

great-grandma A. and her grandkids

awesome Aunt Susan's trampoline and swingset

these boys LOVED Aunt Susan's puppy too!

Maybe it's time for a backyard...

Friday field trip #4: Police Museum + Adventure Playground at South Street Seaport

2011-09-13T20:00:00.000-05:00

So, this was probably one of my favorite field-trip days. It seemed like we did SO much in just a few hours! We started downtown at the NYPD Police Museum, then walked down to Southstreet Seaport, and finally ended up at the Adventure Playground down there. The kids had a great time at the museum. There's a cute little police-themed play area where they spent most of the time and there were a few cool exhibits that they thought were fun. My personal favorites were the jail cell (if only...) and taking mugshots of the kids. After the museum, we enjoyed the walk down to South Street Seaport. I seriously couldn't believe that it had been so long since I had been there last... almost 8 years! It's so beautiful down there -- the views are amazing. After spotting some tall ships and watching the boats along the river, we found the Adventure playground.

enjoying the downtown view

making a wish

little prisoners!

locked up!

oh man...

priceless!

my little criminal!

the view at South Street Seaport

tall ships

Adventure Playground!

fun at home

2011-09-12T09:56:00.001-05:00

We love to explore this city... but sometimes it's fun to just hang out at home!

a few of our favorite at-home activities include:

couch and chair "parachute" diving

superhero dress-up

the sidekick

Noah rocks his solo in "Noah & Gabey's" rock band

hurricane Irene survival: air mattress trampoline!

Family Field Trip to Governor's Island

2011-08-30T20:38:00.019-05:00

We have been doing a lot of weekday field trips this summer with friends which have been awesome, but it was nice to plan a weekend trip when Jon could join us. So, we got together with a few other family friends and field-tripped it down to Governor's Island.

We've been wanting to go to Governor's Island ever since it re-opened and we finally made it down there! G.I. is a small island (172 acres to be exact!) off the southern tip of Manhattan. It is a former military base and U.S. Coast Guard housing but was recently sold to the state of NY and has been kept up by the Parks Dept. It's only open on the weekends in the summer and there's a free ferry that transports people to and from Manhattan to the island. It's a great little day trip and a great way to "escape" the city without going too far and without having to rent a car!

The boys loved the ferry ride and the views from the island were amazing! The city skyline and the Statue of Liberty were favorites. It just seemed like we were having a normal Saturday afternoon family picnic, but then we would look up and see the city skyline and remember that we were on a tiny island in NYC!

Governor's Island is a cool place to visit because it usually offers lots of free activities and there are so many wide, open spaces that the kids can explore. There are no cars on the island and it didn't seem crowded at all which is such a nice change of pace from the city. We hit up the free mini golf, had a nice picnic, played some soccer, and then did a free craft at the Children's Art Museum that's located there. It's also a great place to bike because there are no cars or streetlights! Maybe we'll try that next summer!!

It was a really lovely day. I highly recommend visiting next summer!

waiting for the ferry

meeting up with Gabey's BFF, Violet

checking out the view...

ferry ride!

We were pretty much the first ones to arrive at mini golf, and it was awesome because the kids could take their time and wander around to whatever hole they wanted. Best mini golf experience for the under 5 set!

Gabey exploring

some help from dad!

Gabey and Audrie

Noah and Eli

the gang

my crafty little boy

awesome view!

a little paddle ball

soccer!

the ferry ride back to Manhattan

front and center!

Friday field trip #3: NY Science Center + queens playground

2011-08-28T13:26:00.018-05:00

So glad we finally made it out to the NY Science Center in Queens this summer. It's been on my list for awhile and I really felt like the boys are at a great age for this museum right now. One of the funnest parts of the day was watching the kids be super excited about riding the 7 train. We've really covered lots of ground on the subway map this summer, but the 7 train seemed to be the real winner. They loved watching it go above ground and seeing the skyline of the city in the distance.

The museum didn't disappoint either. Despite having to share it with about 10 day camps (ugh! day camps can seriously spoil some summer adventures!), the kids seemed to make the best of it and enjoyed themselves anyway. So many fun hands-on exhibits and a really great "under age 5" room. We were super excited about the rooftop "science playground" until we found out it cost more and was only open at certain times. So, we decided to head back and hit the "free" playground we passed on the way there! So much fun.

meet the newest addition to our family...

2011-08-28T10:30:00.007-05:00

No, I didn't have another baby... come on, it hasn't been THAT long since I've posted something!

Meet

"Miles Eli Horey"

Yes, that would be my old Cabbage Patch doll that Noah dug out of the stuffed animal pile. He's become completely obsessed with this thing for the past few weeks. He named it after 2 of his good friends and it actually feels like it's another member of the family -- like I really have 3 kids! I mean, this doll goes everywhere with us and has it's own baby routine! It has a nap schedule, a feeding schedule, and bedtime routine. He gets a nighttime diaper, has special allergies (like his friend Eli), and we even threw him a 1st birthday party! I'm kind of exhausted from keeping up with it all.

Just in case you're interested, Gabey is NOT a fan! Every night, without fail, after we've put Miles' PJ's on, swaddled him and laid out his blankets just right, Gabriel will run over pick him up and throw him across the room. Awesome.

Hippo Playground + dinner out!

2011-08-23T14:00:00.015-05:00

After our return from Puerto Rico, we spent a nice evening to re-connecting with the kids. We headed down to one of our favorite playgrounds on the UWS, the Hippo Playground. I love this playground... it was especially lovely on a hot weekend evening because no one was there! There's tons of shade and tons for both boys to do. Definitely the top of my list. And now there's an elevator at the 96th street subway platform which makes it much more accessible!

After spending some time at the playground, we started for home but quickly realized we wouldn't make it back without 2 little boys having hunger-meltdowns. So, we took a chance on a diner that we saw right on Broadway and 92nd... and it was awesome! It was obviously new and since when did NYC start catering to kids?!? There were huge flatscreen TVs all over the place blasting Nick Jr., the wait staff was friendly, they brought our food out quickly, and there were nice roomy booths for families to sit at. Yes, we paid about $15 for a burger, but it was totally worth it seeing as this was the first restaurant where my children have ever sat still, didn't throw a huge tantrum, and ate all of their food. They actually both started crying when we had to leave! We'll totally go back there.

G + his stroller = LOVE

spraying ants

sandcastle attempt #1: disaster

sandcastle attempt #2: success!

swinging!

riding the hippo

dad and the boys

even daddy was hooked on Blues Clues

happy little G (at a meal!)

10 year anniversary: Puerto Rico!

2011-08-19T21:56:00.020-05:00

We celebrated our 10 year anniversary last month! I seriously can't believe it's been 10 years. And what's more, I can't believe we've lived the last 9 of them in NYC.

Jon did not disappoint this year and planned an amazing adventure to Puerto Rico to celebrate. The kids spent the weekend with grandma (thank you!) and we had our little island getaway! We've been to Puerto Rico before so we decided to spend our whole time on one of the smaller islands -- hoping for more of a sit-by-the-beach-and-sip-lemonade kind of a trip. So we headed to Vieques for a few days. It was perfect.

I'll just list the highlights, lest bore you with the details!

-scary puddle jumper plane ride from San Juan to Vieques (Jon purposely did not give me ample warning about this leg of the trip -- yikes!)

-rented mountain bikes and rode out through the jungle to a small private beach! Saw lots of wild horses along the way...

-sat by the pool, overlooking the ocean pretty much every afternoon

-2-hour horseback ride through the small town, to the beach, and up through the mountains (kind of sketchy since our guide didn't speak any English at all, but luckily Jon did!)

-rented a jeep and hiked through the rainforest to see the Sugar Mill ruins (which were not as exciting as the pictures portrayed) but then we ran into these super cool local sea turtle preservation volunteers who gave us our own private tour of the area and shared their coconut splitting skills! (Jon's Spanish skills were once again very helpful!)

-kayaked out to the bioluminescent bay and swam with the dinoflagellates. Apparently the one in Vieques is the largest and brightest in the world. It was amazing!

All in all had a wonderful time re-connecting with the hubby and relaxing!

phew! I survived!

our hotel was super modern/funky and you could just hang out in the "living room" area and order food! A nice relaxing evening...

300 year old tree

random horse we spotted on our hike

our sea turtle watching friends!

the Sugar Mill ruins

Bronx Zoo!

2011-08-19T17:20:00.014-05:00

The Bronx Zoo was definitely on my list this summer. It was hard to find a weekend that Jon could come with us (the zoo is always SO much easier with daddy!) so we got together with some friends and planned a mommy adventure. Getting to the zoo is no small feat with multiple children in tow without a car. For us in includes a train ride, a transfer to a very crowded express bus, and a hike from the bus to the entrance of the zoo. We felt such a sense of accomplishment by just getting ourselves there that we HAD to take a picture!

The kids had a great time. It was the perfect weather for the zoo -- a shockingly overcast day in the middle of a heatwave. We went on a *FREE* Wednesday which is a blessing and a curse -- it's free but crowded! We were able to avoid the crowds for most of the day and enjoyed most of the animals.

My favorite part of the day was actually watching the kids observe the ducks! For some reason they were all super calm the whole time. They could have sat there all day if we would've let them.

The Bronx Zoo is definitely a classic NYC adventure, but I decided after this past trip that I'm cool with going about once a year :) SO, until next year!!!

4th of July: Coney Island!

2011-07-27T14:51:00.015-05:00

Celebrating the 4th of July in the city with kids in a traditional way seems to be tricky every year. It's never the idyllic backyard BBQ and fireworks that I grew up with. I've gotten over that and sometimes we head up to gma's if that's what we're in the mood for. In the past, we've picnicked, gone to the city pool, ate at Dallas BBQ for our barbeque fix, and every other year or so attempted to find a "spot" to see some firework action. These attempts are usually hit or miss, but for the most part good fun anyway.

This year was a completely new experience as we were invited to join some friends on a trip to Coney Island for the Annual Hot Dog eating contest and other such C.I. adventures. I like to get my C.I. fix in at least once a year, so I thought this was as good of a time as any! So, except for the extreme heat and gazillion other people that had the same idea, we had a really fun day. My kids pretty much can't get near a body of water and not get in it, so we did some splashing around in the water, digging in the not-so-clean sand, attempted to watch the Hot Dog Eating Contest (I got way too grossed out!), rode some kiddie rides, got ice cream and cotton candy and called it a day!

Happy 4th of July in NYC!

N & E playing "Angry Birds" on the train ride

Gabriel loving the "D" train

(we could seriously get him to go anywhere if we told him we were going on a new train!)

some splashing!

mom and the boys

Hot Dogs!!!

fearless children on the kiddie rides:

C.I. treats!

Soccer!

2011-07-23T22:08:00.009-05:00

We signed Noah up for weekly soccer class this summer and he's really enjoying it. It's been nice to have at least one scheduled activity each week where we just have to show up and have fun and I don't have to do any planning :) He's in a small class this year, which according to him has been much better because he can get some quality one-on-one training! He said the other day, "Mommy, I'm getting so much better this year because I'm in a small class!" I was relieved because there are no boys in the class and I was worried that he wasn't going to like it as much. But I'm starting to think that he really likes being the only boy -- yikes, so competitive already! Gabey wasn't a big fan the first week and was pretty mad that he couldn't join the class. But we found Noah's old shirt from last year, brought our own ball, books, water cup, snacks, and his toy stroller the next week and now he's a fan!

here are some pics:

Gabey getting ready for class

Noah warming up!

Gabey trying to crash the class...

some one-on-one training with coach

taking a book break

water break!

"Coach, put me in!"

stickers!

Noah and Coach Everton

friday field trip #2: Rainbow City + Highline + Chelsea Waterside Park

2011-07-21T20:07:00.009-05:00

Our second friday field trip of the summer was tons of fun. The second part of the Highline was finally opened and they celebrated by creating Rainbow City, "a 16,000 square foot interactive sculptural installation filled with colorful inflatable artworks designed to spread magic, luck, and friendship" (i.e. a super fun field trip for us!). I mean where else on this island will you find a free bouncy castle??? The kids had a great time playing with the giant balloons and bouncing around in the castle. Then we walked down the Highline to Chelsea Waterside Park (one of our all time favorite summer playgrounds -- I know I keep saying that, but it's a really good one!) and spent the afternoon splashing around and digging in the sand. Such a fun day.

Rainbow City

(view from the Highline)

G + E jumping in the bouncy castle

Noah and the giant yellow balloon

A + G post-meltdowns

cutie-pies waiting patiently in line to jump!

Noah and new-friend Gracie posing on the Highline

Noah "hanging" out at the waterpark

one way to stay cool!

lots of digging!

who needs the beach?!?

A + G playing mommy and baby

climber!

found some shade!

the monkeys

cute.

Indian Road Playground

2011-07-20T09:49:00.008-05:00

This playground has been on our list for a long time and it's crazy that we haven't gone before this summer! It just opened up last summer, so it's brand new and it's just the perfect playground for the ages of my boys right now. It has started to get a little tricky this summer trying to find things to do where both kids are going to be happy/entertained. Sometimes it's just easier to entertain Gabey because he'll scream the loudest if he's not happy! But sometimes it's much easier to entertain Noah because I'll pretty much hear about it for the rest of forever! But this playground was great! Swings for babies and big kids, a water feature for both ages, play structures for both ages, a large sand area, picnic tables, a reasonable amount of shade, and a little nice, clean grassy area that you could actually put a blanket down on (I know, shocking for NYC!). There's enough to do for both of them and it really is the perfect size -- not overwhelmingly big, but big enough to squeeze out at least 2 hours of fun. Which is just what we did!

playdate...

2011-07-14T14:01:00.002-05:00

After about 2 weeks of being out of school, Noah and I both needed him to have a playdate with a pal! We've been seeing a lot of our church buddies, but not so much of our school buddies, so we called Eddie K and asked him to come over for a playdate. A tent, popcorn, smoothies, and flashlights got us through the afternoon. These 2 little guys have been best buds since they were 9 months old and it's been really fun to watch them grow up together.

friday field trip #1: Brooklyn Children's Museum

2011-07-13T15:51:00.007-05:00

Our first Friday field trip of the summer landed on a rainy day, which meant a trip to a museum! For some reason the Children's Museum of Manhattan is the WORST Children's Museum in the city. Sorry, people, I'm a hater. It's small, always overcrowded, OVERpriced, and just plain doesn't have that much to do! So, we field tripped it down to Bed-Stuy (yes, envision 3 Mormon mommies with their strollers and slew of kids schlepping through one of the worst neighborhoods in Brooklyn looking for the museum). It was quite the adventure, but oh-so worth it when we finally got there (even when we decided to ride the local train just so all the kids could have a seat...)

1st stop: NYC Pizzaria

"can I take your order?"

2nd stop: ride the mo-ped to the green house

3rd stop: gardening in the green house

3rd stop: head to the Bodega for some international groceries

4th stop: Gabey picks up his BFF, Violet

5th stop: driving NYC bus (Gabey's dream!)

6th stop: the beach!

7th stop: the aquarium

8th stop: underwater adventure

9th stop: water play!

10th stop: playground area

Daddy's soccer game

2011-07-11T14:47:00.010-05:00

One of our favorite summer activities is going to one of Jon's soccer games. He's played on a co-ed soccer team for as long as we've lived here and about once every summer there is a game that is early/close enough for the boys and I to attend. This particular game was at Columbia's Baker Field in Inwood. The boys passed the time by playing soccer in the extra nets on the sidelines with Owen and Emma (their daddy plays on the same team as Jon), watching the 1 train go above ground (fascinating for Gabriel!), and cheering Jon on ("Go, Daddy Go" was Gabey's favorite phrase). Unfortunately they lost the game, but luckily the boys didn't care. Noah started his summer soccer class the next day and he was really stoked about being like daddy.

Summer Playground tour, 2011: Adventure Playground

2011-07-10T14:37:00.008-05:00

Our summer playground tour got kicked off when we went down to the Adventure Playground in CP on one of Jon's vacation days a few weeks ago. As much as I love the playgrounds in our neighborhood, it's so nice to get out of the 'hood every once in awhile! Usually I hit my breaking point by Fridays when we've gone through the WaHi playground rotation. So, luckily we started field trip Fridays this summer with some friends, and there are many adventures planned.

This park at 67th and CPW is definitely a favorite...

climbers!!!

sometimes these guys stress me out with their climbing!

this kid is constantly driving some kind of vehicle!

waterslide!

Gabriel had a complete hunger meltdown as we left the park and I've never been so happy to see a hot dog/pretzel stand!

He immediately stopped crying when he saw this giant pretzel and quickly started licking the salt off of it!

Summer reading: E.B. White

2011-07-10T14:16:00.000-05:00

We started reading chapter books this summer and it's become a nice part of our routine for Noah and I to read a chapter a day while Gabriel naps. We started with the old favorite author, E.B. White and have gotten through 2 out of his 3 most popular books. Noah has even custom-made bookmarks for each of the books and we're hoping to finish "The Trumpet of the Swan" before we leave for our vacation in August. Noah pretty much never lets us miss a day which is helpful! Stuart Little has definitely our favorite out of the 3 books so far. I have a really nice memory of summer reading time with my mom and older brother when I was a kid and hope that Noah will have similar memories when he gets older.

I think we're going to try "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator" next as a sequel to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" that he read in school with his class.

Any other suggestions?

FHE Family Field trip: Chinatown!

2011-07-07T22:05:00.002-05:00

We had a fun Monday night FHE field trip with the Copes during Jon's vacation week down to Chinatown for dumplings, playground fun, and good company. In all the time we've lived here, I've never been that deep into Chinatown! Noah had a little culture shock (even coming from our neighborhood which is mostly Domincan!). When we got off the longer-than-normal train ride, he kept asking if we were in China. When I reassured him that we definitely were not, he was still skeptical. I didn't blame him, honestly. You can't beat the diversity in the city even if you tried! I love it. We hit Vanessa's Dumplings (amazing!) -- the sesame pancakes were to die for -- and headed over to Hester Playground for a picnic and some playtime.

First Day of Summer!

2011-07-07T22:00:00.000-05:00

let the summer fun begin...

we've got some big plans!

Noah's 1st Primary Talk

2011-07-06T15:15:00.011-05:00

Noah had his first primary talk in May and he did a great job. The topic was "The Church of Jesus Christ has been Restored". Jon helped him write the words and then he came up with the pictures he wanted to draw and share for each paragraph. Grandpa-pa was even there for the big event.

1-Jesus Christ led his church when he was on the earth with his 12 apostles.

2-After Jesus and his 12 apostles had died, there was no one left to lead the church and the church of Jesus Christ was not on the earth for many years.

3-Then, a boy named Joseph Smith prayed and asked Heavenly Father which church he should join. Heavenly Father and Jesus answered his prayer by visiting him and telling him that they wanted him to restore the church of Jesus Christ. To restore means "to bring something back the same as it was before."

4-Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet. He translated the Book of Mormon. Heavenly Father sent John the Baptist and some of Jesus' apostles to restore the priesthood that Jesus and the apostles had when Jesus was on the earth. This meant that people could be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost and go to the temple.

5-Today, our church still has the priesthood and we are led by a prophet named Thomas S. Monson who Heavenly Father tells what to teach us so we can be happy and return to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ some day.

6-I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the restored church of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Last day of School!

2011-07-06T14:09:00.009-05:00

So, it's official... Noah is done with preschool! And he's onto (dare I say it) Kindergarten next year. I really can't believe it. Noah had such a great year at MCNS. He loved his teachers and got really close to a lot of new pals. There were 26 kids in his class (17 of which were boys! I'm surprised the teachers survived...) and I felt like it was a great lead into his K situation next year.

**By the way, we successfully navigated the NYC public school system (by moving, HA!) and Noah "got into" a good school for next year. So, hallelujah for that!**

One of his teachers, Louise, doubles as the music teacher and she has been so excited about Noah's promising music talent. Apparently, he's been the "lead drummer" several times this year and during his final turn some of the other teachers heard him drumming and thought it was the teacher! I was really excited to hear that and hope this next year we can grow some of his musical talents a bit more (PIANO LESSONS!). In his final parent teacher conference, his head teacher specifically mentioned how well his writing has improved, what a good friend he is to everyone, and how his temperament has matured significantly into such a warm, helpful, friendly attitude (most of the time :).

Here are some pics from the last day breakfast:

the bus stop boys

(Spencer and Noah rode the M4 together everyday this year from our bus stop)

Eric would usually jump on at the next bus stop and sometimes there would be a "gun show"

checking out the slideshow with Addi, Amanda, and CJ

a little sing-a-long with Isaac's dad

Sindy

Denise

Louise

Jean

Memorial Day: Intrepid

2011-06-28T14:57:00.009-05:00

This year we thought that heading down to the Intrepid would be a great way to spend Memorial Day and celebrate the end of Fleet Week. I hate to say that we've lived here for almost 10 years and still hadn't gone to see it until this past month. But this summer we're all about new adventures, so it quickly moved to the top of the list.

It was a really lovely time actually. A great way to honor those who had served to protect us on Memorial Day. My grandfather was in the Navy at a very young age and served on a ship similar to this one, so it was really interesting to imagine the kids of things he had experienced.

The boys had a great time. There were all kinds of things to see and play on which made it a pleasant experience for everyone! We particularly loved seeing the different jets, the marching band play, and getting super awesome temporary Fleet Week tattoos (not pictured unfortunately, but trust me on this one!!!)

Noah totally chickened out on this thing. We waited in line for like 25 minutes and then he got up there and in 2 seconds he freaked out and asked to come down.

(I might have made the guy hang him up there for a few extra seconds before letting him down as a little payback!)

Happy Memorial Day!

Mommy and Me at the Y

2011-06-26T19:02:00.009-05:00

Gabriel and I participated in a fun Mommy and me class this past year (the same one that Noah and I did when he turned 2) at the YM & YWHA. We had a great time. I was so pleasantly surprised with his teacher this year. She was just so experienced, warm, and friendly towards the children and really made the year a great experience for Gabey. I'm hoping to sign Gabey up for pre-school prep next year so this as a good pre-school prep-prep class :) Hopefully Vicky will be his teacher next year and it will be a nice, smooth transition.

Our day consisted of art time, music time, dance time, bubbles!, snack/story, free time and circle time at the end. Gabriel's favorite things to do were reading stories in the book corner -- he would always, without fail, walk straight to the books and plop himself in my lap for the first 15 minutes of class. It's almost as though he knew he had some one-on-one time with me finally and wanted to take advantage of it. I kind of loved it :) He also loved playing with the trucks, sliding down the slide of the big block area, and catching bubbles during bubble time. He HATED the "We are the Dinosaurs" marching song for some reason and would start crying EVERY time we did that activity. He also wasn't a huge fan of art time, but had a nice breakthrough on the last day. All in all, it was a successful class and we had a great time.

art time!

this was a rare scene... he seemed to finally participate in everything on the LAST day, of course!

kitchen time

fireman Gabey

fireman baby!

bubble time!

last day party snack - chocolate cake

story and snack

sliding

playing horsey with Vicky

EleFUN!

birthday fun, part 2!

2011-06-23T13:56:00.017-05:00

So, we jam-packed Noah's birthday fun into one long weekend and topped it off with cupcakes for his school friends, a trip to Chuck E. Cheese, and super awesome presents from the fam! I was extremely exhausted by the end of the weekend (and pretty sick of making cupcakes by that point!) but whipped out some mini cupcakes for all 26! of his classmates. I opted for the minis because that meant I didn't have to make 2 batches, right?!? We topped the cupcakes with a monster eye-ball ring to continue the theme and brought them to school with Nana and Gpa-pa's help. The class was extremely well-behaved (you could tell they've had about 26 b-day parties at this point because it was a very regimented affair!) and they enjoyed my cupcakes. Luckily I had brought the extras because apparently the minis were not quite filling enough. Howard, the preschool director came and played the piano while we sang happy birthday and Noah felt extremely special on his big day. It was a really nice time.

Then we met up with daddy and headed to Chuck E. Cheese for some rainy day playtime for the birthday boy. We pretty much had the place to ourselves which is always fun.

We also opened presents from the family, which didn't disappoint. Thanks for the great gifts, everyone!

candles!

the extremely-well-rehearsed group shot with the birthday boy

(look at that class full of boys!!!)

the birthday boy :)

mom and Nana

Gpa-pa gets in on the action

daddy shows up for a group pic

Chuck E. Cheese fun!

Skee ball!

hopefully this will be the only time this will ever happen

the long-awaited "King truck"

new alarm clock

super awesome pirate diary from aunt Chrissy

super awesome detective disguises from cousin Eliza

sweet kid-laptop from Nana and gpa-pa

cool new razor scooter from gma s!

Noah's Monster Party

2011-06-21T13:14:00.001-05:00

Noah turned 5 this year... so hard to believe! Back in September (when he was planning his May birthday party for some reason) he asked if he could have a "monster" party. Not knowing what that actually meant or how I might pull it off, I simply said, "okay honey, we'll see." As his actual birthday got closer and I started looking for other ideas around the monster party, I was perusing the party aisle in Target and came across a monster party theme! I quickly grabbed all of the stuff and loaded it into my cart -- done!

Soon the party planning started to come together and we had ourselves a rockin' party. Monster coloring pages, a monster mask craft, reading of "Where the Wild Things are", a monster relay, monster Bingo, cupcake monster face decorating, and a monster pinata! I decided to invite 4 boys and 4 girls so things were nice and even (and for the girls to fulfill my need to have a craft! -- they didn't disappoint). And other than the fact that Nana got sick on the morning of the party that she flew in for!!! :(, it was a roaring success.

Happy Birthday, Noah!

fun with the party balloons

working hard at their coloring pages

(I can thank Eli for teaching Noah how to color within the lines!)

Eddie being coaxed to do the craft... come on, it's fun!

I am lucky to have a crafty little boy!

reading "Where the Wild Things Are"

Monster relay race, step 1: wrap your partner up like a mummy in toilet paper

Monster relay race step 2: put on the monster feet and walk to the bean bag toss

Monster relay race step 3: bean bag toss!

baby Leo sleeping right through it all!

SNACKS!!!

Lexi, our guest Monster Bingo caller!

monster face cupcake decorating

OR just eating the candy!

birthday boy and mom

Gabey holding his own

PRESENTS!

custom made pinata from the Domincan party store... so awesome!

Nana and Gpa-pa visit!

2011-06-14T23:05:00.013-05:00

Nana and Gpa-pa flew in from Oregon to visit for Noah's 5th birthday in May. We had such a great time with them. We hit some new city sites that were fun for the whole family and vowed to start taking visitors to new places when they come. This adventure started out with a trip to Chelsea Market for thai food, gelato, and some wish-making in the fountain. Then we hit the Highline, wandered through the village and crashed at Bleecker playground for awhile. Then topped the day off with some cupcakes from Magnolia. I'm finding that if we plan some adult-time fun around a playground (and cupcakes) everyone can be happy!

lunch!

(i.e. gelato)

this kid knows how to eat a cone!

making a wish

funky yellow Highline elevator

everything is a "slide" to Gabey

trying to run and hide from mom

on the lookout

Gabey and gpa-pa

playground fun

twisty slide dance

view from the Highline

topped the night off with some bedtime stories from gpa-pa

Spring Break 2011: South Texas!

2011-05-29T19:37:00.002-05:00

We headed down to South Texas for Spring Break this year. We're so lucky that we have great-grandma Pauline and great-grandpa Bob down in Harlingen! It was a lovely getaway from the city and the perfect 5-day adventure to a warm-weather destination with the kids. So, we left the 50-degree rainy NYC weather and headed for the 90+ degree South Texas weather and loved every minute of it (well, maybe excluding the 3-LEG! airplane trip down there with delays on every flight!)

Jon's grandma and her husband live in an awesome retirement community in Harlingen that's literally built on a golf course. I really didn't understand this until we looked out their back window and saw hole #8 staring us in the face. They own a golf cart that they drive around the neighborhood and do their weekly golfing with. They also have a lovely pool and 2 friendly cats that made the trip even more appealing! So, yes... that's pretty much what we did: a daily drive around the neighborhood to the pool and torturing (I mean PLAYING) with the cats. A little boy's vacation dream! No toys needed!

The boys loved our little getaway. They're always up for an adventure and this one was no different. We had a slight snafu when I forgot my cell phone at home and Jon and I were travelling separately with the boys (gotta love those frequent flyer mile cash-ins!). Our flights were both delayed (unbeknownst to both of us) and several pay-phone messages later, we finally found each other in Houston! (I even bummed a phone call off an Army soldier (the most trustworthy looking person I could find) during our layover in Charlotte). We flew to Harlingen together (18-hours later!) and finally arrived at the Harlingen airport and were greeted by our lovely great-grandparent hosts.

We had 3 good days there and filled them with some serious kid-friendly fun. Day 1: ZOO, playing with cats, golf-cart ride to pool. Day 2: BEACH trip to South Padre Island, playing with cats, golf-cart ride to pool. Day 3: CHILDREN'S MUSEUM, playing with cats, golf-cart ride to pool, and dinner with the fam at the local BBQ joint. The Mr. and I also enjoyed early morning jogs, long chats with ggma and ggpa, a Friday Night Lights Netflix marathon, and a little pinochle (the Horey family card game of which ggma is reigning champion!).

We had a hard time saying goodbye and will definitely return as soon as we can!

admiring the flamingos

looking for 'baby Jaguar'

(have I mentioned the Diego phase???)

this way to the Iguanas!

super fun water playground right at the zoo

(every zoo should have one of these!)

petting zoo

super sweet golf cart!

these poor cats survived the boys (almost!)

the beach!

the water was SO warm!

loved this little Children's Museum

weatherman Noah!

road-tripping!

playing restaurant

fixing stuff with dad

dance party outside the BBQ joint

(i.e. must get children out of restaurant before we get kicked out!)

the fam

ggma and her grandson!

Easter

2011-05-28T09:27:00.002-05:00

It's SO on... I'm catching this thing up and I don't care if it kills me! (which it might because blogger is being ridiculous right now!) I'm totally motivated by a friend of mine who just printed her blog. My kids will have nothing if they don't have this... must blog NOW!

We had a lovely Easter this year (busy, but lovely). I threw a little Easter egg hunt together at 1am the night before and it was a smashing success. Jon was shocked to see what I had pulled together while he was snoozing away! We were leaving for Texas the next day to visit great-grandma Horey so we had tons of prep to do for that on top of the normal Easter preparations. Luckily my mom and dad came down on Easter Sunday and brought dinner with them (thanks guys!) We also celebrated Greek Easter that day (it's rare that they actually land on the same day) but we took advantage of that and had a traditional Greek Easter meal: lemon chicken, homemade Greek Easter bread, orzo pasta, stuffed grape leaves, and the random Hawaiian punch that my great-grandpa would always have with his meal. It's such a nice tradition and I'm so happy to start passing it down to my boys.

Easter has always been a really special holiday for me. It usually falls around my birthday and it's always a nice time of renewal and rejuvenation for me. I was baptized on Easter Sunday when I turned 8 years old and it's just a nice reminder of that day. It's also nice that Spring has finally come and we're enjoying warmer weather. And it's especially lovely to celebrate the Christ's Resurrection. I think my love for the holiday has definitely rubbed off on the boys because we had a great day together.

egg hunt: egg #1

egg #2 (not from the toilet bowl)

the stash: Spongebob for Noah, Dora for Gabey

the hunt

the cutie pies

the boys

Happy Easter!

my new birthday toy...

2011-05-26T19:41:00.002-05:00

The big 3-2 was upon me this year and the fam didn't disappoint with a sweet new toy for my birthday! I remember mentioning to Jon that I'd really like a new camera so I could learn how to take better pics of the boys, but I definitely wasn't expecting such a nice surprise for my b-day. I've joined the 'Canon Rebel Club' and it's been pretty fun to play around with so far. These are from our first few photo shoots. I'm hoping to get some tutorials from a few friends of mine that actually know what they're doing. But for now, it's been fun to just snap away!

Gabey's Bu-bus party!

2011-04-24T20:00:00.001-05:00

My little guy is 2!!! I can't believe it. And (as always) I can't believe that it's taken me this long to post about it. Gabey turned 2 at the end of March and we celebrated with a "Bus" party -- his current obsession! This kid is all about buses -- anything that even remotely resembles a bus will do. So, we celebrated with his playschool friends at our place. We played 'pin the parts on the bus', read his new "Wheels on the Bus" book, sang the song, and ate cupcakes!

Gabriel has just exploded developmentally these past 2 months. His vocabulary has increased dramatically and he's turned into such a fun-loving little guy. He adores his big brother, always has fun with his pals at playgroup and LOVES the playground. He loves anything with wheels (especially buses!) and one of his favorite things to do is to go grab a book from the bookshelf and immediately plop down into my lap for me to read it (he definitely knows how to get my attention!).

Here are some pics from the party...

pin the parts on the bus

Wheels on the Bus sing-a-long

attempt at a group picture!

b-day boy getting tired!

the famous b-day hat!

CUPCAKE!

big bro helping out the party guests!

presents!

family b-day celebration

new awesome scooter

awesome new spinny-seat from nana and gpa-pa

b-day lunch w/mom and dad at McDonalds

(this kid is serious about his Happy Meals!)

"Happy Birthday to you!"

video of the awesome new spinny-seat from nana and gpa-pa