The Great Pacifier "Pull": attempt #1

This was day 1 of our pacifier pull attempt back in August. He felt so deprived that he went through all his toys and found the toy baby that had it's own pacifier and quickly shoved it in his mouth!

He's doing a lot better now... only using it for naptime and bedtime... and the occasional church meeting! This kid is way more addicted than Noah ever was. I'm pretty sure Noah just naturally weaned himself from it before he was 1 and I figured Gabey would do the same. But it looks like it's gonna be a different story for him! I'm OK with it though, because he's still my baby :)

confession: he still uses a newborn pacifier because I refuse to buy those 'big kid' pacifiers - HA! who am I fooling?!?

Bike Derby

We headed up to gma's house one weekend in August for a little breath of country air and it turned out gma's ward was having their annual bike derby. I was pretty excited for Noah to have a nice open, flat space to ride his bike around on. He's used to dealing with lots of hills and stop lights in our neighborhood (and a baby brother in a stroller which complicates things!).

The kids got to decorate their bikes with streamers and name tags and then each age range raced each other. I was super nervous for Noah to race. The competition was pretty stiff with these other 4-year-old suburbanites... they have like cul-de-sacs and driveways to practice in! Needless to say, Noah came in last place - but he was none the wiser. He was just having fun riding around uninterrupted. Gabey high-jacked a baby bike from another little toddler and went joy-riding too. We had a great time.

practice lap with gma

the 4-year old line-up

Gabey: "bring on the 1-year-old race!"

post-race Capri-Sun

post-race tree climb

Sesame Place adventure

It's been a couple of months since we actually took this trip so I think I can finally say that it was actually an 'adventure'. The day after we went, I definitely said it was a 'disaster'. I got a little nauseous when I saw the pictures again, but I'm trying to keep this thing updated so I can eventually print it as a keepsake. And I think the kids actually had fun, so who am I to deprive them of their memories?!?

I think I'll just give a brief re-cap so I don't have to actually re-live the experience!

thumps-up: got discount tickets to Sesame Place with a group of friends

thumbs-down: it ended up being one of the hottest Saturdays of the summer with crazy crowds of people

thumbs-up: got to spend a day together with the fam and get out of the city

thumbs-down: 1 1/2 hour car trip turned into 4 hour car trip with traffic, faulty GPS, and puking children (yes, both of them!)

thumbs-up: Gabey got to see his all time favorite guy, Elmo and Noah got Batman face-paint

thumbs-down: every ride had huge lines to wait in and the boys hardly got to go on any rides because we got there so late

thumbs-up: we finished the day off with chocolate ice cream cones

thumbs-down: the food there was horrible! I have a super high threshold for food... and that was the first time I've ever actually spit food out of my mouth

I guess I never really went to these kinds of places as a kid -- never went to Disneyworld/land until I was in high school on a school trip and was never allowed to go to town carnivals/fairs --and now I think I know why! Those places are like ZERO fun for parents! It's meltdown city: having to wait in lines for every ride, trying to calm the meltdowns with some sort of bribe or treat, and trying to navigate the place to get to the rides your kid will like and is actually able to to go on, etc.

Needless to say, we probably won't be going back there next year -- maybe if we do, we'll go during the week right when it opens!

Even through the crazy day, I was able to snap some pics:

twisty water slide with daddy!

baby play space

(one of the only places Gabey could enjoy himself!)

merry-go-round

Batman face paint

ice cream break...

So, we finally got home around 10pm and crashed as soon as we got the kids to bed. I was hoping to wake up the next morning with very little memory of the day before, but unfortunately I had no chance to forget because this little face came wandering into our bedroom!

Batman

Summer playground tour, 2010: top 5

This was definitely the summer of playgrounds for us. With our move and Jon's new job, we decided to stay in the city for most of the summer so we hit the playgrounds hard and had a great time. One of my favorite things about the city is the abundance of playgrounds. We had a great time exploring and discovering what might be our favorite NYC summer playground yet!

the countdown:

#5: Hecksher Playground @ 59th street. Usually a good time had by all, except when there are 5 camps there and I'm by myself with the 2 boys - luckily, we went with a friend this time! It was fun to see Gabey really get into the water features this summer.

#4: Cornwall Park at grandma's house. Our go-to playground stop when we're visiting grandma upstate. The boys stayed with grandma for a week during our move (which was amazingly helpful!) and got some good playground time in with them.

#3: Brooklyn Water Park. We headed down to Brooklyn with the Copes for a little playground fun, Grimaldi's, and Jaques Torres ice cream on one of the hottest days of the summer. We wandered into (i.e. hiked a mile under the B.Q.E.) the new Brooklyn Water Park at Pier 6. The kids loved it, even though there was no shade and it was crazy hot, we got yelled at for eating our pizza in the park, and had to vacate the premises because a kid didn't make it to the potty in time. Good times with good friends!

#2: Chelsea Water Park. A fun new adventure. We headed downtown again with the Copes and had a great day at a toddler friendly water park in Chelsea. This was probably one of my new favorites. Tons of fun for both boys and I actually got to sit down for half a second (the true test of a great playground!).

#1: (drumroll, please...) Tarr Family Playground @ West 100th street and CPW. We stumbled across this playground one hot summer day and it turned out to be our favorite playground of the summer. It's perfect for different aged children. It's completely enclosed by a fence, has great water features, a super fun sandbox with it's own water spout, and awesome slides, play structures, and climbing ropes. We went back to this playground several times this summer (especially since I could sit down and relax almost the whole time we were there!)

Family Reunion: June 2010, NH

We had our first Snarr Family Reunion with my side of the family this summer. We ended up renting a beach house at Hampton Beach, NH -- a favorite vacation spot of ours when we were growing up. My older brother and his fam flew out for the big event, along with my little brother who has been away at school for a year. It was so fun to see everyone (and meet cousins for the first time!) and just have some good, quality fun at the beach!

The cousins had a blast playing with each other. Noah hadn't seen his 2 older cousins since he was 10 months old so, they had a lot of catching up to do! They just played, played, and played... We had a very strict itinerary in order to re-create some childhood memories (had to squeeze everything in!) but that made the trip all the more exciting. There were beach trips (of course), candle pin bowling, a trip to Kittery Trading Post, a lighthouse adventure, serious Pictionary play-offs, a family birthday party, talent show, and family jeopardy. Serious Snarr family fun.

pictures, please...

the beach!

a special appearance by Buzz at the beach

lots and lots of digging

Uncle C at Kittery Trading Post in Maine

batman squared

a family picture attempt at the lighthouse

the sibs

candlepin bowling

family talent show

we did our own interpretation of

"Five Little Monkeys"

pictured: Noah, the "doctor"