Apartment Living

Things I enjoy about living in an apartment.

1. It only takes me 30 minutes to clean the entire thing (and would probably take less if we didn't have so many toys.)

The end.

I apologize...

to every single person on either flight that I was just on with my children.  Mainly my lovely Ryan.  He just DID NOT want to fly, or sit, or nap, or listen, or well, really anything. Those were a few roughhhhh flights. Andrew was really good (thank goodness for that Ipad) and Ryan cracked me up a few times. The flight attendant came over the loud speaker once and Ryan said, "whowastat?" At least they looked cute:)

 We only had two and a half days to visit in Michigan. We got to see my grandparents and my Aunt Gayle. I did a horrible job with pictures for those days, but did get some at the party…or as my sweet niece Ella says.."the paaaty." The kids had a great time playing together.  The party was a success and it was great to see my grandparents.

I am now on my own for the next two weeks while Chris is enjoying sunny CA. Pray for strength! Hopefully I'll get the boys out to do something new and fun!

Brooklyn Bridge attempt

We had a busy week last week. I have a LONG list of things I want to do over the next few years so we are attempting to do them. The boys and I stumbled upon a Mister Softee truck so we had to stop and get one. Of course Andrew wanted Spiderman instead of soft serve, and well..Ryan doesn't get a choice yet!

The next day we hit the Turtle Pond at the foot of the Belvedere Castle. It was realllly chilly that day so I think all the turtles were hiding, but the boys had fun.

We took the train down to try and walk the Brooklyn Bridge. It was not what the boys had in mind that day, so it was a little difficult. We got some decent pictures, but we will be trying this again next summer!

This was the trip in a nutshell!

Some friends for Baltimore were up for a few days and stopped by for a quick visit! Great to see you Jorie and Jason.

We also got to have a quick playdate with some KPMG friends. Ryan couldn't wait to sit and read with Lilly (5), and Andrew as always, loves baby Peter. Adela didn't make it into any pics!

I'll take a cab...

Last night we were eating dinner at a cute little restaurant about 4 blocks away. Andrew informed us that his legs were going to be dizzy when we got up to leave and he wouldn't be able to walk. I said, well, how will you get home? Very matter of factly, he replied, I'll take a cab.
On another note, at Child's Play this morning Ryan was running around yelling "bubbles, bubbles" while the teacher was blowing them. Yay Ryan!! He has also learned the word NOOO, his current personal favorite.

Enrichment Program Starts!

Andrew started his 4 year old Enrichment program yesterday. It isn't really "preschool" here, but is basically the same thing (I hope anyway-it was what was in our budget!) 

Chris left on Sunday of this week and will hopefully return Friday. This is my first week alone here with the boys-hopefully it will go fast! A fellow KPMG mom invited me for dinner last night (they are in their second year) and it was so nice to get out. AND, their apartment was huge…not sure where we went wrong there, but oh well.  The boys have been trying to help me switch some bins of clothes over which turns out like this-

I guess I have all week to get it cleaned up! They do love to make forts/tents and we have a little nook on Chris' side of the bed so they were busy there this morning.

Have a great week!

Labor Day Fun

We got back in the car to take a short six hour drive down to Virginia to Grammy and Papa's house for a little vacation with the Kellys'.  We had a nice relaxing time and the kids loved the beach.  Jared broke out the large shovel and did some serious digging and burying for the kids. The kids loved jumping off the pier too. 

This looks like bedtime was easy, but don't be deceived! Believe it or not, I WAS there, although the pictures don't show it.

We came home and visited a few new playgrounds and took Chris to the Central Park Zoo. The boys LOVE having Daddy home to play!

Chris couldn't climb in this from the bottom the way Andrew did, so Andrew said, "Daddy, just back in." Come on Daddy….

The boys LoVE this snow leopard, Zoey, and we have been lucky enough to see her every time we go!

We are beginning to love Central Park and am praying for a mild winter so we can still go a lot to play. We just take some balls and run around on the big open lawns. Makes it feel like we are home again!

Some new friends with KPMG!

Attempting a family shot….

 

Belvedere Castle in the distance

We had our first food truck experience at  Wafels and Dinges with some DELICIOUS waffles and ice cream-as you can see, Ryan can't even smile his mouth is so stuffed!

Little Baby Ray is scoping out the playground. GO RAVENS!

 
Apparently, the Easter Bunny left the mask in some of our under bed bins and Andrew found them today and everyone got to play.

 Andrew starts school tomorrow and we all start Child's Play. I am ready for some routine! 

Today also marked the ten year anniversary of 9/11 and it was pretty amazing to be here for it. We haven't made it down to Ground Zero yet, but hope to soon. We tried to explain to Andrew in 4 year old terms what happened because he was very interested. If you know him, you know he doesn't forget ANYTHING and just kept asking more and more questions. So, while we were trying to discourage this, if you hear him playing with his animals and someone dies in a building but their soul goes to Heaven, you know where its coming from.