Fun all around

This is a picture of Andrew struggling to do a sit-up at gymnastics. Please don't tell anyone his mother is a personal trainer:)

 His new October self-portrait

 Mom is having a baby. You are my favorite mom in the world. Love, Andrew-love, love, love...

 Ryan falling back asleep on me on the couch one morning, just crossing ankles

Go Orioles and Ravens!! The O's almost pulled one out!!

Clowning around after gymnastics with friend Henry

 Lots of roughhousing with friend Skyler and his brother River.

 Ryan's friend Olivia coming to play before Child's Play

Box Hiding and a new playground

We were all building with blocks when I came into the room and literally didn't see Ryan hiding at first

                                         Those luscious locks hanging over the edge

 We tried out a new playground on 96th and Lexington that we somehow hadn't made it to. It was fun! We will definitely head back!

Bits and Pieces

We have kind of been all over the place since school has started. I am still trying to nail down some sort of a routine but we have not had much luck yet. 

This was a sign Andrew made for Chris when he traveled down to Baltimore. We were instructed to let  them spell however they hear. This sign says Good Luck Daddy into Baltimore.

Making leaf butterflies on a day off from school

Ryan has done this on numerous occasions when we do beads. A sign of OCD? Looking for only squares? Hmm...

Face painting after school at the playground. Leonardo from Ninja Turtles and his friend Jasper from school

                                                           Searching high and low for monsters

Looking out over the water with friends Jasper and Felix

Hiney cuteness from my mean as a snake 2 year old

Who needs a superhero when you can have a hotdog?

For those of you who haven't visited us in the city, you haven't truly experienced how weird our children are. We rarely go out of the house in complete normal attire, which is fine by me because they are kids, but this was a first. Andrew REALLY wanted to wear his hot dog costume to Central Park. Chris wasn't so keen on the idea, but I talked him into it. A stranger even got a picture with him!

This was a pretty lazy Sunday where we blew bubbles and played frisbee, catch, soccer, etc. Anything to tire them out!

                 We had one tired Ravens player when we returned though-mission accomplished!

The Feast of San Gennaro

We were really excited to head down to Little Italy and go to the Feast of San Gennaro.  We had had a few friends go and they seemed to really have a fun time. I think they forgot to tell us though, that we should NOT take the kids. Holy Moly. This would be great as adults. Luckily, we left the stroller at home, so that helped some. All Chris and I wanted to do was eat, and all Andrew wanted to do was play in the bounce houses, etc. A wrist band for 5, yes FIVE rides was $20. Ridiculous. But, we got one for Andrew and got Ryan a single ticket because we weren't sure what Ryan would show up when we got in line. Luckily, we only wasted $5 on his ticket.

Ryan has never been forced into a bounce house and just wasn't ready. But, he didn't have a choice and therefore couldn't get in after the fact. Instead, he pouted and walked around barefoot on the clean streets of New York City like this for a good 20 minutes.

Andrew really wanted to do this ride and there was only one other little girl. That look on his face is showing how hard it was to make it move-they powered it, and they were both little shrimps!

After playing we chowed down on some pizza, gnocchi, and ravioli. All was right with the world after that. All delicious!

And of course, the best part, gelato and cannolis. The cannolis were nutella, chocolate and peanut butter and almond cream. All soo yummy!

                              Ryan REPRESENTING the O's! I found one of our shirts!!

Our walk back to the subway brought us by this cool statue. You can see how excited Chris is about it.

Simply Sports Soccer

Soccer has started again! Andrew seemed excited about getting back into it at first, but this is a LONG soccer morning. They practice for 30 minutes and then have a 60 minute game. That is a bit long when you aren't SUPER excited about it. But each week he has done a little better. And he loves putting his stuff on at least! He really enjoys horsing around with his teammates and tells us he is having fun, so ultimately, that is all that matters. Maybe we will try baseball next?!