Two days of leisure

Andy and I always travel with the kids.  In fact, Katie (and therefore Drew as well) had been to the Bahamas,  the Catskills, Myrtle Beach, Spain, France, and Puerto Rico all by the time she was 6 months old.  We love taking them wherever we go!  They love to travel and see new places and we don't like being without them.

This year has been a little different because Andy is on call for 365 days in a row and he can't leave the city.  The kids and I have done a little traveling on our own here and there, but no family trips this year.   With the birth of baby #3 (you did see my little baby countdown on the side of the blog, right?) this summer, and another year of nursing and a baby never leaving my side right around the corner, I decided it would be fun to get away for two days ON MY OWN.  WHAT?  I haven't done that since May of 2008 when I left my sweet one-year old Drew in the capable hands of his father for a long weekend while I went to my friend Janinne's wedding in Massachusetts.

Janinne just happened to have her first child on January 27th, so I called her up and invited myself over for a few days.  (You can do that with really good friends.) I then called my parents and asked them if they could watch the kids for a few days (which they have been asking...or begging...me to let them do for awhile now).  All was set for my two days of leisure!

My parents came to NYC to get the kids and I left around 10am on Wednesday for my big adventure. It was so weird to walk out of the apartment on my own. I wasn't pushing a stroller, running after two kids,  or carrying anyone on my shoulders.  That almost never happens.  Then I started driving and I realized that I could listen to music or talk radio or whatever I wanted! I didn't have to listen to whatever DVD the kids had picked out to watch.  I planned to stop in Middletown, CT to meet up with Jen and her kids for awhile and I asked Jen if we could have a lunch just the two of us. As a mother of two kids under two years old, she was up for it as well.  We went out to a nice, relaxing lunch and had a great time catching up and just being friends, not moms. Jen and her husband are having a house built for their growing family and we went by to see it. It is beautiful and I was trying to talk Jen into renting out her enormous master walk-in closet. It is that big!  After the house tour, we picked up her kids at her mother-in-laws and went to her current home to hang out and play.

How cute is Andrew? He was either smiling or sleeping the entire time.

Julia and Katie are the same age and I did miss my little girl when I was playing with Julia at her house.  She is so cute and smart and a mini-Jen!  She already loves softball and can hit the ball pretty well.  I loved listening to her talk in her sweet little voice.

Julia seemed to like the number cards that I brought her.

Julia and Jen. Jen looks exactly the same as she did in college!

After a nice visit, I headed to Boston...to sweet James!  James is absolutely adorable. Janinne and I had so much fun just watching him make his funny faces and talking about his toots!  I loved getting him dressed and walking him around Janinne's house.  I really liked holding a three week old, and I couldn't help but wish that my new baby was here!  Janinne looks incredible and is doing extremely well as a new mom. She looked well-rested and her house was spotless!  We had so much fun and it was really nice to just enjoy being there with her and her family.  Ninne's house is so nice and I loved having my own guest room to myself (Janinne even put out towels and chocolates for me!).

James!

Janinne and James

How cute is his room?  Janinne designed, cut out and painted all the letters. 

I found this adorable picture of Janinne and 2 month old Drew staring at eachother!

Janinne and I took James out for his first walk.  We went to a wonderful lunch at this really cute restaurant about half a mile from Ninne's house.  James slept the entire time in his stroller and we were able to enjoy a delicious lunch.  Thank you to Janinne, her husband Mike and James for hosting me for two nights. I had a wonderful time and I just love your sweet baby James.

 First walk.

The other highlight of my solo trip to Boston was my Thursday night dinner with some of my college friends.  Janinne, James and I met up with three of our friends from Amherst- Katie, Laura and Chris.  Katie also brought her new fiance, Kelly, and we all had fun talking about their wedding plans for the fall at the Vineyard.  It is these kind of friends that you can go months or even years without seeing, and it seems like no time has passed at all when you are together again.  It was a wonderful evening!

Katie and Kelly

Kelly, Chris, Janinne, James, me, Katie and Laura out at dinner

Our other college friend, Nell, made this adorable hat and blanket set for James.  

Although I really enjoyed my life of leisure ---delicious meals that can take as long as I want without anyone climbing on me or the table, doing whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, sleeping in till I woke up on my own, watching tv in the middle of the day, and just enjoying quiet conversations with my friends---I missed my two monkeys and couldn't wait to see them after two nights away.

I left Boston Friday afternoon and drove directly to Collingswood. I only stopped once because the car was running low on gas.  When I walked in the door, Katie ran to me with a huge smile on her face and was clearly happy to see me. Drew didn't seem to care, but he has always been very logical- he knew I was away for a short while and that I would come back to get him.   He wanted to know when it was his turn to go to Boston!  They had a great time with Grandmom and Poppy and I loved hearing about all of their adventures.  I had so much fun seeing all of my friends and their kids- thanks to mom and dad for watching Drew and Katie for me!

Hall of Science Preschool Place

Two weeks ago, I took the kids to the Preschool Place at the Hall of Science. My friend Betsy and her adorable kids, Katelyn (3) and Nicholas (1), joined us for their first time at the Hall of Science. Drew, of course, loved showing everyone where to go and what to do and Katelyn was super excited to explore a new fun place.  Nicholas seemed to really like the train area and Katie loved running around and playing with everything!  After running around the other exhibits and a  quick snack in the cafeteria, we headed home for lunch and naps (for the little ones at least). It was a really fun morning with friends.

Katie and Drew playing in a submarine.

Drew and Katelyn playing grocery store.

Katie loved working the big wheel.

Nicholas and Drew playing trains. 

Valentine's Day

My favorite memories of Valentine's Day growing up weren't the cards that I received in elementary school from my classmates, or the presents from boyfriends in high school.  My favorite memories each February have to do with my Dad.  Dad always gave me and my mom a present on Valentine's Day- whether it was candy or flowers or jewelry.   It was a nice way of telling the two of us that we were his two special valentines.  (He brought me chocolate covered pretzels this year.)  I told Andy about this tradition a few weeks ago, but I didn't know if he was listening.

On Sunday, Andy and Drew went on a secret errand.  They wouldn't tell me where they were going and Drew had this really excited look on his face as they left the apartment together.   Apparently, Andy told him all about Valentine's Day and the special tradition. They came home with homemade cards and yummy Crumbs cupcakes for me and Katie!  It was so sweet and I love that this tradition that my dad started years ago is continuing in our little family.

Interview time

The kids and I went to Maryland for Drew's pre-k interviews last week and we stayed with Andy's parents.   It was such a fun trip- lots of time with Granny and Far, hanging out with the cousins, and of course Drew's visits to (hopefully) his new school.

The girls hanging out together: Julia, Isabel, Alexandra and Katie.

After drying off from playing in a very cold puddle outside, George and Drew cuddled in their pj's. 

While the big kids were at school, George, Drew and Katie had lots of play time together.

Drew and Granny reading together.  Many of the books they read were ones that Andy read when he was little.

Katie loved playing with makeup and jewelry. Adorable!

Drew's interviews went very well and we hear in March. Woo hoo!

Can you spare a (state) quarter?

Drew is really into our 50 states.  It all started with a puzzle that I got in the fall at a yard sale for a quarter.  I looked online to see if I could buy this exact same one for a friend and I couldn't find it anywhere. It is the best states puzzle that I have ever seen- there are lots out there, but this one is great!

Drew knows all of his states, knows some of their capitals, and knows random facts about most of the states. For example, they like cheese in Wisconsin and the Grand Canyon is in Arizona. He can do the puzzle easily by himself and loves asking people where they are from when we have out-of-town visitors.  Later, when he is putting in that specific state he will say, "Robin and Brad are from California, Mommy and Daddy used to live in Ohio" and so forth. It is really fun. Except he is very worried that Robin and Brad will get hurt in an earthquake!  He also likes to cut out the shape of the states and then quiz us on which one it is. Is this kid ready for school or what??

He gets really excited when he hears states mentioned during our daily activities---- while watching a show or the news, in books, or in conversations with other people.  When we go the museum, I have to tell him where all the animals live  (all the answers are listed next to the exhibits).  I think that I am going to have to get him a good world puzzle next!

Santa brought him this State Quarter Collecting Map and it has been a HUGE hit.  We hung it in his room and we are almost finished. However, we cannot find a few quarters.  If you happen to have a few extra minutes...ha ha ha... can you please look and see if you have the quarters we are missing?  If you have them, take another extra few minutes and send them to a sweet 3.5 year old boy and you will be his hero. Seriously, he will talk about you for weeks.  

Here is what we need (our map includes the states, the District of Columbia and the US Territories):
Colorado  UPDATE 2/14/11: Nelly found Colorado and has mailed it to us! Thanks Nelly!
District of Columbia
American Samoa UPDATE 3/1/11: Emily gave American Samoa to us! Thanks Em!
Guam  UPDATE 2/15/11: Andy was given Guam in his coffee change just this morning! 

Thanks!

A night with Nelly

Nelly is one of our good friends that we met through Andy's residency.  She and her husband (an orthopedic resident) lived in our old building for a year before we had to move out last summer.  The kids became very close with Nelly and immediately responded to her warm, fun and caring nature.  She is in the middle of her pediatric residency and it is clear that she has chosen a perfect career for her personality.  Nelly also has a wonderful dog, Bujoe, who the kids played with all the time.  He used to come in our apartment (we lived down the hall) and eat all the little crumbs on the floor that the kids had left him.

Nelly came over for dinner earlier this week and the kids were so excited to play with her!  After dinner, Nelly brought out some special presents that she had for the kids---- cupcakes and sticker books.  After playing for awhile, Nelly even read them books before bedtime.

The kids loved their sticker books! Cars, trains, Dora and horses...perfect!

Drew and his Nelly!

They decided to put their pillow pets and blanket on the floor and pretend they were camping out!

Another big snowstorm

While we were at Poppy and Grandmom's house last week, we got hit with another big snowstorm. The kids loved it and of course we had to take them outside for some fun in the snow.

Drew wanted Poppy to run down the street while pulling him. 

Then Katie wanted to get in on the fun!

Katie couldn't decide her favorite way to sled....

but this didn't look comfortable at all!

This seemed to be the best position in the end.

Drew loved this position!

We all had fun building our snowman.

The Please Touch Museum is always a huge hit!

The Please Touch Museum is one of the best children's museums that we have ever visited.  It is housed in this beautiful building in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, PA.  We actually got a membership last spring and have used it quite a bit whenever we visit my parents as it is only 15 minutes from their house.  The kids love it and I love it too!  

There are so many things to do at the museum--- and it is perfect for Drew and Katie's ages.  Last week when we were visiting Poppy and Grandmom we all went to the museum for a fun morning. 

Drew loves the water and boat area. 

Poppy taught Drew how a canal works. 

Katie loves the slide.

Poppy taught her a new way of sliding!

We loved riding on the monorail.

Drew loved making things happen in the science area.

They both loved this exhibit!

The project room is always a big hit. Here they made animal footprints in the snow.

Drew always go crazy at the construction area. 

Katie loves shopping at the market.

So sweet!

Liesje comes to visit!

One of my oldest friends, who I have known since middle school, came to visit us in NYC.  When Liesje and I were younger, we bonded over our mutual interest in talking about boys, playing sports and our love of school- we took almost every class together.  Now that we are adults, we bond over talking about our families, shopping, and eating yummy food. She arrived on a Sunday and fortunately, Andy was home.  Liesje and I headed out (without the kids) and went shopping, got manicures and pedicures and had a delicious dinner of sushi!  

One of my favorite memories of Liesje is from middle school. I met Liesje at her house before the big middle school dance.  She opened her door wearing the same exact outfit that I was wearing! Instead of changing, we went to the dance each wearing: a black skirt, a white blouse with a black vest over it, and a black hat.  Such dorks!  Can you tell that we were influenced by the New Kids on the Block?

On Monday, Drew wanted to take Liesje to the American Museum of Natural History to show her his favorite things.  It worked out great because the Discovery Room, which is the children's section of the museum, was open and we were able to get passes. I had heard about the Discovery Room from my friend Meghan who promised that we would absolutely love it and she was right! It was awesome and Drew and Katie now want to go there every time we visit the museum.

Drew really liked putting the giant life-size fossils in place on this dinosaur model.  

Katie's goggles didn't quite fit, so Liesje took something from her purse and made them work. Very handy!

Adorable!

Katie and Liesje had fun excavating dinosaur bones from the dig. 

They both loved the memory seashell game.

Another favorite was the scavenger hunt in the great big tree.

Drew, as always, is a big fan of puzzles. 

Katie loved exploring all the hidden treasures in the drawers.

We had so much fun hanging out with Liesje in NYC!