Rapid Tooth Loss

Ella let the tooth fairy take her tooth. Who knows where it is now? I don't.

Do your kids like to keep their teeth? 

Call me unsentimental, but I think it's so gross to save teeth in a box. ha

(Below) The last picture with her top teeth for a long long time. :)

Inwood Hill Park: A Walk in the Woods

"There's old New York, then there's old New York. 

Inwood Hill Park is a living piece of old New York." 

We went to the top of Manhattan to check out Inwood Hill Park. I loved the wild trees mixed with endless paved paths, trash cans, open fields with freshly mowed grass, and an abundance of park rangers teaching archery no less. It all came together to be a magical outdoor exsperience.  

Whenever I do stuff like this I think about people who truly love the great outdoors. As a gauge, I think of this guy:

this photo cracks me up. 

Our friend Jared. My kids aptly nicknamed him "The Fun Guy". Every once in a while, his wife Liz mentions his crazy adventures in her blog. This post (pictured above) about their trip to a remote part of the Grand Canyon is a mild example.   I assume parks like Inwood Hill must drive him bonkers. Actually, not so much the parks, but people like me who come here and gush about feeling at peace with nature while walking in the trees and wildlife. I'll have to ask him.  

While I still prefer the over populated and landscaped Central Park to Inwood Hill, I found it to be a fun escape. I might even go back someday to camp under the stars and the 75,000 cars crossing the Henry Hudson Bridge. I'll sleep like a baby.

Oscar lagged behind until we put him in charge and called him the Park Stranger.
Nothing like a power trip to perk a kid up!  

Flip Flops: The best hiking shoes. 

 Photo Dump after the Jump.

Camp Mom: Are You With Me?

I'm trying to give my kids (and myself!) the summer of a lifetime, but my camp counselor skills are already starting to fade. Usually by 1pm, I need a nap. But I'm not the only one in this family!

Take our trip to The Met. I tried to over compensate my attitude by buying audio tours for all the kids. Ella and her cousins loved them. My boys were too tired to figure out how to use these simple devises, which led to griping and crying. I had no tolerance for whining by that point of the day. Luckily Aunt Emily was with us. She listened to me whine and, then, somehow she distracted my boys with a book scavenger hunt in the Egyptian room.

Sometimes I like going on outings with just me and my kids.  That way, I don't worry about my friends seeing us at our worst, I'm free to check my email at anytime without guilt, I can be late, my kids have all my attention, etc. Other times, however, I'm so thankful to have a friend around.  Our trip to the Met was one of those days I needed Emily. Desperately. 

Do you prefer to go on outings with your kids alone?  Or do you have a friend that's always up for an adventure? Those kind of friends are hard to find but so invaluable. I consider myself extremely lucky to have two up-for-anything-friends in the city!

NYC Testing Testing

On the 4th of July, Rob wanted luck to determine the events of the day. 

He had Ella write all the subway lines on small pieces of paper. She placed them in a cup. She then wrote numbers 3-12 on pieces of paper and placed them in another cup. Each kid got a turn picking a subway line and a number. Whatever they picked would determine what train we would take and for how many stops. 

Oscar was first.  He drew the D line for 5 stops.  Ella drew A train for 10 stops. Owen chose the 3 train for 11 stops. 

I was nervous about the logistics of this game and hoped we wouldn't end up in boring/frightening locations. Half way through the day, I realized his idea was brilliant. Oscar had already dropped us off in Washington Square Park, Ella brought us all the way up to the Cloisters, and I figured it out that Owen's train would take us down to Brooklyn Bridge Park. It's the coolest playground in the world. And I've been to every playground in the world. 

It was turning out to be a wonderful surprising day!

We played in the fountain in Washington Square Park until two old homeless dudes crashed the party in their underwear. (I can't say I wasn't warned from one of my readers in this post!) 

Taking a break in Washington Square Park before we moved onto our next stop.

The kids kept track of each stop. 

Ella's pick led us on a walk around the Cloisters. The path was oozing with butterflies and flowers. 

One of the happier moments of the day. They were making fun of the Met's security guards.  

Last stop: Swing Valley in Brooklyn!!! Good pick Owen. Must go here again. 

Rob's experiment proved the NYC public transportation drops us off in the middle of glorious places. God bless the USA and public transportation! Fun fact: I don't have a current driver's license. It's been expired for 2 years. My goal is to avoid driving for as long as I can. 

6 more pictures of our adventure the jump. 

Summer Break

where are my feet? it's a shame because I'm wearing great shoes. 

I'll be back on Monday!

Happy Fourth. Hope you have fun today!

Last year was fun--a parade, a huge block of ice, and shouting, "Happy Fourth of July" from the rooftops. It's going to be hard to top that. We had plans, but those plans fizzled out. It's 8:43am. We still have plenty of time to make something up. I can't wait to see where this day takes us.

Crisis of Faith

Greens!

I watched Forks Over Knives last night. Oh dear. The movie made it very clear that animal products are setting me up to have breast cancer and Rob to have diabetes. Such a bummer. Let my crisis of faith in ice cream and potato salad and hamburgers begin! Right before Fourth of July no less. It's not the first time a documentary or book has made me reconsider some of my decisions. Here's a few other documentaries and what I've learned from them:

Waiting for 'Superman' and The Lottery: The US public education system is turning my kids into dopes. 

The Business of Being Born: Ella was induced and I had a c-secion with my boys? The horror!!  

Food Inc.: I haven't eaten at McDonald's since watching it, except for 2 ice cream cones. Sinner.

Born to Run: Yay for running, boo for shoes. 

Ethos: Stop buying so much junk. Darn gift shops and Spanx.   

How do you process information that defies everything you thought was true? Especially if it seems like you're powerless to make a difference? I like to start small with my family. Otherwise I'll probably get squashed like a bug.  Off to buy some creamed coconut milk! Cows might finally be getting a break from me for a while.

ps

Anyone else converted to Amazon Instant Video? I have. Poor old Netflix.