Timeline

Thursday, January 17, 2013

We Parked

I ended up taking the kids to meet up with our friends on the west side.  We had a great time riding the bus, fun at the playground and we even strolled Central Park on the dark, foggy and lamplight paths.  We followed the fun up with dinner at UNO with Fleur.

It ended up being a really nice afternoon.  Glad we went for it.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

To Park or Not To Park

Sometimes our schedules get a wee bit off kilter over the weekend.  Today is an off kilter day.  Greg has an all day training thingy so I've been on my own.  By the time we finished gymnastics, got home, organized lunch and convinced Wren to nap it was nearly 2pm.  So, now I find myself at 3:37 wondering whether or not I should wake her so we can meet friends at Central Park, or just let her sleep.  By the time I wake her and get the crew organized to go, it'll take at least 30 min.  The sun sets somewhere between 4:30 and 5 pm and it's already an overcast day.  If we do make it to the park, we'll only have a few measly minutes before it's dark.  And... they're meeting on the west side of the park, which extends the commute.  Hmmmm...

But, staying here doesn't sound that appealing since our neighbor's daughter is turning either 15 or 16 this weekend and it's been a non stop teenage music/scream/drama fest.  The biggest thing is the slamming of the front door.  It's enough to drive me batty.  Greg thinks it's terrible to let the teenager have that many friends over to the apartment.  I think it's just a different way of life.  If all you've ever known is high rise living -- then, it's totally normal.  At least the birthday girl came by earlier today and gave me her phone number.  She said to text if things were getting too loud since she probably wouldn't hear me knocking!

Decisions, decisions...

I was also planning on cooking tonight, but I think I've canned that idea.  I think the new pizza joint around the corner is calling our name.  Plus, this gives me one more day to organize and check in with my cousin to see if he wants to swing by for dinner.  :)

Oy... the screaming.  I thought I remembered being that age, but apparently I don't remember it all that well!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Happy New Year!

So far we're off to a great start.  We completed the year with a tad of down time -- if there is such a thing as "down time" with two kids.  :)  I took the kids to see the tree at Rockefeller and to watch the folks ice skating.  We then walked over to Greg's office and took the subway home with him in the late afternoon.

Atticus and I had a fun little adventure on Christmas Day.  He and I went for a chilly walk and ended up stopping at a fun little bakery for some coffee, orange juice and a slice of cake.  Wren and I have gone on a few small adventures here and there recently too -- I think her favorite was FAO.  She wasn't such a fan of the Apple store, but then again, it was just prior to Christmas and a wee bit busy!

Atti and I also spent last weekend at Bryant Park.  We shook off the nerves and hit the ice.  There was a tantrum or two when he first stepped onto the ice, but after our second try, he really took to skating.  Truth be told, I was impressed.  We stopped several times the first go around the rink -- but the second trip went pretty smooth.  We even went large distances where he was only holding my hands and not onto the rail at all!  I'd say pretty good for the first time EVER!  I'm going to try and take Wren soon and hopefully get back with Atticus again too.  Atti and I were lucky that we made it the very last day of the "shops".  After an hour or so on the ice, we packed up and watched the zamboni clean the ice.  That was a highlight for sure.  Next up, snacks.  We tried some grits and had one of the BEST wafels (yes I spelled that right) ever.  Seriously, I'm still dreaming about the wafels.  Of course, no day would be complete without a street vendor hot dog!

Thankfully, we're in a bit of a warm spell right now, so we've been able to spend quite a bit of time at the two closest parks.  The kids love these gigantic swings.  They're made from a heavy duty plastic and they're set up so the kids are reclining at a pretty steep angle.  Who knows... they love 'em.  And, as a result of pushing them constantly - I think I'm getting a decent upper body workout in every time we go to the park!

We're also stopping into the library at least once a week.  Some current favorites include I Ain't Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont and Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker.  I really need to see if the kids school has a Scholastic account so that I can order those two.  We've checked out many books lately, but those are definite favorites.

Everything else is holding steady... the kids are loving their gymnastics classes at MyGym.  I'm also considering adding in some classes at the 92 Street Y... but we'll see.  I know how easy it could be to overschedule the kids.  They have so much fun, it's hard to not let them try everything out!