The water's cold!

Trampoline Fun

We're Back

We are back from our week on the Delaware shore. Still clinging to a lazy week of little more than beaches and barbecues as the reality of back to work has settled it.  At least we have a long weekend to look forward to.

Lyla is Going to School

We found a preschool for her and I love it! It is the Barclay Street School, just a short walk from our apartment. She is starting camp there this summer and will go to school two afternoons a week starting in September. We started to tell her about it, but she just insists that she doesn't want to go to school because she wants to play with mommy and go to the park.

She is so aware of her world -- looking at things in new ways and manipulating her environment -- I know she is going to really love school.  I've just recently noticed a huge spike in her imaginative play and her interest in other kids.  I think this is just what she needs.
My big girl!

Not a fun way to end the weekend

A flat tire on the BQE just minutes from home after arriving at JFK three hours late.  It brought our total travel time from Rochester to NYC to seven hours.  Lyla was a trooper -- not a single tear all day.  In the spirit of tonight's Tony Awards -- I'd like to thank the Rochester airport playroom, new toys and our iPad for a meltdown-free trip.

Picking up some reading for the flight

I think she'll choose Bloomberg Markets.

Imagination Playground

Random Happenings

A few random things that I never got to write about:

1. Lyla and my dad can play a mean duet of "You are my sunshine."




2. Lyla loves this big red cube on Broadway. She makes me stop every time we pass it so she can try to push it.





3. We now have a local Farmers' Market in the neighborhood with live music every weekend. Lyla likes the music, not so much the vegetables.


4. We found a swan sitting on her nest in one of the canals. We've been back to visit twice but no babies yet.


5. Nicolas got fish for his birthday. Five guppies turned to three very quickly. Dina is thankful that Nicolas can't count so well. We went with them to the pet store to get the fish. In the back of the store is an ASPCA with kittens available for adoption. When we went into visit we were so loud that one of the cats ran and hid. Ask Lyla to tell you the story and she will tell you that Ruby the cat was "a wittle scared of people" so she "ran behind a box." I have heard the story at least 50 times.


6. Mark and I have given up hope of having any quality time with our new iPad. She wakes up in the morning and says "How about iPad?"


7. Mark taught her how to hold a baseball bat. The two of them have been watching a fair amount of baseball and her favorite team is the Indians.


8. Lyla took this picture of Brennan at Barry's birthday party.


9. We went to Dylan's dance recital in Tribeca. At lunch after the recital, Dylan taught Lyla how to do a silly face.


10. Mark and I went to Peter's Clam bar for our first clams of the summer.  It did not disappoint.


11. Lyla loves ice cream. Her favorite flavor is "ganilla" and it must be in a cone.

The Beach...Finally!

We eventually got to the beach on Monday of Memorial Day weekend and it felt sooo good to feel the sun on our skin and hear the crashing waves.

We haven't got our beach routine fine-tuned just yet, so we fumbled a bit as we tried to get out of the house with way too much stuff for an afternoon at the beach. Hosing off beach chairs, searching for beach toys, trying to remember whether the umbrella broke last summer, debating whether to use last summer's sunscreen -- all par for the course during the first beach weekend of the season.

When we eventually settled in, Lyla made it pretty clear that she will need her own beach chair this summer. She kept asking "where Lyla chair" and promptly took my seat as soon as I got up.




I had some concerns about whether Lyla would still love the beach as much as she did last summer. She has become more cautious, so I wondered whether she would get upset when she got sandy or be afraid of the water. Other than the lack of nap...she was pretty pleased with the beach itself.











Lyla got braver and braver in the water.


She took a pretty big tumble in the water and rebounded. No pictures of the actual fall because we were scrambling to pick her up...


Lyla calls the shot and decided we were ready to go home. We were all down by the water and she walked back to her chair. She that little red bathing suit in the distance?


Finally, big news to report. My parents got a slide for the pool! We tried it out after the beach. Awesome, right?










I love you, Summer.

Birthday Party for Nicolas and Christopher

On Sunday, we had a birthday party for Nick and Chrissy at Dina's house.  Dina throws really good kids' parties. This one started at 11am and was just winding down at 6pm.




She had "Nick the Balloonatic" make balloon animals for the kids. It was great. He could make pretty much anything you asked for.








(that's a balloon cigarette!)



















My mom gave a lesson on s'mores




And the kids enjoyed the end result.




Rich made a Transformers/Elmo cake to satisfy both boys :)




Nicolas and Chloe, his girlfried of almost two years! :)


After cake, we broke out the slip and slide!











The little ones weren't quite getting the "slide head first" part, so I tried to give them a little demo...It was awesome.


Dina's neighbor Eddie had a really smart idea to pull the kids along on a rope to show them how to do it.


Dina and the boys gave it a shot.




Where was Lyla all of this time? Carefully watching from the sidelines. She wanted no part of it.


Whew, I'm tired just recapping the party.