All children of the family – furry and non-furry – hung out on the fire escape after dinner for dessert. Two ice pops were devoured, but the birds got away.

Mika and Olivia are sleepover professionals now: after our family movie night, they retreated to their room, quietly played and read – and fell asleep before midnight (!)  The next morning, they slept until 7:00 am and got enough rest to function properly. Still, the lack of sleep caught up with them during our play date (see above). Tobin, who had woken up at 5:30 am due to no shades in our bedroom, voluntarily retreated back to his sleeping bag and fell into a deep slumber within minutes. Mika resisted the urge, but let Luna made good use of her bag.

Another year almost over, another soaring Summer party at Mika’s school. As in the years before, there were many fun activities, performances, plenty of food choices and treats. Mika’s friend Kai (aka DJ Kai) was spinning again, and everybody said farewell to the principal, who is retiring after 10 years of service. We lucked out with the weather and got home minutes before the rain front hit, but as you can tell, some chilly winds had picked up a couple of hours before.

Remember Tobin’s Lego ducks from last year?  I sneaked them out of the general brick building zone (the “Legoland”), and kept them safe at my desk until … Tobin requested both ducks back today as props for his new kind of bird: The Predator! This superbird has jet engine wings, big claws on his feet, shoots fire out of a hole in his belly, and has an overall fierce attitude.

This year’s Fleet Week was even more fabulous due to OpSail bringing a variety of historic sailboats and military ships to three locations in New York. Most of them – over 10! – literally docked in our back yard at Piers 7 and 8 of the Marine Terminal, Brooklyn. We went for two separate strolls on this increasingly hot Memorial Day weekend (88°F/31°C … felt like 95°/35°C due to humidity). At this age, the kids’ enthusiasm for big guns is still unrelated to an otherwise pacifist upbringing, but in the end, a broken water pipe on the Pier trumped it all.

On Sunday – the last day with tolerable temperatures – we took all four bikes to a ride on Governors Island. Tobin did super, keeping up on his tiny 12-inch bike. He probably has to kick his pedals 8 times as fast as Mika on her 20-inch bike with gears (somebody do the math?). We ran into a few familiar faces, most notably Luna and her folks who had stopped for an ice cream break. As if that wasn’t enough exercise, we biked from the Brooklyn ferry landing straight over to DUMBO, to spend the late afternoon/evening with Team Litt-Cole. The kids had a blast on Jane’s carousel and still plenty of energy during dinner. Our departure ran dangerously close to bedtime, so we promised our kids an ice cream treat back home. You should have seen Tobin race back home! He did notice the beautiful sunset over the Manhattan skyline though…

Mika and i have been going to the monthly origami meetups here in Brooklyn since January. Today, the guys joined us for the first time. Favorite new model: a simple spinning top, made from 3 sheets of paper. Tobin liked folding (with Sung’s help), but he loved spinning competitions between his top and the others’. I have to say, he got really good at it and beat me many times.

Mika’s has been studying the history of the city of New York throughout second grade, and her class invited all families over to a hands-on Ellis Island immigration experience. The kids split up in five main inspection stations: arrival, baggage check, health & mental check, legal & background check, and passport control. Visiting family members got to experience all stations, one at a time. Each team of “inspectors” gave a demonstration on how their particular screening process worked. All kids loved to send people who didn’t meet their criteria into detention. For example, Sung’s (pre-packed) luggage contained an ax (!)  He tried to declare it as ‘nail clippers’, but got detained right away. I was one dollar short of having the required $25 in cash, but a forgiving inspector took pity, handed me the missing bill, and let me in … phew!

Following the event, we all shared breakfast together and gave her teacher – 9 months pregnant – a going-away gift: hand painted onesies and t-shirts from each student, along with the parents’ appreciation gifts. Fun fact: this is Mika’s third year in elementary school, and every single one of her teachers has been giving birth towards the end of the school year.

We spent a perfectly balmy Sunday afternoon with Nara and her folks, strolling through SoHo, TribeCa, and along the waterfront. So much fun to see her become a big girl – she bravely ditched her stroller and walked most of the way!

Due to unseasonably warm weather in March and parts of April, Spring has sprung early this year. Citywide, cherry blossoms peaked 2-3 weeks early, and pollen allergy sufferers had a hard time. The upside? Apart from the first-ever true Spring Season since i moved here 16 years ago? Our balcony strawberry harvest started a whole month early, and quintupled the yield from 3 years ago. The first two, perfect specimen were served atop egg custard tarts today and got rave reviews. If Sung and i are lucky, we will get to taste some later this week…

On Mother’s Day, i got an extra dose of sleep and woke up to a lovely breakfast with french toast and a bouquet of duct tape roses. The kids had prepared various cute craft projects at school, but were especially proud of the roses they had made with Sung. They taught me how to make one from scratch, and i am amazed at how many they created during their secret craft session … thank you :-x

We spent the sunny day mostly in DUMBO, and finished the evening with a long anticipated first visit to Pok Pok NY, the Thai outpost Andy Ricker opened literally around the corner from us. The kids arrived a bit tired and hungry from all the biking, but held it together nicely. The food lived up to the rave reviews and we will certainly be back soon. Let’s hope the line won’t be so bad once the full summer heat has kicked in…

Last weekend, Arturo introduced us to the mad science of super-sized bubbles. Over the past weeks, he perfected Sterling Johnson’s bubble mix and had a party-sized batch ready to go. He instructed us in building our own wands from sticks and string, and after a little practice, we got the hang of the basics. To their own amazement, the kids were able to create bubbles bigger than themselves! It’s all about timing: the longer the strings stay open, the bigger the bubble gets – but if you wait too long to close the wand, the bubble pops before it can take flight. Long after his own arms got tired, and long after all other kids had turned to other activities, Tobin kept chasing each new bubble with unchanged enthusiasm…

Arturo – thanks for getting us hooked, and thanks for taking a bunch of great pictures :)