We wish you the happiest Birthday and all the best for the year to come: health, joy, friends, and lots of family time together. Here’s a little song from the kids, and a preview of their birthday presents. Let’s hope the package gets delivered in the morning! We will call you as soon as we are up and running… @@@@@@@@@
Roman and his family called three food loving families over for a Korean feast at their house. We contributed Sung’s Mandoo filling, freshly prepared in the morning, and two highly motivated child laborers to move the dumpling production along at maximum speed. Ryniee cooked up a storm (which i should have documented … sorry), and we all pretty much ate and played until the sun started setting. Roman took the invasion of six (!!) visiting children in great stride and was a fantastic host. Our seven kids got along splendidly, and we had the best time. Thank you all and let’s do this again – maybe in Brooklyn?
We met with Team Harold in DUMBO for brunch and a much anticipated, first inspection of Jane’s Carousel. It was love at first sight for Mika and Tobin. Harold was a bit more skeptical, but did enjoy his chariot ride as well. Another first for the kids: getting their picture taken in an analog, black-and-white photo booth. Unfortunately, we managed to get Harold’s head cropped off in all 4 frames of the “2 mothers with 3 kids” strip. Will have to go back another day…
Mika’s old lion hat is still part of our dress up bin, thanks to way-too-generous measurements back in 2006. Today, Tobin insisted that he – as a male lion – needs to add a legitimate mane to the costume. So he did. Blissfully unaware of the girlishness of his props…
Although Mika has yet to see an episode of Project Runway, she is already obsessed with creating new clothes for her favorite bunny – and sometimes for Tobin’s as well. Today’s slow Sunday was another opportunity to create a number of creations, but i only got a chance to take pictures of this one.
A few years ago, i was still wondering how to keep my kids from being mowed down by a tire swing full of exuberant preteens – and now i am already on the other side: lending a helping hand to moms of toddlers, who seem to be magically drawn into the path of destruction. Our “big girls” just giggled and shrieked like little kids and had a great time…
Tobin lucked out today by being fully integrated into the big girls’ play date: they pretended to be “veterinarians” for a long time, taking turns at being the sick animal(s), the nurse/assistant, and the vet. However, only Tobin was able to squeeze his “doggie” self into the “waiting room” (an emptied toy bin).
The first day of school is becoming less of a novelty with every new year – and with every new kid, so i haven’t mentioned that Mika has started 2nd grade already. Today was her class’ welcome breakfast and i brought Tobin along in the morning as well. So far, she is really happy with the new group of kids, and with her new teacher.
Thanks to Team ArandaLee, we didn’t miss “Otherworldly” at the MAD (Museum of Arts and Design). Today was literally the last day of the fascinating exhibit of “small-scale hand built depictions of artificial environments and alternative realities.” One of my personal favorites was Alan Wolfson’s “Canal St. Cross-Section“, featuring above ground storefronts as well as a two-tier subway station complete with ticket booth, hallways, platforms, and a cross-section of a subway car … all with the most amazing details and storytelling. Afterward, our party of nine had a fantastic feast in K-town.
After Tobin had been building plenty of wheel-less LEGO “cars” for months, Sung and i had planned to get some extra wheels in the house. However, we didn’t tell each other. I had planned to make it one of the birthday surprises next month, but today, Sung proudly pulled his latest ebay treasure out of the box (of course, he found the better deal). Well, the cat was out of the bag and both kids jumped at the chance to create vehicles. Tobin quickly designed a whole fleet, starting with a green tractor. Mika put a lot of thought into a comfortable and stylish concept car. To be continued…
Mika turned a fresh batch of our favorite blueberry muffins into “Smurf” cupcakes to celebrate Henry’s 4th birthday. The boys had a great time, as always, and graciously included the big siblings into their play date. Except for the couch-turned-car, which they kept all to themselves.
We came out to Gaang’s mom’s reading at Powerhouse Arena this afternoon. She and Gaang read from her latest two books and Tobin got his copy of “The Twins’ Blanket” signed by both. Mika would have loved to move into the book store and just read all day long…
