Being fans of the Brooklyn Flea food vendors, we had to check out their new Saturday venture, Smorgasburg. Luckily, all rain showers held out until late afternoon, so we had a perfectly sunny, delectable morning. Most vendors pride themselves in offering local specialties, but i am glad the seafood came from out-of-state.

Mika and Luna after their first swim lesson at Imagine – goggle eyed, cold, but happy as clams. For Mika, it was the first lesson ever and she did really well. Luna is in a different (advanced) group – she took a few lessons last year and practiced at the pool all Summer. Mika definitely caught the swimming bug: once she was dressed and warm again, she wanted to go right back …

… and no end in sight.

We’ve had exceptionally wet weather for the past 7+ days, and the forecast shows even more precipitation throughout next week. The flowers on our balcony are drowning, and the topic has made it into the kids’ artwork: Tobin drew a group of orange people, walking under gray clouds in heavy rain. The piece of foil is the park, which is full of water as well (blue tape). This reminds me of a similar week (and effect) last August in Hamburg.

Unfortunately for everybody, Tobin doesn’t ever nap at school. With both kids hungry and tired, late afternoons have the potential to get explosive around here. Thank goodness for book-loving kids: Mika loves to read her homework assignment to Tobin, and he loves to snuggle up with her for ‘storytime’. A few minutes of peace and quiet while i am whipping up their dinner? Priceless.

On Wednesday, Tobin had his friend Edie over for their first after school play date. Right around pickup time, the skies released an impossible amount of rain, but we made it back home on our bikes nonetheless. The kids had a great time while their clothes went for a spin in the dryer…

Apparently, Tobin doesn’t need hands when he is pooping on the toilet – but he made sure to bring a roll of toilet paper along.

On Saturday, the kids had our local playground almost to themselves and were playing in perfect harmony for over two hours: racing up and down each slide dozens of times, pretending house- and grocery store scenes, giggling and twirling on the tire swing until they couldn’t walk a straight line anymore, and generally racing around the playground hand in hand, oblivious to other children. I even got asked what “magical age difference” it might be, that they got along so well.

Full disclosure: when they both are well rested and fed, they get along beautifully like this – but they are also incredibly skilled at pushing each others buttons throughout less favorable times of the day. To the point that Mika recently complained through her clenched teeth “how annoying” Tobin is “all the time”, and that she wants a day off from having a little brother.  I’d say chances for perfect harmony are about 60:40, but i can even see their love for each other shine through the darkest moments … and that’s all that counts in the long term.

Look at all the teeth that have gone missing!

It has been months since Mika and Olivia had a proper play date, and they enjoyed their afternoon together to the fullest. Mostly behind closed doors, with Tobin graciously included. The moms were only needed to provide frequent snacks, and to keep lil’ Theo entertained so he wouldn’t bang on their door all the time. He was pretty restless though, which is his job at the tender age of 15 months. Tobin on the other hand was on his best behavior, so the big girls wouldn’t assign him to the “baby room”.

Every morning, before she leaves for school, Mika selects an assistant to help me with my daily work. She carefully places them on the keyboard, and instructs me to watch “that they don’t get into trouble”.

Every afternoon, she giggles when i tell her that “monkey colored all my designs pink”, or that “bunny almost spilled carrot cake all over my notebook”. Some of them have their own office, but they are part of the rotation anyway.

Mika and her friends don’t exclusively read on play dates, but homework has indeed become a fixture in their get togethers. It’s a perfect opportunity to take a few, quick pictures, and leave the camera tucked away for the rest of their (play) time. On Wednesdays, we resumed our weekly after-after-school dinner dates with Esme and Cleo.

For a while, Mika simply left off colors in her drawings to save time … but recently, she developed a new style that’s more observant. There are subtle uses of perspective and many whimsical details (did you notice the pigeons on the roof of the house across the street, which the big cat is observing?). There are still plenty of remnants from the stereotypical preschool drawings though … i.e. those funny heart people she introduced on Valentine’s Day two years ago.

Tobin loves to listen to stories, so our play dates with Mica are always a special treat for him. The girls have to plow through three books each for their daily homework assignment and he’s trying to catch a front row seat whenever possible.