We donated two cocktail stirrer from our last date night to the kids’ arts & crafts bin … and Tobin immediately turned this sparkly treasure into a rocket ship. He’s been throwing it around the house since Friday, so i thought i take a picture before it breaks.

We had a little health scare with Tobin last night: late yesterday afternoon, after being perfectly fine, he suddenly developed a fever and woke up every 15 minutes, all night long, with short, wheezing breath, a painful cough, and a fast heartbeat. By this morning, all of us were thoroughly worn out and ready to get him checked out in the ER. And then? Within 2 hours (!), his fever dropped, and his spirits came back with a vengeance. I haven’t seen anything like it before, and am still stumped … but happy he’s doing much better.

Our original Mother’s Day plans had been crossed, but we were able to make a short trip to the Brooklyn Flea to catch a few tasty morsels on the go: Red Hook Lobster Pound’s lobster roll, Asia Dogs, Dough’s doughnuts, Pizza Moto, People Pops’ shaved ice…

The Red Hook food vendors kicked off the 2011 season last weekend, so we took some balls, mitts, and a Frisbee down to play and eat. Tobin was proudly wearing his Swedish hat from Auntie Sooki and Uncle Johan … and Mika didn’t hang around the camera much today ;-)

Today was the Annual Mother’s Day Breakfast at Choo Choo Train, and Mrs. Ela and her kids went all out again: lavish brunch tables (including kid-baked blueberry muffins), a special music performance for the moms, outdoor dance class, and presents straight from the heart. All moms were smitten, of course! (Sabine, thanks for the opening picture!)

Today, we sent Tobin to play in the kids’ room so Mika could focus on her homework. Surprisingly, he stayed there for a long time. When he emerged again, he gave us his very own Keynote: a slick new laptop model he put together using the bottom half of his harmonica box. The number of keys are reduced to match his preschool literacy level, and he proudly announced that he put an apple on the cover … to match all other laptops in our family. Mika was particularly impressed by the way he constructed the keyboard, which is entirely different from any of the laptops she has built so far.

Dear 할아버지,
Even though we can’t be in Baltimore today to celebrate your 고희 (go-hui) in proper style, we wish you a very happy Birthday and many more years of health, joy, and prosperity to come. The kids made special cards for you: Mika’s folding card shows herself and you picking flowers, and the chosen flowers in a special vase (Sun flowers, daisies, tulips, marigolds, impatiens. Which flower do you like? I like tulips). Tobin’s card shows you (tall green guy, with red face details) and him (small red guy), and a little penguin in the bottom right corner. Look at that full head of black hair that he gave you … very close to reality :)

Usually, we don’t stop by the playground after Tobin’s pickup, since it’s a long way home and Mika needs to get her homework done before dinner. Yesterday however, we spontaneously joined Bruno and a few other Choo Choo Train classmates for a visit to the old stomping grounds.  Sitting on the Elephant is still as popular as it was when Mika was little. Now that the weather has improved, we should return more often: Tobin didn’t want to go home … in particular, he had a hard time letting go of the popular ride-on digger.

Tobin’s drawings continue to evolve. Now he is able to create characters that have some real life characteristics, such as a bunny with long ears and a little, round tail. Also, he is adding more details to all of his people and animals: fingers and toes are making an appearance more often, and sometimes the eyes get pupils (if there’s enough room). This bunny from Sunday’s brunch is starting to look a lot like his beloved “Hase“…

Today was Tobin’s second visit of the New York International Auto Show. This year, we went as a family of four but Mika was nice enough to let Tobin take the driver’s seat virtually everywhere. Despite the overall fierce crowds, each individual line to get into a car was laughably short compared to our recent, frustrating Touch-A-Truck experience. Tobin was in automotive heaven! His favorites were the SAAB PhoeniX concept car, and the entire Mini fleet. Mika had fun too, especially because fellow first grader and friend DJ Kai was spinning for Pioneer at the DUB show event downstairs.

Although we’ve been visiting the Brooklyn Botanical Garden during cherry blossom season every year since Mika was a toddler, this was the first time we braved the crowds and attended the big Sakura Matsuri Festival. The day started a bit overcast, but in the afternoon all clouds gave way to clear blue sky and crisp sunshine. We joined team Elsie, Violet & friends on their blanket, and had a front row seat for both blossoms and passing fruit cosplayers.

Only four days ago, it was bitter cold on Coney Island: 37°F (3°C) windchill. On this very last day of Spring Break, the stars aligned in our favor: 77°F (25°C) and sunshine, along with half a day carved out of Anke’s and my work schedule. The kids had a great time at the beach with a picnic, lots of digging, building, and running barefoot along the edge of the water.

Mika’s first passport expired last year, and we’re getting ready to apply for a new one. Mika would’ve loved to use her “vampire” picture, and was imagining playing scary pranks on the immigration agents.