Even on this rainy day, Tobin and Bruno didn’t pass a chance to watch the heavy equipment that was tearing up the street in front of Wortspiele. It’s nothing compared to the attractions that were on display in Munich these past weeks, but will have to do for two little Brooklyn boys after school.

This afternoon, we made a field trip up to the NY Botanical Garden to catch the last of this year’s cherry blossoms. It seems like the Bronx was even ahead of Brooklyn with most trees about a week past peak bloom: lots of leaves were mixing into the flowers and the floor was already covered in pink petals. The kids enjoyed it nevertheless, especially since it was not nearly as crowded as the BBG on a weekend. We also discovered hills with lilacs, peonies, and a sea of azaleas and rhododendron spread out under majestic trees. Spring has indeed come full force!

Today was the second potluck family dinner for Mika’s Kindergarten class, which also doubled as a farewell party for her principal teacher who is due with her second child in a few weeks. The kids ran wild in the school cafeteria, the parents enjoyed good conversation over a glass of wine and international home cooking, and the little baby-boy-to-be got a quilt that the whole class worked on together. Tobin was lucky to have turned a corner this morning and finally (!) had some of his energy back. He even tried (and enjoyed) a few foods.

Today, Tobin’s twin mattress arrived and for a brief moment the bunk bed looked complete – until i had to install his temporary bed rail (not pictured). Still, all three rightful owners of the bed are thrilled and are taking their respective turns…

Over the course of more than five months, we finally got a bunk bed for the kids. It’s a nice bed, but i can highly discourage everybody from purchasing anything from Nurseryworks: after an unexpected lead time of over 4 months (!), we got several damaged components in the first delivery attempt and had to make half the bunk work as a twin bed, while temporarily upgrading Tobin from crib to Mika’s toddler bed (picture 2). Today, the replacement units arrived (some with different damages) and it finally came together enough to be assembled: Mika moved into the top bunk and Tobin got his first night in the lower bunk. Good thing he’s well enough that he won’t throw up all over it…

Tobin woke up with a stomach bug this morning, which instantly wiped out our family plans for the day. Thankfully, we seem to be dealing with a typical 24-hour attack. The TLC of two cats and his family should help him make a full recovery tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed…

After a week out of town, Sung got to spend the whole afternoon with Mika and Tobin. They went to DUMBO and checked out the newly opened Pier 1 at Brooklyn Bridge Park, which i have yet to see. The team approves!

Earlier this week, the main Cherry Esplanade at the Botanical Garden started flowering. We consolidated a bunch of play dates on this perfect spring day and went to the BBG with five kids: Henry, Bruno, Katja, Roman, and Tobin. This time, the flowers were too high for a petal shakedown, so the kids were happily running, poking dirt, sharing toys, and watching fish in the pond.

Tobin, Henry, and Roman enjoyed a relaxing stroller nap/rest on the way back to our neighborhood, which was topped off with a treat at Blue Marble. Happy kids all around…

Note: This is already the third Hanami season for Tobin and Bruno at the BBG.
Check out 2008 and 2009 to see how much they’ve grown!

Last September, Sung started our little garden project on the balcony and created a new favorite hangout for Luna. It was just enough time for the plants to grow strong roots before Winter brought everything to a standstill. The last two weeks of Spring weather finally got the vines out of hibernation and they have been growing several inches per day since. Next week, they might already touch in the middle of the rail and hopefully soon we’ll have a wall of green to look out on when we open the door. Luna already loves to hide behind the tender green to stake out the pigeons next door…

While i was away, Mika issued her own money and handed out a fat wallet to Tobin and Sung.

A couple days earlier, she was asked in school what she would do “if she had $100”. Her answer:“I will buy candy that is hard candy” (the stuff she rarely gets her hands on without occasion). Yet another learning curve ahead…

Today was the first day after spring break for the Bärenkinder (bear cubs … the 2- and 3-year olds) at Wortspiele. During this past week, the school has moved to Park Slope and we all had to adjust to a new commute (for us: 20+ minutes by bus or car, compared to 5 minutes walking distance before … grrr). Everybody loved the new classrooms though: Tobin and Mateo started “setting up house” right away and they welcomed Bruno into the new digs when he arrived. There were so many wonderful toys to check out that Tobin almost forgot to say good-bye to me.

In the past months, Tobin has become even more infatuated with cars and is now able to name all major makers that are represented curbside in our streets. It started as an innocent idea of Rosie, who wanted to teach him the names of a few German car makers … but he kept expanding his visual (and verbal) library on every walk. That’s why Sung took him to the New York International Auto Show. Tobin fell under the spell of many headlights, saw “Bumble Bee” and even found a car that was just right in size. Afterwards, we all met up at the reopened Union Square Playground.