The temperatures went down today according to forecast, but that didn’t stop the kids from having lots of fun: in the morning, Bruno and Tobin navigated complex traffic scenarios. In the afternoon, Mika, Jordan, and Lillian had their long anticipated triple play date (with two of three little brothers in attendance). It didn’t really rain much at all, but a few drops on the way to Lillian’s house sent the big sisters giggling under Mika’s umbrella…
Today, we had one last day of Summer weather before temperatures will go back to seasonably cool levels. To make the very best out of our play date, we took Henry and Tobin to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden for some flower appreciation. The big “Cherry Esplanade” has not launched into bloom yet, but the weeping cherry trees around the Japanese pond and along the side lines were quite a sight already.
The boys were so excited to run on grass that they kept doing just that. They hardly ever stopped … only to drink water, to point at passing maintenance tractors. or to shake down some cherry blossom “snow”.
Today was the last day of Mika’s Spring Break and i wanted to give a little update: both kids stayed at home with Daddy all of last week, while i made a quick dash to Germany to celebrate Omi Hilde’s 89th birthday. At first, the kids were a little bummed that they couldn’t fly out to Germany as well, but we found a good solution: their little bunnies traveled with me as representatives (well documented), and Halmoni & Harabogi visited from Baltimore for 3 days of family fun in Brooklyn (not documented).
The bunny pictures will end up in a book for the kids and hopefully i’ll be able to post some highlights in the next days when i am finished editing.
UPDATE on June 19, 2010: you can download the pdf of the book here. Unfortunately, i don’t know how to set up a pdf to show spreads (instead of single pages), so the experience is a bit different. Still, 11+ MB of bunny cuteness :)
Big treat for the whole family: one of our favorite children’s book authors, Oliver Jeffers, read from his works at one of our favorite independent book stores nearby. Mika, Tobin, Olivia, and Luna were thrilled to see him speed-draw in synch with the professional interpretation of “The Incredible, Book Eating Boy”, “The Great Paper Caper”, and his new work “The Heart and the Bottle“. The kids loved the “Paper Caper” inspired airplane contest, and we got our books signed by Oliver.
Originally, i just wanted to capture Tobin’s little ritual of “parking” his race car toothbrush backwards into the cup (beep-beep-beep!) as well as 3 other items – each with a different sound effect. But as it is with toddlers, the distractions are plentiful and time is still an unlimited commodity…
Mika has been honing her skills as a professional bubble catcher during bathtime – and i have gotten pretty reliable at producing oversized soap bubbles. Tobin, her apprentice, has been practicing impulse control: he respectfully watches her most daring captures while popping all the outtakes…
Today was Mika’s last day of school before Spring Break. Throughout this past week, parents were invited to visit after school classes for some showcase performances. Tobin and i got a glimpse at Mika’s gymnastics program…
Tobin saw his favorite store kitty – which is usually quite active and playful – rolled up in a box, taking a 5:00 pm nap. He tried to get her attention by knocking at the window. The cat looked him straight in the eye, but didn’t move whatsoever. After a few minutes, he turned to me with an accepting expression and said: “Katze Feierabend, Mami! Da ganz gemütlich.”
There is no adequate translation for the concept of “Feierabend”, but his whole quote loosely translates into “Cat’s all done working and made itself comfortable for the rest of the evening”.
In conclusion of this most spectacular Spring weekend, we joined team Lee-Alto for a little culture (the last days of “Slash: Paper Under The Knife” at MAD) and a lot of digging, flower watching, and summer treats in Central Park. We even had more play time and dinner at their house (thanks!). Guess who skipped his nap … again?
And what a day it was: 70°F (20°C) and sunny! In the afternoon, we joined the masses that materialized in Central Park like a swarm of hungry crickets: almost every yard of green was claimed and none of the food vendors had any ice cream left (mind you … any flavor ice cream). Bathroom lines and overall parking situation in the adjacent neighborhoods were ridiculous, but the kids had fun blowing/chasing bubbles, watching squirrels, and romping around.
(If you’re as confused about March 20th being the first day of Spring as i am, read this)
Tobin met his fellow (half) German friends Bruno and Mateo for lunch at Pierrepoint Park in Brooklyn Heights. Food was the only thing that got those rascals to sit together in one place for more than a minute…
