Tobin and Henry went to the New York Transit Museum together and proved to be an efficient team. Here they are shown after a most spectacular hijack of the ‘Money Train’…

… I like pokin’ around, with a big old twig.

True to one of David Winestone’s ‘Music for Aardvarks’ classics, Mika and Olivia spent most of their afternoon play date … pokin’ around. If you don’t have your own garden, some sort of garden experience can be found almost everywhere.

Tobin is really getting into using Mika’s markers these days, and she trained him well: stay on the paper!, put the cap back on when you’re done!, one marker at a time! … but that’s not what i am happy about in the first place.

He actually gets lost in his work for up to half an hour at times, and Mika never dismisses it as ‘baby scribbles’ – at least not to his face. She actually starts making up elaborate stories of what he drew: here’s some grass and a boat on a pink ocean … and there was a storm … etc. and he gets really excited at all the possibilities those markers have.

The last time Mika and Gaang had a play date in Prospect Park, they skipped school and went sledding. Today, they conquered the same terrain on their bikes. Perfect (seasonal) weather seems to be the common denominator for both outings…

We meant to visit all summer long and finally made it to Governors Island. Just a free, 5-minute ferry ride away from Brooklyn, there was no excuse to miss this amazing little getaway.

The timing was perfect though because we could go on our first family bike ride since Mika took off her training wheels! She actually biked all around the island with us, enjoying the wide, car-free roads and the scenic view. We brought a little picnic lunch and made good use of the local swing sets. Tobin resisted his nap until 4:30 pm, then crashed in his bike seat…

We’ll be back again for more bike practice and to continue to explore the historic parts of the island. The latter was cut a bit short due to Tobin being inseparable from his bike seat. Zzzzz.

Today was our first play date at Bruno’s new Park Slope pad! However, if late September is dealing you a hand of 85°F (29°C), you can’t stay indoors. We hit the local playground and the boys had a blast wearing themselves out to the max. Exploration of the great indoors to follow…

Last spring, at 3.5 years, i squeezed Mika in one of my favorite childhood T-shirts from when i was 3 years old. I thought we’d have to wait another two years for Tobin to wear it, but he can already pull it off right now (at almost 2 years). It will fit him into next year as well though…

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

Growing up on the outskirts of Hamburg, Germany in the 1970’s, we used our street as a playground. We played hopscotch, learned to ride our bikes, roller skated, played ball games … you name it. Sure, there were cars passing every now and then, but the kids owned the street.

Growing up in NYC is of course a different experience. Even in my old neighborhood in Germany, the cars have outnumbered the kids and nobody in their right mind would send them to play unsupervised in the streets anymore. However, there is one little block in our immediate Cobble Hill neighborhood, Verandah Place, that channels life from the past. Historic (mid-1800) buildings line a narrow street alongside Cobble Hill Park, and everybody can safely walk right in the middle of the street. Luckily for Tobin, the cobble stones have been replaced with smooth Asphalt…

We spent the better part of today in DUMBO, basking in the late summer sun. Starting out with brunch and a visit to the Brooklyn Flea, we then headed over to the waterfront park, the playground, and celebrated a double birthday in the afternoon. Happy 1st birthday Sango … happy birthday Tomoko!

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

Less than 3 weeks ago, we took the training wheels off of Mika’s bike, along with the pedals to create her very own runbike. It didn’t take her long to find the center of gravity and today we gave it a shot and tested the bike with pedals back on. No training wheels.

Mika put her newfound balance together with the old pedaling skills and … just took off! So proud of her!! She actually managed to get a good handle on breaking after this movie was taken, but we’ll have to practice some more before she can ride well on the sidewalks. So far, she can circle the schoolyard for minutes, but she still needs a little extra room to maneuver safely.

Since Gaang picked up Tae Kwon Do this spring, Mika wanted to learn how to fight as well. Now that summer break is over and classes are starting up again, she had the chance to get a free tryout in our neighborhood martial arts studio. Let’s hope she doesn’t get discouraged by the fact that she was the only girl among seven boys in this particular class. Apparently, most of the upper belt students in the youth classes are girls…

Bruno and Tobin had a fun morning at rain-deserted Carroll Park. The weather wasn’t outright bad, but they were able to snatch the only two availabe rides for quite some time. When Mika got home from school, the weather had improved greatly but both boys were still napping. Bruno woke up well ahead of Tobin, so Mika got a little taste of what “the real Bru” would be like as little brother. She didn’t succumb to his charms for long, but rather applied some tested and true stalling techniques to keep him off the bobby car. Luckily, there were many more toys to be shared at another playground (once Tobin woke up).