Although Spring temperatures have suffered a minor setback, we’re still enjoying the benefits of ‘Spring Forward’, aka Daylight Saving Time. It made all the difference to Mika and Olivia, who enjoyed poking the mulch with sticks at the playground and riding their bike/scooter home … into the sunset. Can’t wait to see some serious green on all those tree skeletons though.

Our new favorite place for rainy Sundays: the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. We met up with Kai and Sango again, who are living in walking distance. Although we stayed for almost 4 hours, we didn’t revisit anything we had explored on our last visit … except for the ‘General Store’. And there’s still more to see! This place is incredible.

Today Mika finally had another chance to spend a day with Luna – her lifelong friend and first play date ever (at 2 weeks/6 weeks of age, respectively). What are big girls into these days? Riding their bikes, playing almost 2 hours on the playground, visiting Bookcourt and chilling with vanilla milk.

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Now that the permafrost has officially come to an end, various construction projects have been sprouting in a 3-block radius seemingly overnight. Especially the road construction sites with asphalt grinders, super-sized excavators (*German: Bagger), and concrete mixing trucks have been a constant source of delight for Tobin. I am considering bringing his ear protectors starting tomorrow…

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Tobin developed a little baby crush on Mika’s friend Gaang – he even learned how to say his name. Whenever “Gaang!” is around, Tobin is allowed to join the big kids…

Our kids had another great double play date with Diego and Suko – this time at their house. The toys are always greener on the other side and all four kids played so long (and so well) together that we had to skip the bathtub to make it to bed in time. Thanks for the yummy snacks and dinner – Tobin made up for Mika’s pickyness by eating twice his regular amount of food.

Tobin and Bruno checked on Sabine’s bunny inventory, making sure everything is in line for the weeks to come. Despite a cold, grey morning with some faint snow flurries (!), this ‘first day of spring’ turned out to be beautiful after all. Tobin and i even found the very first cherry blossoms in our neighborhood. Better keep a close eye on the cherry blossoms at the BBG from now on…

Now that he has made a full recovery from his 3 lbs weight loss, Tobin is all about walking again. His favorite activity: ditching the stroller and owning the sidewalk.

Mika on the other hand was exhausted after school today and gladly hopped into his vacant seat (for a half-block ride home from the car). To her defense: she went straight to her room to nap, and hasn’t woken up since. Hopefully it’s just ‘field-trip fatigue’ and she’s not coming down with something…

When Diego and Suko came over for an after-school play date, the kids discovered one of the local feral cats sitting on a tree … bird watching. They were fascinated, but knew immediately that this tough ‘kitty’ was not to be messed with.

Santiago and Nico brought their parents over for another, super-relaxing play date. Our brunch lasted all day long and everybody shared their toys generously: the kids with each other, the kids with the parents (Aquadoodle, anybody?), and the parents with the kids (Mika was snapping away with my camera, see last picture). Can’t wait for Spring, when the littlest boy will be moving around as well!

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Mika wanted to play with electricity so we said sure, why not.

It was about time that we upgraded both kids’ car seats. Although Tobin wasn’t even near outgrowing his infant car seat’s weight limitations, he had gotten so long that his legs always stuck out several inches past the edge of the seat. Mika’s intermediate seat had gotten a bit too tight for comfort as well, so she handed it off to Tobin (helloooo, legroom!), and got a big kid booster seat instead. The booster will convert into a backless cushion and serve us all the way until she can buckle up like a grownup ask for the car keys.