Love Notes

Freddie has taken to leaving notes for everyone around the house.  He takes his clipboard and pen to bed and  whips up some little notes to leave around the house.  I love finding them under my pillow, in my pajamas, and beneath my towel, but I especially love when I find one he's hidden for his baby brother.

Flashback: Oh, Hans

Found these on my phone and need to remember these moments.  Sadly it will be a while before he's back to rocking the jammers home from the pool again.

Nighttime at the Carousel

Over the summer we visited the new Seaglass Carousel at Battery Park.

We went back on Friday night to show it to Charlie and experience it at night.

I would recommend a visit after dark because it is simply beautiful.

A little hot chocolate afterwards is perfect for the chilly fall evenings, even if the boys are a tired wreck by 7pm.

Boo at the Zoo

 The boys look forward to going to Boo at the Zoo at the Bronx Zoo each October.

The zoo is decorated for Halloween and has some extra stations and exhibits throughout the zoo.

The fall colors are showing too which is nice to see.

We enjoy any day at the zoo, but adding smores only makes it better!

Blurry because my lens was smudged with marshmallow!

Great fall day!

Freestyle and Back Stroke

Not best quality video, but you can still see how much progress he's made since the "creature of the black lagoon" days.  (Be sure to click through that link!  I hate that those days seem so long ago.)

 

Flashback: We got a pet!

The boys aren't exactly letting us off the hook with his whole wanting a pet thing since we got an aquarium, but they do love the fish.  I am actually surprised by just how much attention these fish get.

Carnegie Hall Family Day

The kid likes his photo taken with backdrops!

Nothing like some free family fun, especially when it is put on by Carnegie Hall.  Freddie and I have been to some children's concerts at Carnegie Hall but they have recently started hosting family events for free, and they are truly amazing and very well put together.

There were several children's bands performing and several different stations where kids could participate in activities.  

We ran out of time before we were able to hit all of the events but we managed to make a few instruments out of recycled materials, see a few shows, and participate in digital music making.

The boys had a really great time.

And I do mean all three of the boys.  I had a good chuckle watching Charlie all by himself in the back of the audience following along with the lyrics.

Freddie vs. The Rope

I thought with moving to the "big gym" with older kids Freddie's in interest in gymnastics may wane as it is more serious and a little intimidating, especially considering Freddie is rather cautious and afraid of heights.  He's not the boy jumping off equipment and doing flips on the money bars at the playground, but gymnastics has given him more confidence in many areas.

And well, I should have known to to underestimate this guy.  He's the smallest and one of the youngest, and doesn't know any of the other boys but he is loving his time in the big gym.  He isn't even intimated by the big equipment.  In fact, he was counting dow the days this week until he got his first attempt on "the rope."

He got all the way to the bottom railing of the balcony and didn't look afraid until it was time to slide down.  I was shocked he was strong enough or brave enough to go that high.  We watch the older boys climb to the ceiling each week, so Freddie's got himself a goal.

J-E-T-S

Are you ready for some football?  We definitely miss going to Saints games and just generally having a team to root for.

The boys have been wanting to go to a Saints game, so we decided to at least get to an NFL game here at home.

Giants tickets are hard to come by, but the Jets are more accessible and more affordable.

After much deliberating we decided to make the drive out to the Meadowlands.  Parking costs were just about what train tickets would be for the four of us and I decided it was better to sit in traffic in the car than in line or jammed on a train with the boys.  It was fun to see some NY tailgating complete with fire pits!  I suppose there are some benefits to cold weather football.

We got to the stadium early to participate in some of the pregame festivities.  We got our faces painted, took pictures, and took in the scene.

It was fun to be in the group of fans, chanting and cheering.  Made us homesick for some black and gold.

Inside the stadium the boys got down to business with junk food eating.  The picture below makes me laugh and pretty much sums up the afternoon....  Freddie shoveling in nachos and Hans denying the boisterous fan behind us high fives with each score.

Freddie liked singing the National Anthem and Hans kept close tab on the score.

Hans had a cough and wasn't feel too well, poor guy, but he did keep asking about the score.

Thankfully our seats were in the sun.  Had we been on the opposite side of the stadium the temperature would have been unpleasant.

I'm not sure how I feel about drinking hot chocolate at a football game rather than beer though!  And the Jets stop selling beer at half time.  I suppose that in addition to constant messages about how to anonymously report bad fan behavior has the team moving towards a better image.

A fun afternoon with the J-E-T-S, Jets! Jets! Jets!  Next sporting event is a hockey game!