Primping

Probably not as entertaining of a video as it is to me watching it happen, but here's Hans in the morning fixing his hair.

He'll stand there for quite some time, patting his hair, brushing it, making eyes at himself in the mirror.  Can't wait for the teen years!

Exhibition

Freddie' Gymnastic Exhibition was cancelled in January due to our one snow of the season.

His class had a few minutes on the gym floor to show off what they've been learning.  Very low key, which I appreciate.

Last year he was in the kinder group, so they went first and parents were able to excuse themselves to pick up from their teachers, and then we headed out.  This year Freddie sat with his group for the entire show.  All 2 hour of it.  Yawn.  

He was super polite, sat still, and was well behaved.  I wish I could say the same for Charlie and Hans!

So proud of him!

Commuting

They're New Yorkers.  

Now it's comic books on the commute.  Eventually it will be the New Yorker.  

Baseball Boys

Dive

He's been working on his diving.  I wish I had gotten some footage of the belly flop stage.  Maybe he's getting better?

Hair Do

It all started when he went for a cut, and Mr. Boris combed it all flat before he began cutting.  Hans looked over at me and said "I like my hair like this."

Now he seems to want to comb it flat at every opportunity.  I understand, but man I miss those curls.

Thankfully he gets lots of compliments on the curls, so much that one day he told me "I think everyone loves my curls."

Jocks

I love these two strutting around the neighborhood in their Swim Team warm up jackets.  They are so proud, and look so cute.

Mother's Day Camping

Many, many months ago we decide to head out of the city for Mothers Day weekend since the boys had a half day of school the Friday before.  

We got a recommendation from a friend, and made reservations at a cabin in Nockamixon State Park in Pennsylvania.

jiffy pop

Fast forward to the week of our trip and it has been nothing but rain for days and days.  No sign of the sun.  We decided to make the best of it, mostly because there was at least a cabin rather than a tent involved, and a change of scenery is alway nice.

We had grey skies and varying amounts of rain both Friday and Saturday, but a change of scenery was indeed nice.

The boys wandered the woods, threw rocks in the lake, and fished.  We played Sorry over and over and over.  Mama is the grand champion, in case you were wondering.  And the majority of the time was spent trying to keep the fire going.  The boys collected sticks, twigs, and fallen trees.  Thankfully Charlie brought along his hatchet.

No exaggeration when I say there were hours and hours spend getting the fire going and keeping it burning.  We needed it to cook our supper...hot dogs and s'mores!

Going away for the weekend require a crazy amount of stuff, and each of the boys has a list of things we need to bring next time.  Definitely a reason we need a van!

We finally got some sunshine on Sunday before making the drive home.  I was thankful, but the boys didn't seem to even notice as they were happy as clams in their rain gear and boots.

I'm thankful we were together and able to have an adventure.

5 Boro Bike Tour

This weekend was out much anticipated bike tour.  We signed on to ride through all 5 boros of NYC, 40 miles total.

It's spring in NY and the weather is not known for being bright, warm, and sunny.  Sure enough we're in a long period of rain and cold.  None of us were exactly looking forward to this long, cold ride but we suited up in the morning and headed out.

The train from home wasn't running due to construction so we had to tram and then transfer to a subway to make it to the start.  Not the easiest start to our early morning, schlepping bikes up and down stairs.

We were tired before we even got on the bikes!  Thankfully there was minimal complain about the trash bag vests and plastic bag socks we fashioned to keep us warm and dry with our bibs displayed.

Much to our surprise everyone had fun!

It was nice to ride through the city roads without any cars, even if it was cold, windy, and raining.

Freddie said over and over that "this is my best day!"  I love his enthusiasm.

After the first 20 miles we stopped at a rest station for a snack in Queens, just a few miles from the bridge to the island.  Hans declared he was cold and ready for the warm apartment and hot chocolate.

Freddie wanted to forge on.  The kid was pretty determined to finish, but after a long explanation from Charlie about the remaining 20 mile commitment to finish, Freddie conceded and we all headed home.

We'll sign up again next year and cross our fingers for better weather.  And stop to take more pictures!(Can't bring myself to pay for these ridiculously cute photos:  HERE and HERE) 

Baseball!

I will never get tired of going to Central Park for Little League, especially when it is a perfect NYC Spring day.

We finally had one of those this week.  Everyone was happy. especially Hans.

He's quite difficult to get Hans out and into the world on a weekend morning.  There was a lot of "I hate baseball" but then once we are there the kid has a grin the entire time.  This time he even said "I really like baseball."  

Freddie is excited about baseball as well.  He has realized that the first baseman gets all the action and he requested to be on first base more than one inning this week.  It does help him pay attention more when he is in the outfield.  

Not sure if we have two baseball enthusiasts just yet, but for now we're all having fun.