Rainbow City at the Highline in Chelsea

This was sometime earlier in the summer... like July I think. It was a very hot day, I know that. It was the last day of the exhibit and no one was there, so that was pretty awesome. The kids had a blast jumping in the bounce house thingy-s. We went with some friends who ended up having to take a cab home after one of the twins touched a pretzel cart and burnt her finger. :(  So sad.  

After we had our fill of Rainbow City, we headed up to Highline Park, which is a raised park built on an old railroad line. It's pretty cool, but not the funnest thing for kids. Apparently they have some pretty fun activities for kids on Saturday mornings, but we never made it to those. They still managed to have a pretty good time. However, the Highline is not a great place to visit on a scorching hot day with not a cloud in the sky. Blah. We didn't last too long up there. 

Imagination Playground

My kids love this place! It's down at the South Seaport, right by Pier 17, I believe.  We went several times throughout the summer and were never disappointed.  They could play uninterrupted for hours and did such creative things with the foam blocks in the water.  At one point, Asher had made some sort of spaceship that he was riding on.  I was pretty impressed myself.  After playing around for hours, we would head over to the pier and watch all the boats go by and look at the Brooklyn Bridge.  Of course we would stop and get ice cream on the way home.  It's not a summer day without ice cream or some other form of cold treat.

The subway ride home...

At first it's all fun and games...

And then it gets ugly...

nothing daddy's iphone can't fix...

Friends again!

The most recent trip...

Sayer still had his adorable curls.  This was a couple of weeks ago.

We rode the solar powered Carousel sponsored by GE.  It was pretty cool, but went so fast that it actually made me really sick to my stomach.  I must be getting old.

Sayer wanted nothing to do with the horses the first time around.

Breanne trying to pretend she doesn't feel like she is going to throw up! :) and darling Kenna.

Truman and Sayer the second time around.  He had a blast!

This was one of my first days with just 2 kids since Asher is gone all day.  I have to say, it is SO much easier getting around with just 2.  I'll try not to get too used to it. ;)

Swaddling

Please dis-regard Asher's disgusting blanket.

I still got it!

Anything Goes

Louise, Heidi, Hailey, Sharon, Lane, Me

Back in July I saw Anything Goes.  This is another must see.  Just all around funny and entertaining.  Sutton Foster was brilliant.  The costumes were fabulous.  Great music.  This show also had one of THE best group tap numbers that I have ever seen in my life.  It's worth seeing it just for that.  I would also suggest going with a group of girlfriends to make the night extra memorable.  Thanks for a lovely evening ladies. 

After the show, we walked a ways to get some ice cream.  As we were walking out of Times Square we saw the enormous "I'm a Mormon" add.  It has been really cool to see this ad, as well as the ones on top of taxis that are being driven all over town.  Love it.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Wow. This is a big deal for me.... I am actually blogging about something right after it happened.  You should all savor this moment.  Jill came in town and last night we went and saw How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and I had to blog about it right away because it was that good.  I had a smile on my face from ear to ear the entire time.  It is such a fun, fast moving, witty show, and Daniel Radcliffe just stole the show. Seriously, Jill and I both agree that he was made for this role.  He sings and dances, and while his singing voice isn't "broadway amazing", it is very good, and on top of that, he just gives every moment of the show his absolute all.  I can't even describe it.  He was most definitely having the time of his life up there.  The big company dance numbers were so, SO fun.  All of the characters, particularly Bud Frump, were delightfully funny.  I don't often feel like I need to see a Broadway show more than one time, I would usually prefer to see a new show, but I would happily watch this over and over, it was so entertaining.  I am already hoping to take Nate to see it, and then my parents when they come in town in November, and anyone else who comes into town and wants to see it.  Daniel will only be in it until December, so I've got to squeeze as many viewings in as possible. Thanks to our rush tickets (for $30) we were in like the 7th row, which just made it even better to be so close and see how much energy they were putting into everything.  I. loved it.  A must see.  Hopefully I am not talking it up too much, but I just had to say how much I loved this show.  5 stars!!!! 

Asher is in kindergarten!

Isn't his little uniform so cute?! Just wait til you see the sweater for when it gets colder.  The older boys wear orange neckties.  SO adorable!

Hugging Sayer before his first day.  Look at these 3 sweet boys!

His backpack is so ginormous

Cute Sayer.  He wanted to be starting his preschool so badly.  Soon little buddy.

My handsome little dude.  He is such an awesome little kid.  I love him!

I don't really know where to begin with this post.  I'm warning you now that this will be a long one.  I have been thinking about this stuff for months now, and now it's all gonna come pouring out. :)  

Asher started kindergarten 2 and a half weeks ago, and since then, I feel like I have gone through a million different emotions.  Ok, so even before he came close to starting, I was having lots of emotions. :)  

I actually have pretty strong opinions when it comes to kindergarten, especially for boys, so it is pretty shocking to me that we are doing pretty much the opposite of what I was hoping to do for Asher... I initially wanted to wait until he was 6 to put him in, because he has a later birthday and I have read a lot about boys struggling with the accelerated curriculum in kindergarten, which in turn can lead to them having a negative school experience.  I read a book called Nurture Shock that talks a lot about this one program called Tools of the Mind that is a very successful play-based preschool and kindergarten curriculum, and I became a little obsessed with this idea.  I think because it seemed like Asher would fit into it a lot better.  He is a very active, curious little boy, and I just couldn't imagine him in a more traditional school setting, learning to read and write, etc.  He has never been interested in that until this last summer.  Every time I would try to sit with him and sound out letters or learn to write letters, he didn't want to do it, so I didn't want to force it.  

So there are a few reasons why we are not doing what I wanted to do.  First of all, in New York, they do not let you hold your kids back, unless there is a serious delay.  The cut-off date is December 31st, so you have a lot of younger kids in the classes.  The only way to get around this is private schools.  Not an option. So not only are you not allowed to hold the kids back, but kindergarten in NYC is all day.  As in 9-3 or something similar to that.  This has always been a huge issue for me, and really, still is.

Secondly, as we got closer to the end of his preschool, and the beginning of kindergarten, I started to feel like he was ready.  His little mind is like a sponge right now.  I swear, he remembers everything he hears and is constantly asking questions and wanting to understand things better.  He was also starting to show an interest in learning to read and write.  I just felt like it would be best to start him in kindergarten while he is passionate about learning, and hopefully, he will have a good experience that will allow him to keep his passion and curiosity going.  Him and I also seemed to be at a point where we were constantly against each other.  He was fighting me on everything, and I really felt like it would be a good thing for us to have some separation. On top of that, I feel like it is Sayer's turn to get some more mommy attention.  I feel like I don't know Sayer as well, and part of that is because he hasn't really figured himself out because he always just follows Asher.  It will be so good for him to become his own person without Asher.

So all that was left to do was pick a school for Asher.  Sounds simple, right? Ha!  So. many. choices.  The school system in Manhattan is ridiculous.  Aside from all the choices, you have all the parents telling you what to do and what not to do.  People get pretty snobby about where you send your kids to school, and it is very easy to get caught up in it all.  For some reason, unless it's a gifted and talented program, people have huge issues with just the regular old public schools here. Well gifted and talented was not an option for us, and we didn't want to do a school that was far away, so we just went with our neighborhood schools which we were pretty ok with.  He got into both of them and I was all prepared to send him to one of them, when we decided last minute to enter the lottery for the Harlem Success Academy, which is a nationally ranked charter school.  If you have seen Waiting for Superman or The Lottery, it is talked about in those films.  I had very mixed feelings about this as it is very intense, and goes against everything I believed kids should experience in kindergarten.  I wanted it to be relaxed and fun, mostly play, not a lot of homework.  But this program is very intense.  First of all, it goes from 7:45 am to 4:00 pm.  Ahhh!  Crazy, right?!  For a 5 year old!  Homework every night.  Huge parental expectations.  Very rigorous academically... they are supposed to be reading by January and then reading at a level 5 (whatever that means) by the end of the school year.  Very strict discipline system, lots of structure.  It was very intimidating for me, let a lone a 5 year old.  But on the other hand, they do a science experiment in kindergarten everyday.  Asher loves science! The teachers are supposedly amazing.  Some part of me felt like the structure would be good for Asher.  It is also supposed to be a fun learning environment. So it wasn't all bad.  We were put on the wait list, and watched throughout the summer as it seemed more and more likely that he would get in.  And then he got in.  Both Nate and I went back and forth about whether or not this would be the right choice for Asher, but we eventually felt like it would be a good thing to at least try, and if it didn't work out, we could just pull him and figure something else out.

Well, the first week and a half were half days, which was really nice.  He was all smiles after the few days.  Then one day he had a bad day.  I think he got a lot of check marks (part of their discipline system) and it seemed like he was discouraged and felt sad about it.  He seemed defeated.  He told me on the walk home that he missed his preschool teacher Kathryn because she didn't have a lot of rules.  Gah! It was pretty heart wrenching.  Nate and I talked a lot that night about how maybe it was too much for him.  But we definitely felt like we needed to give it a little more time.  I mean, he has to learn how to be in a classroom setting no matter what school he goes to.  They are going to have rules everywhere, so he might as well get used to it.  The next day he clung to my leg at the entrance to the school (SO not like Asher).  He cried and said he wanted to stay with me.  It took about 15 minutes before he finally let go and walked in.  I watched him walk up the stairs (we are not allowed to go with them) with his huge backpack on, and as soon as he was around the corner, I walked away fighting to hold the tears back.  I wanted to pull him out right then and there.  I thought about him and worried about him all day.  Nate even took part of the day off to take Sayer and Bart so that I could go pick him up alone and spend some special time with him.  I was all prepared for the worst.  When I went to pick him up, he was happy as can be.  He had had a great day and couldn't stop talking about science and how he had stayed on green (another part of the discipline system) all day.  My heart was light again.  It was amazing.  I realized that I needed to give him more credit.  Kids are so resilient and I think can handle so much more than we think they can.  It has only gone up from there.  

Since then, he has started full days, and aside from me feeling like we don't have nearly enough time for everything in the evenings, he has been doing so great. Thriving actually.  I realize that it is only 2 and a half weeks in, but I cannot believe what a difference I've seen in him already.  It feels like he understands that he is now a big FIVE year old, and in KINDERGARTEN, and he is stepping it up.  He comes home and tells me and Nate all about his day, and sings songs that he has learned, and tells me what Mrs. Kyle and Ms. Reid say, and how he "got only one check mark, but fixed it straightaway" and beams when he tells me he "was on green ALL day!".  He is so proud of himself and his accomplishments so far, and not once has he complained about doing homework.  He actually likes it.  I have been completely amazed.  I realize that this can all change at any point, especially once the novelty of it all wears off, but I just keep hoping and praying that he continues to love it and excel.  I do still feel bad that his days are so long, and he doesn't seem to have near enough down time, but he is being a champ about it all.  It is such a weird thing to have him gone all day... he is off being his own person.  I know he absolutely loves that aspect of it, but that is what is hard for me.  He just seems too little to be on his own without me for such a long time.  I should probably feel bad that he doesn't seem to "need" me, but it makes me feel so much better knowing that he is having fun in school, instead of pining away for his mama.

Anyway... thanks to all of you that have made it to the end of this post.  I really just needed to get all of my thoughts down before I forgot them all.  I will have to get some pictures of his teachers soon.  They are both so cute and amazing with the kids.  I cannot imagine a harder job than being a kindergarten teacher and having to be "on" for such a long day.  Major props to them.

NYC Tri

Well, it's over folks. We did it. My tri team and I did the NYC triathlon a week ago yesterday, and it. was. cool.  I for sure have to come back to NYC one of these years just to do this triathlon again, and next time, you can bet I'll be doing the whole thing.  It was such an exciting event to be a part of.  Thousands of people gathered together to do this crazy thing, starting off in the wee hours of the morning, not to mention the pouring rain.  Elite and professional athletes compete in this race, and it was so cool to watch them go through the transition area after each leg (the one cool thing about not doing the entire thing), seriously just bookin' it.  Crazy.  

My leg of the race, the swim, was so fun.  There was so much excitement in the air once the elite/pro group started things off.  They did this different kind of start, called a time trial start.  They would have 20 athletes sit on the edge of the barge and send them into the water with a whistle blow, wait 10 seconds, then send the next 20 athletes in.  I couldn't believe how quickly it moved along.  This method was very helpful in reducing the beginning of the race chaos that I experienced in the only other open water swim I've done, and there were probably only about 50 women in my age group in that one.  It was also kind of nice, because you literally didn't have a chance to be nervous about jumping in.  You seriously just had to jump in and go.  Quick side note about being on the barge... for those of you Biggest Loser fans out there, runner up Hannah was lined up right in front of me, so she jumped in 10 seconds before me.  Kinda cool.  I, of course, finished before her, but that's not important. ;)  Her sister Olivia did the bike.  

Anyway, moving on...

Ok, so right when I jumped in, I just got goin', and was immediately caught off guard by how rough the water was, not to mention the honest to goodness waves... one right after the next.  I consider myself a very strong and capable swimmer, but I remember at one point thinking "I am not going to be able to keep this up for a mile".  I felt like I could barely get a breath in without getting slammed in the face by a wave.  And on top of all this, the water is seriously nasty and salty, and that's the other thing I am thinking is "gross, this water is actually going in my mouth".  But thankfully, after a few minutes, the waves were fewer and further between, and I got into a groove, and just swam.  It felt very good to be passing lots of different color caps (I was in the last wave of women) as I kept going.  I was really enjoying myself, actually, and loved the feeling of swimming along-side so many other people.  I had absolutely no concept of time once in the water, so the end-barge caught me a little off-guard, but it was nice to be done.  They had a ramp running into the water, and volunteers helping to pull us out, and from there, we had a 700 meter barefoot run back to transition.  All I remember about this, was that it was a lot longer than I imagined, and that my calves were killing me for some reason.  And that was it!  I ran into transition and passed our timing chip to Clare, and she was off. 

When Clare came back from her bike, her sister Amy took off for the run, and we both headed over to Central Park to be there when Amy finished.  We ran a little of the way up 72nd with the runners, and the crowd was awesome.  They had the whole road blocked off from Riverside to Central Park West, and there were tons of people cheering.  I felt a little like a poser, accepting their cheers of congratulations, when I knew full well that all I did was the swim.  Oh well. :)  After Amy finished, we got some pictures, got our times and then got massages! It was wonderful, even if my lady wasn't very good.  It just felt good to be laying down relaxing.  In order to head home, I had to walk all the way back to transition to get my wetsuit, then all the way back to the subway.  I don't know why I didn't notice the free pedi-cabs transporting athletes until the very end... that would have been really nice. Anyway, when I got home, I had a nice, long shower and crawled into bed for a couple of hours, then I got up, and got right back to being a mom.  :)

My final swim time was 19 minutes and 40 something seconds.  I can't remember exactly.  But I do remember that I was the second girl out of the women's relay teams to finish the swim.  Woot woot!  ;) It was a great day, and I can't wait to do it again someday.

Clare and her husband Nick in the morning.  Nick did the whole thing and did awesome!

Me and Clare right before I headed off for the swim.  I was seriously worried about getting my wetsuit on in the rain, so I made sure I had plenty of time to coax it on. :)

Our team, Amy, Clare, Me

Coming into transition from the swim.  This is seriously the worst picture ever.  I even had dirt from the river on my face, which makes me look like I have a mustache. 

Clare, right in the middle, heading out for the bike

Amy getting prepped for the run

A cool picture of transition with all the bikes gone

Hannah from biggest loser, and Olivia's husband is on the left.  The bald one.  Don't ask my why she is still wearing her wetsuit.  She wore it all day.  Those things are seriously uncomfortable, so I can't imagine why she wanted to keep it on.

Clare coming in from the bike.  Horrible picture. Sorry Clare.

Amy after the run

The three of us with our medals.  Notice our awesome MDA team jerseys!  It was such an amazing experience to race for a charity.  I had Timmy on my mind throughout the morning and my swim.  It's such a cool thing when a race and raising money for a charity go hand in hand, which they do so beautifully.  They both require a belief that what you're doing is representative of something bigger... hard work, determination, sacrifice, getting out of your comfort zone, being a part of something that is not all about you, fighting for something.  I love it.  Thanks again to everyone who donated and honored Timmy's memory.

It was great doing this with you ladies!!

Is it Fall yet?

 

Yesterday and today have been rainy and cold-ish out here on the east coast. So this morning when I woke up to darkness and clouds and rain, what came to mind was fall, and with that, pumpkin bread. So yes, today, August 15th, I made pumpkin bread, and it was delicious. Although when I was looking in my cookbook for the recipe, there was a recipe for lemon bread on the page across from it. I probably should have made that instead... more season appropriate. Oh well. Next week perhaps.

Asher and I were going to do it together, but it ended up being me making it while Asher made a mess of the family room.  He still looks super cute though.

This does bring up the question: "am I ready for Fall?", and you know, I think I just might be.  Summer has been great and fun, relaxed, and... HOT, but I think I am ready for cooler temps, warm comfort food, jeans and long sleeves, and a little more structure.  Almost, anyway.  Give me a few more weeks.  But Asher does start school this week (more on that later), so maybe that's why I feel like I'm in the Fall mindset.  I do, however, have to be very careful about wishing for the start of cooler weather, because it will only mean the beginning of a long, cold winter indoors.  Blah.  Got to appreciate the warm weather while I can.

So yeah.  Anyway... pumpkin bread in August.  Try it! :)

Tomorrow: Race Day!

Well folks, tomorrow is the day!  Nautica NYC Triathlon, here I come.  I am ready and excited for my swim portion of the race.  I have my wetsuit, bright pink swim cap, and I got sufficiently pumped up at the race briefing with my team yesterday.  It's gonna be a good day... starting bright and early at 3:30am!  As we were at the race briefing and expo yesterday, I found myself wishing that I could be doing the whole race.  Oh well.  Another year. :)  

I would just like to thank so many of you who have helped me be able to even do this race by donating to MDA in memory of Timothy Fegan.  Let's just say that it is clear from the donors, that Timmy is much more loved than I am, because it was through the generosity of his loving family and friends that we were able to raise and contribute so much money to MDA/SMA division.  It's ok, I've come to terms with this knowledge.  To be honest, it warms my heart to know that Timmy was such a special part of so many people's lives.  I received many emails from his family members, sharing memories, and thanking me for sharing a bit of his life.  I am absolutely honored to be able to swim in his name, and even more than that, I feel lucky to have been able to get to know more about him and share a bit of his life with you.  Thank you to Tricia and Craig for being so willing to be involved.

Think of me tomorrow morning around 6 am EST.  I will be jumping in the Hudson around that time, with my wetsuit and goggles, just praying that I don't get stung by any of the jellyfish that have recently been brought to my attention.  Awesome.  Jellyfish in the river?  I guess so.

Amount needed to participate in the triathlon for charity= $1000

Amount raised= $3605.00!!!

Thank you so much, again, to everyone who contributed!