Playland Escape

We took the boys to the iconic Playland in Rye, NY this past Sunday.  It was adorable and oh so retro! 

Playland is right on the Long Island Sound in Rye, a cute little Westchester town in NY.  This place was created in the late twenties and is one of the only government owned and operated amusement parks in the country.  It's like a giant carnival with a city pool and a patch of beach right next to it - very strange.  We picnicked on the beach with our dear friend Mary (who is like the boys' local grandma) and then we spent the rest of the afternoon riding rides and eating carny food!  Yum!  I can't think of a better way to spend a sunny afternoon.

Oscar really impressed me this time around.  My little boy is really growing up!  He refused to go on any of the kiddie rides, especially the carousel, because he wanted to go on all the big scary rides!  (Aside note: Big rigs don't count as kiddie rides because they are BIG RIGS.  See picture below.) 

The boys were really good.  We had one or two mini melt-downs, but in a place filled with fun rides and sweet treats, they were on best behavior so that they could ride as many things as possible!  Here are some pictures of the day...

Tim and I actually went on this roller coaster while Mary watched the boys... probably not my finest moment.

Here is Oscar throwing himself into his giant pouf of cotton candy...

This was Charlie's first taste of cotton candy - you can see what he thinks of it by his expression!

Isn't that the funniest grin?!?

 

D.A.D.A.

aka: Defense Against the Dark Arts

I just realized how far behind I am with posts!  I owe you blog readers many more Harry Potter class posts, like as in at least 3 or 4 more.  If you want to refresh yourself with my former class posts, here are the links the HP 101, Care of Magical Creatures, and Muggle Studies.  Enjoy.  And if HP is not your cup of Earl Grey tea, then you have my permission to just ignore this post.  That's right. 

Well here goes... This was a pretty interesting class to host, one that I think the kiddos were excited to have.  They all seemed to be itching at this point to pretend to cast Potter spells and a few of my Slytherin kids had some "unforgivable curses" they needed to get out of their systems.  I nearly dressed up as Delores Umbridge just for the fear factor, but she really scares me too and I don't have any cat sweaters, so that didn't seem to be a great plan. 

At this point, my students were totally into doing trivia for house points, so I didn't disappoint.  We spent a fourth of the class doing that.  After we chatted about what Defense Against the Dark Arts is about, I pulled out some Cornish Pixies for the class to admire.  Remember in book two when Prof. Lockhart brought out some pixies?  Well, mine were supposed to look like this cool picture (via Panka with Love).  Needless to say, mine turned out NOTHING like this.  I guess my paint was old or something.  Live and learn.  But hey, wouldn't this have been cool if it had worked?!?  The kids humored me and my jar had at least a tiny bit of glow. 

The next thing we did was work on spell casting for ridding a closet of a boggart.  This took A LOT of imagination and I had some really funny kids in my class, so this was fun.  First I asked them (one kid at a time) what we could expect to fly out of the closet.  Then we all had to laugh as loud as we could to back that kid up as he turned the boggart into something silly.  Afterward, we talked about Harry's first encounter with a boggart and I gave out some protective chocolates - just in case of dementor attacks, of course. 

And speaking of, the last thing we did in class was arm ourselves against dementors by learning to conjure up a  Patronus. Well, actually, we made some Patronus wands.  I brought in a ton of pipe cleaners and plastic straws for the kids to make bubble wands in the shape their Patronus would take.  (My good friend Kate actually came up with this idea - thanks Kate!)  I had some cookie cutters in different shapes for the kids to bend their pipe cleaners around, just in case they needed some extra creative help.  I made a stag for my Patronus, but now I'm wishing I had used the rubber duck...

Anyway, the key to success with the wands here is to have a shallow and wide enough dish to have them test out their bubble wands.  Also, and this is more a common sense thing, but you'd be surprised how many kids didn't get this - make sure that the shape is a closed circuit!  It doesn't have to be a circle shape, but it does have to meet end to end for this puppy to work.  And really, who doesn't have fun blowing bubbles?!?

Up next, I predict it will be... Divination class!

Surprise!

Well here we are, the 1000th post on my blog!!!  And what better way to celebrate my 1000th post than by telling you all some super special news?!? 

We're having another baby!  Zowie mama.  It's true!  In January, we become a family of five.  (That sounds so crazy to me... still wrapping my head around it.)  This baby came as a surprise to all of us, but what a happy thrill.


So, here is how I broke the news to Tim: I waited 3 whole weeks before revealing it - hardest 3 weeks of my LIFE.  I really wanted to give him a Father's Day shocker, especially since we found out we were pregnant with Charlie on Mother's Day almost two years ago.  I planned a special picnic on Governor's Island during their annual 1920's Jazz Age Lawn Party and got us all dolled up in period outfits.  Andy and Rachel met up with us and as we sat down to picnic amongst people playing croquet and dancing the Charleston, I handed Tim the box that he is holding in the picture above... (I had the camera all ready to go...)  I've never seen him so surprised!  It was the perfect reveal for our littlest marshmallow (that's what Oscar has already named this baby). 

 

Now I'm about 3 and a half months along and FINALLY into my second trimester.  We've had two ultrasounds already and we can't wait to see our little person again mid-August, when we find out if we are having a boy or a girl.  Eek! 

And thanks for reading!  Happy 1000!

Sunny Days

A couple of weekends ago, Tim and I took the boys for a mini vacation in Pennsylvania.  We met up with my folks and got a hotel suite to share.  It was such fun!

 The main thing on our agenda was taking the boys to Sesame Place, a theme park that is built around the Sesame Street characters.  (While we don't watch a whole lot of TV, the boys are familiar with these characters because I have a killer collection of Sesame Street stuffed animals.  It's true.)  This theme park is great because it caters to the preschool crowd and most of the rides both boys could go on.  Charlie is still a bit young to really enjoy himself, but Oscar had a blast.  And the place is half dry rides and half water park, plus Sesame shows galore!  Can't beat that.  The price is a bit steep, but if you buy a two-day pass, I think it is worth it. 

We drove down Saturday and spent most of the day at the park, doing the dry rides and just hanging out together.  We saw the big parade at three o'clock (very cute) and headed back to the hotel for some rest and pool time.  We weren't in the car for more than two minutes before both boys totally crashed!  Diva and Poppa showed up and the boys were so thrilled to see their grandparents!  The next day we spent at the Crayola Factory in Allentown and then at a big Mennonite craft festival in Kutztown and then Monday was back at Sesame Place.  I don't think the boys could have handled more fun than those action-packed three days!  And if I'm being honest here, I have to say that maybe I enjoyed the Sesame Place experience more than the boys.  Yes, the boys were thrilled to meet Cookie Monster, but I was ENTHRALLED at standing in Mr. Hooper's store.  I have such great memories of Sesame Street!


Here is a little video I created from some of the Sesame Place pictures... (If you want to see the rest of them, you can check out my Flickr page.)










My favorite memories of this trip are: watching the surprise and laughter after Tim and the boys got a giant bucket of water dumped on their heads, seeing Oscar ride his first roller coaster, watching Charlie splash around in the pool, meeting our favorite Sesame characters, coloring things and playing with model magic at the Crayola Factory, Charlie doing his first water color art, shoe-fly pie and Chick-fil-a deliciousness, the Sesame Place Parade, rocking out to Cookie Monster's (and -gasp- Elmo's) rock concert with the boys, Diva and Poppa hugs and kisses, breakfasts and second breakfasts, and just having some special family time.  It was the best weekend ever.

July's "Ten on Ten"

This is July's Ten on Ten Photo Project (idea from a bit of sunshine).  I have to say, it has helped me stop and really look at what is going on around me throughout the day and it also has helped me reflect on what my focus was that day, afterward, when I look through the pictures I've taken.  I seemed to have spend quite a bit of time with Charlie yesterday!

This is quite a reflection on what was going on with me yesterday.  Zowie mama!  What a day.

Stay tuned for the next two posts... We took a little mini vacation to Pennsylvania to take the boys to Sesame Place and I've finally finished with the pictures.  Also, for my 1000th blog post, I have a HUGE announcement.

Summer Time

Ahh... I love the summer.  There is nothing better than a picnic with your fellas.  We had our own little Fourth of July picnic this past Wednesday and it was simple and sweet.  And afterwards, we enjoyed some Moon Pies (thanks mom).