Instagram in the City - May

May

 

The boys have loved making their monthly Home Depot projects and this month, their friends, Ben and Alice, joined us to make flower pot holders. 

Then we celebrated a wonderful Mother's Day in the city - you can read about that here

I had a date night with the boys - I love hanging out with them!!!!

The boys attend their first Lego Club meeting at the Lego Store and had an amazing time!!! This was their reward for good behavior this month and they have asked if this could be their reward every month.  This month's them was Star Wars.

We spent a great weekend in Atlantic City for Memorial Day which you can read about here

And we made our third attempt in two years to view Manhattenhenge - it started pouring on our way there so we stopped for some ice cream first.   Luckily, the rain cleared and we were able to get a pretty nice view but I think we will try again in July to get an even better view.



 

Instagram in the City - April 2014

April

Finally, the weather has started to get better and we are filling our weekends with fun stuff!

 

April marked the beginnng of baseball season for the boys: this is Ryan's third year but first year out of teeball - he has moved up to the 7's and will be on the Cardinals - and this is Dylan's first year of teeball and he will be on the Yankees!   To kick off the season, we participated in the Annual PSLL parade around the neighborhood and made signs to represent our teams



April was also a big month for Union College as they won the Division 1 National Championships for hockey for the first time in the school's history.   It was really exciting and we definitely all got in the spirit.

The boys had some time off from school so we took them to Legoland Discovery Center one day and spent some time in Central Park another day .

We celebrated Easter at Omi and Poppy's

We ended the month celebrating Brian and Maria's wedding

 

Memorial Day Weekend - Hooray for Summer!

 To kick off summer, Jay and I decided to head down to Atlantic City with the boys the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.  We were so happy when we saw we were supposed to have amazing weather for the weekend, so we jumped in the car and off we went.

Michael, Jasmine, Grandma and Papa came too but we got down there first, so after checking in to the hotel, we headed to the beach for a bit. The kids love going to Atlantic City and this trip was no different  - they get so excited about staying in a hotel, Bally's is right on the beach and the Boardwalk has so much for the kids to see and do. 

 

The water was FREEZING, but as usual, the boys did not care and were in the water right away.

 When they got too cold, the dried off a bit and played in the sand building castles and burying their toys.

After a few hours, the rest of the gang arrived and we headed out to lunch at Landshark, an outside restaurant that is right on the beach and overlooks the steel pier.   We had a great lunch and spent most of the time telling stories, doing magic tricks and cracking up laughing.   (some of the magic tricks involved brightly colored shark toothpicks and while we were at dinner, I looked over and realized Grandma still had some stuck in her shirt haha)



After lunch, Jay and I took the boys over to Steel Pier for some rides and games and everyone else went to gamble for a while.   Sadly, there were a lot of rides that Dylan (and Ryan for that matter) wasn't tall enough to go on but we made the best of it and had fun anyway.

The swings were by far Dylan's favorite and if we had let him, he would have used all of his ride tickets on that one ride.   Even from the ground, it was very obvious Dylan was having a blast but it wasn't until I looked at my pictures later that I realized how much he enjoyed it.


Ryan was not really a huge fan though which I also didn't realize until later  (funny to see him vs. Dylan in the pictures)- he held on tight for most of the ride but did eventually let go. 


When I asked Ryan later if he liked the swings he said yes, but the next day when he was writing a story about his weekend, he wrote that he was worried the whole time that he was going to fall out :-(
When we ran out of tickets, we were all pretty tired so we headed back to the room ro relax for a bit, watch tv and get cleaned up.    We had planned that night to take the kids to play mini golf so after showering, we went back outside.

Dylan pretty much zoomed past all of us and played by himself while Jay, Ryan and I had a fierce competition....until Dylan's ball went down the hall at the 18th hole and he realized it was gone so I gave up mine.  Highlight of the golf game for me?  Ryan declaring "Mommy, can you believe how many hole in twos I am getting?"  LOL


We headed over to Caesar's after golf and met up with the others for dinner at the buffet and Grandma very nicely offered to take the kids so that Jay and I could gamble.  We all played some table games for a bit (no big winners) before heading back over to Bally's.  On the weekends in the Wild Wild West Casino, there is usually a bunch of stuff going on - beer pong, a bull riding machine, and music.  There was a live band that night and since the Rangers game was on, we decided to stand around, watch the game for a bit, listen to the music and people watch.   I think Papa and I could have stayed there for hours (actually, we probably did stay for an hour), laughing at all the people dancing and acting silly.  When the band took a break, we all went back to Bally's for some more gambling before calling it a night.

The next day, all of us met for breakfast before everyone went home. Jay, the boys and I decided to get in a few more hours at the beach though and the water was even colder than the day before.  We came up with a plan though to build/dig "a pool" and Dylan played there almost the whole day since the water was much warmer.

We had a great weekend at the beach and we were so happy to have a great kick off to summer.   We have a lot of fun stuff going on this summer and we can't wait!!

 

Mother's Day Weekend

This Mother's Day was one of my favorites in a long time although I am pretty sure I think that every year.   This was Erika's first Mother's Day so it was really exciting when she announced that she wanted to spend the weekend with all of us in New York - YIPPPEEEE!!! - so Erika, Richie and the girls flew up Saturday the 10th.   Dylan had a tee ball game so as soon as that was done, the boys and I headed over to Michael and Jasmine's to see everyone (Jay had to work).  The entire way to Westchester, Ryan talked about the twins and how excited he was to see them and feed them - as soon we got there, he started grinning like a crazy person, talking to them in a baby voice and sat right down to feed Ella.  

It was so cute - he laughed the whole time, tickled Ella's feet and subconsciously willed her to open her mouth by opening his own every time he put the spoon near her.  Ryan also thought it was hilarious that she kept dribbling some of the food - I am pretty sure that he was afraid of scratching Ella with the spoon because instead of scraping it up with the spoon and feeding it to her,  he wiped her mouth with the bib after most bites.    After an hour or two, we all went over to Grandma and Papa's for dinner.   

  

Ryan said he needed to go with Erika and Richie because "The twins might need some help in the back"  The weather was great so we all sat on the deck and ate, took turns holding and playing with the twins and just hung out until it was time for us to head back to the city. 

  

I couldn't decide between different versions for some of the pictures so I am posting them all with my comments. 

Picture 1

Ella "I want to eat my feet but my belly is in the way....uuuuuhhhh - almost there!"

Dylan " Those toes do look pretty good"

Ava "I am sexy and I know it...but I am over taking pictures"

Ryan "Cheese"

Picture 2

Ella "I  give up - i am just going to chill"

Dylan " I just came up with a plan...and I am going to blame Ella for it!"

Ava "I wonder if I could reach that car - I really want it"

Ryan "Cheese"

I must have been at a weird angle because Ava looks about 2 feet longer than Ella in the picture on the left. 

I was really excited because the whole gang agreed to come to the city on Sunday for Ryan's game and Mother's Day lunch.   We really go to Westchester most of the time for special occasions so I was really happy to host for once.   Jay helped out a lot and we had Chicken and Sausage and Peppers for lunch and Salted Caramel Chocolate bars and White Chocolate Funfetti Chip cake for dessert.  The boys played with the twins almost the whole time - from helping them with their blocks, to feeding them to even teaching them how to play catch. 

After eating, we all headed over to Ryan's baseball game and we were all so thrilled that he had his best game to date!!  On his first at bat, he whacked it for a double (usually not allowed, everyone gets a single but half the team wasn't there) and we all went crazy.   I think Ryan was beyond excited that we were all there because he said "can you believe I have 10 people here watching me?"  hahaha.   Uncle Michael even got to step in as third base coach. 

Another highlight of the day was that Ella tried out the swings for the first time while Ava slept - she loved them but we couldn't stay on them too long because it was really sunny by the swings and we had no hat for Ella, plus I am pretty sure I heard Dylan say "Ella, you want to go up to the sky???"   oy 

I had a great 2 days spending time with some of the best people I know, including 2 of my favorite moms: My mom and my sister



MOM aka Grandma aka Grams

I really don't know what I would do without my mom.  There is not a day that goes by that I have not spoken to my mother by 8:30 am . By 8:30 pm, we have spoken at least 5 times, Facetimed once, texted a bunch and usually messaged each other on Facebook.  Not only is my mom a great mom, she is a great grandma. For the past 7 1/2 years, she has come every Friday for "her turn", to watch the boys despite the fact that she has to wake up at 5 am to do so.   She makes us dinner every time she comes, usually steak and chicken "so you have a choice".  Grandma is always the one coming up with crazy games and ideas that have the kids cracking up laughing and will always take the blame when something goes wrong - and trust me, she gets blamed A LOT!!  She lets the boys play in mud and who knows what else and then takes their clothes home to wash so I don't see the evidence.  There are a million other things I could write about (all of my funny childhood memories, our fun road trips with the boys to North Carolina, the stories she tells when we have sleepovers, .... )  but the point is this: My mom makes my life so much easier and I could never thank her enough for all that she does for us - she truly is the best!!!  We are so lucky to have you xoxox

Two boys + two girls = Grandma sandwich!

 MY SISTER aka my best friend aka Aunt Erika

Since the day Ryan was born, Erika has been an awesome aunt, coming to New York whenever she could, Facetiming when she couldn't, and taking us to every cool kid place imaginable during our visits to NC (I can't imagine Monkey Joe's or Marbles were places she had strong desire to go to).  Erika has always been my go to person for a good laugh or a long vent session, and especially for advice on the boy's school stuff - I have no idea how many times I have called her in hysterics.   We talk multiple times a day and we keep getting closer the older we get.  Erika is a wonderful friend, sister and aunt.

Erika is also an amazing mom to two of the cutest little girls I have ever seen!!!   I love these girls so much and am thrilled that I get to be their Aunt - I can not wait until they get older (and get hair) because I have a TON of things planned for us!!! 

 From day one, Erika has been a natural at being a mom - having twins can not be easy (although it helps if your children are the best babies ever - hardly cry, don't need to be rocked and smile all day long....I could go on and on) but Erika is fantastic mother and it is obvious how much she loves being a mom.  I have seen her feed two babies at once, keep one baby entertained while changing the diaper of the other, and she has even managed to get her kids on a schedule with eating/sleeping about 12 months earlier than I could!  (Ryan even said the other day "That's ok that the babies got up in the middle of the night, I still do that")  Happy 1st Mother's Day Erika - I hope that you had a great day!

The best thing that ever happened to me was becoming a mom.  I will never forget the moment we found out I was pregnant with Ryan: I remember where I was, what I wore and how happy and excited Jay and I were for all of the adventures ahead of us.  (as an aside, I will also never forget going to tell Grandma and Papa - Grandma picked me up at the train station with earrings on despite the fact that the week before, her ears weren't pierced - she said "I pierced my own ears in case we had something to celebrate" haha) Two and a half years letter, Dylan joined us and we felt the same excitement.  The past 7.5 years have been filled with many wonderful vacations (NC many times, Disneyworld, Maryland) and more fun adventures than I could begin to count and it was all because of these two little guys that call me "Mommy"

 I love these kids and all of the excitement they bring to my life.   Sometimes, they can be EXHAUSTING (mama could use a serious nap right about now) but I wish time would slow down because they are getting big so fast!!   I know I have made plenty of mistakes as a mom but I try every day to do my best to show Ryan and Dylan how much I love them.  I am always on the lookout for fun stuff for us to do and cool places to go and nothing makes me happier than seeing their excitement when they think I had a good idea.  I may spend way more time playing legos and superheroes, digging in the dirt, and talking about Pokemon/Star Wars/Indiana Jones than I envisioned but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

I got a really great surprise for Mother's Day: Earlier this year, I broke a Tiffany necklace that I have and wear pretty much everyday - it was a Christmas gift from the boys a few years ago.   I was very upset when it broke and haven't had a chance to fix it- well, I was so surprised that the boys snuck it out of my jewelery box and I was even more surprised when Jay told me it was Ryan's idea.    Love these guys !!!!!

"Mommy - you do so much for me and Dylan so we wanted to fix your key necklace that you broke at Ben's house. So we got it fixed today at the Jewelry store on Central Avenue.  We love you a lot. We wish we can help you.  Love Ryan Mengel"

Thank you to Jay, Ryan, Dylan and the rest of my family for making this Mother's Day so much fun!

xoxo