Elf. The musical.

The movie Elf has been a staple around Christmas time for Andy and me pretty much since it came out, with many one liners being integrated into our conversations in the month of December, and this year we thought the boys were old enough (with remote in hand for a few moments that require muting) to enjoy this stupid-funny classic. They LOVED the movie, as we hoped they would, and it makes it even more relevant for them since it is set in their hometown. So, when the boys and I were Christmas shopping and took a lunch break at Chick-fil-A, Gabriel picked up a flyer for Elf the musical and suggested that we go see it, well we couldn't exactly resist (especially at ticket prices about 1/4 of typical Broadway prices!). Tonight was the final show, the last one we were able to get tickets to, and it felt extra special because all four of us have never seen a show together.

The show was at the theater at Madison Square Garden (which was concurrently hosting a Phish concert in the main arena, making security really crowded and crazy). We had first row seats for the section we were in, so not too obscured from heads in front of us, and it was a family friendly length (whew). The storyline was very similar, but naturally the writers had their own twist on things. Many of their favorite lines and scenes were in the show, while some (Buddy drinking an entire bottle of soda and burping for a solid 20 seconds being one of them) were not. I'm pretty sure one of the highlights was the "ginormous" (Elf reference) bag of M&Ms at intermission, but overall we all enjoyed the experience. It made a late night for the boys (after doing the hungry chicken on the subway ride home, Andy carried G home and I carried J home from our subway stop). I hope the boys remember this family outing well, we certainly will. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is by singing loud for all to hear ... Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Goodwins! We had so much fun today! In fact I am still in my pajamas (note the time of this email), and we didn't take a single posed family pic because we were having so much fun playing (we might remedy that by a Christmas Day fake out picture tomorrow before we take the tree down!).

Our morning started out at a totally reasonable hour, 6am. The boys, as they did last year, asked to sleep in the big bed together. Gabriel and I woke up to big fat snow flakes coming down, and although it didn't last I still count that as a white Christmas. Gabriel woke Judah while Andy and I readied the coffee and the cameras (we had to clear some space on my phone first, and they were super patient). The boys joyfully opened all of their stocking gifts, which in turn gave us so much joy. The Adidas zip pants were a big hit this year! After stockings, we moved to the tree gifts, three each to represent the three gifts Jesus received from the wise men. The boys each received a Star Wars lego set, a new Under Armor backpack, and the most-anticipated gift this year: Lebron/Nike basketball shoes! The exuberance was infectious. The boys wore them around the apartment all morning. We feel so lucky to be able to give the boys these gifts, and love watching them enjoy them. Andy and I also really enjoyed the gifts the boys both thoughtfully picked out for each of us, with excited and giving hearts.

It was really cold and windy today, so we didn't get out to play as much as we typically do on a Christmas day (the boys and Andy went out after Christmas breakfast to play with their new Clemson football, wearing their new basketball shoes and Adidas pants, while I stayed inside with Aunt Steph to get a new play set ready for assembly). When they came back in, we played the rest of the morning and into the afternoon, building the Rokenbok construction set, playing an arcade basketball game, flying their little drones, and building "reptangle" configurations. The SF Warriors were playing the Cavs at 3p, so we put the game on while Aunt Steph and I prepared for Christmas dinner. The Warriors won! We enjoyed a lovely dinner and dessert together to round out our Christmas day. We even got an Elf quote from Judah ("I like to whisper too").

Today was low key and uneventful but yet a very memorable Christmas. I love spending down time playing with the boys, which is made even richer without the stress of school and work (we're off together all week!). We are very blessed by these boys and feel honored that God chose us to care for and raise them. It's an honor we're often not worthy of. It's clear that we've left *really* little boyhood in the rear-view, and 6 and 8 is a super fun age to engage with them both and learn and observe. And I hope the boys are both old enough to remember this Christmas really well! We have so many great memories and fun times ahead of us, it's just the beginning! Glory to God in the highest! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve in the City

Merry Christmas Eve! The boys have been asking to go ice skating at Winter Village in Bryant Park for a few weeks now, but we've been too busy to go. This year, as I remembered back to our first Christmas in Colorado when we took Gabriel ice skating for his first time on Christmas Eve, after a lovely morning in downtown Denver, I thought it might be a fun tradition, to take the boys ice skating on Christmas Eve followed by touring around the city seeing all the Christmas sights. Today did not disappoint!

We always try to time our arrival at the ice rink with the first cleaning, around 9:30a. They may have been running behind this morning, or changed their cleaning schedule this year, because we arrived just in time to skate for about 15 minutes before they cleared the ice. No big deal, we ran into friends from school so we had a way to pass the time while the zamboni did its thing. It started to get pretty crowded by the time the ice opened back up (another reason we time our morning arrival most weekends) but the boys didn't seem to notice. I am always impressed with how they are able to pretty much pick up their skill level right where they left off the previous year. Go Neuroplasticity! Gabriel has been skating for four seasons, and Judah for three, so they are pretty independent now. We can enjoy holding hands and making laps at decent speeds. When the crowds finally got to all of us, we enjoyed some of our Christmas baking cookies and headed to Grand Central station to visit the train museum and holiday train show...

After a sufficient time watching the model trains, and playing with ALL of the trains for sale, we decided to head to fifth avenue to see some store windows we missed out on from our first Christmas window outing. The weather was cold but not too cold when our morning began, but by now the temps were dropping and we knew the boys wouldn't last much longer. After taking the local train up Lexington and walking over at 50th st, we had to bag Saks Fifth ave windows and St. Pat's Cathedral, but we really wanted to make it to the Bergdorf Goodman windows all the way up at 59th st, so we headed  north up fifth. By the time we got there, it really was pretty cold. The boys mildly enjoyed the  funky  Bergdorf windows, but they were also hungry so we decided to duck into the Plaza hotel (they have a whole host of cafes in the cellar level) to grab a quick bite. It was  bustling, but we lucked out with a table at a cute little cafe  that was away from the crowds  where we ordered essentially fancy grilled cheeses (croque monsseurs). We were able to feel a part of the hustle and bustle without actually being in it, and the food was fantastic. win win. We finished up and decided to head home while everyone was still in a good mood. We also didn't want to be rushed to get ready for the Christmas Eve service. Such a fun day together!  

A Little Late on the Christmas Baking...

This Fall has been particularly busy with work for both Andy and me and sports for the boys, my school semester went all the way up to a final exam on Thursday night the 21st, and the boys were in school until yesterday the 22nd. All of this combined means, other than Advent readings each night, we haven't done anything else "Christmas'y", like baking. This was one of my favorite things to do as a kid, baking Christmas goodies (and eating them throughout the Christmas season). I kind of hated that it was so late in the season to do this with the boys (and the late exam date plus a big work project due the week before had me in a stressed out funk about it), but was glad to get it marked off the list just the same. We had a condensed "menu" this year, just three things. Gingerbread loaf, red and white striped sugar cookies, and (que eye roll) healthy quinoa truffles. 

I managed the gingerbread (which we had for dinner!) and the truffles, while the boys enjoyed rolling out the dough, forming candy canes, snowmen and wreaths, and after they were cooled globbing icing and sprinkles on top! I thought they turned out really cute.     

Snowy Day

This morning we decided to go view the Christmas windows and Rockefeller Christmas tree (in part because we do this every year, but in part because if we stay home past about 9am on a weekend morning the boys are at each others' throats fighting; frown!). The weather was PERFECT for doing this, just cold enough to snow big, fat, fluffy snow flakes! It sounds so cheesy, but it really made the outing feel magical, like something out of a movie filmed in NYC at Christmas. It was early enough in the morning that not too many tourists were out, and they boys were energized by the softly falling snow. We took a lot of videos of them trying to catch the snow flakes on their tongues.

First up were the Macy's windows, and a quick step inside to see the elaborate decorations on the first floor:

Next up, the Christmas tree at Bryant Park (which surprisingly isn't blocked off, so they boys can get right up under it):

Last stop was Sixth Ave, Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center. It was starting to get crazy crowded, but just tolerable. The snow was really coming down! We snapped a few pics and decided to get out while things were still pleasant. 

Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, MTA made it exceedingly difficult to get back to our neighborhood, and Gabriel had a birthday party to attend and I had some serious studying to do. There were no cabs to be had, and no uptown trains, but we lucked out with a bus that was going where we needed to go. Andy took the boys and dropped Gabriel off while he and Judah spent the rest of the day sledding and playing in the snow, and I went home to work on a final paper. All in all a really fun outing that I think I will remember for a long time. It's not often that we get such picturesque conditions, I'll take it.    

Cockburn Farm

For the second year, we visited Cockburn Farm for a fresh Christmas tree, and it is literally across the river from West Point where we spent the weekend. This farm has a rich history, which includes supplying some very famous Christmas trees, but also includes a closing about 10 years ago when the original owner died. Last year was the first year back open and we were excited to return after a fun experience last year. I think the word has gotten out about this place, and they've not been shy to capitalize on it, because the tree prices about doubled this year! We hunted around for a tree the boys loved that we could also afford, while managing the bad moods they were in from staying up until after 10p to watch Clemson football and waking up before 6am. Not exactly a magical family outing. I think at one point I threatened to leave without a tree if they didn't cooperate for a picture (fabulous parenting). 

The boys talked us into a 7-8 footer (!). It was affordable because it had already been cut down and was propped in the ground with a stake (the true cut your own this size were approaching $200!!). We do have very high 10-ft ceilings, but our apartment is only about 500 SF including the bedroom, soooooo. Yea. This is the largest tree we've ever had in NYC. While the workers bound the tree and loaded it, we stopped inside the farm house for cups of hot cocoa and pictures with Santa. Sounds magical, but we were all in pretty bad moods, so it kind of wasn't. Too bad. It's a cute little set-up they have. Gabriel told Santa he wanted a remote controlled car and Judah said he didn't know what he wanted. 

We left the farm, feeling a little deflated. To brighten our spirits, we decided to stop over at a BBQ place we found last year that is along the drive back to the city. The BBQ is spectacular and the portions (and craft beer selection) are ridiculous. It was just what we needed to get out of our funk.

We arrived home, set up our huge tree, which required that we store the boys' art table and rocking chairs in the Highlander (remember what we said about sacrifices living in the City?). But it brought the boys much joy, and thus it brought us much joy. They really got into hanging the ornaments this year, which was fun to watch. 

Still not sure if we'll keep Cockburn as our fresh Christmas tree place, but for this year it did the trick. Bring on Christmas!   

We {heart} Thanksgiving in NYC!

We set a precedent early on (before kids even, I think) that we don't travel for the holidays, which eliminates unnecessary stress due to long travel and allows us to form (and keep) our own family traditions which we hope the boys will grow up loving, and look fondly upon one day. Every Thanksgiving, we go watch the balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade be inflated all around the American Museum of Natural History, followed by a balloon inflation party hosted by friends of ours whose apartment overlooks the museum, and Thanksgiving morning consists of a trip to the one and only Krispy Kreme in the city for delicious, naughty donuts (!) followed by a morning run through Central Park and, of course, viewing the actual parade! We tried out a new spot this year, at the south end of Central Park on top of a large rock outcropping, which turned out to be a real winner of a spot! Not too crowded, eye level with the balloons, easy access from Central Park! And for the second year, we had Friendsgiving dinner with dear friends. 

As a part of the holiday weekend, we also went up to West Point to see our friends who work/live there. The weekend included gingerbread house decorating and lots of college football, including the Clemson game. We had such a good time hanging out, I only took a few pics!

Aside from the aforementioned reasons for staying home for holidays, we also feel like the city is such an incredible place to be during the holiday season, and it's true we  make many sacrifices to live in New York, but the balance of that is often taking advantage of the unique aspects of living here. It's like no place in the world, and at no time is this more true than during the holidays. Speaking of, we are incredibly grateful for many things this year. The boys are both thriving in school, our jobs are both very fulfilling and provide a much-needed work life balance, which is a combo that often hard to achieve. We feel blessed to live here, to serve here, to be called here as long as the Lord allows. Happy Thanksgiving to all!!  

That's a Wrap on Fall Sports!

The boys wrapped up their Fall sports over the last week. Gabriel finished both his soccer season and his cross country season, and Judah finished up his first season of Tee ball. This has made for busy weekends because these three sports are spread across both weekend days, but the boys enjoy them so much, and it gets us (and keeps us) active and outside all weekend. 

Gabriel enjoyed being one of the stars of his team (the Blue Lightening) this year, scoring several goals and being recognized at the end of the season by his coaches, teammates (and even parents and a ref!) as the player who ran (and ran and ran) the most and fastest during the games. Gabriel never stops going after the ball and often played the entire game. This has not always been the case for him, in fact this is the first season where we've really seen Gabriel engage fully in the game and put his heart into it. It was so fun to watch him grow into this level of soccer playing. Next season, Andy may even be a coach!

Gabriel's cross country season consisted of two 1-mile races in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx and one indoor meet at the New Balance Armory Track in Northern Manhattan (both legendary running sites!). His times have decreased over the last year, from a 8:30 and 7:32 mile, to a 7:22 and 7:04 mile this season. He also consistently places in the top 30 of 7-10 year olds, usually of anywhere from 100-200 total runners in this age category. For his indoor meet, he placed second for the 100-m dash and third for the 200-m. We try very  hard not to push him too much into running, even though we are both so passionate about it, and in general he has been pretty self-motivated to run these races. Andy mentioned that he has even noticed how Gabriel has changed his race strategy and seems to be experimenting with how to regulate his pace. Very exciting!

Judah thoroughly enjoyed his first Tee ball season. Last Fall we tried soccer with him with limited success, but this year he seems to have found his sport (and in fact it was by his request that we registered him for Tee ball; we had planned to give soccer another go). From the very first practice, Judah was fully engaged in learning all about baseball. He picked up on the "alligator" and step and throw moves to catch and throw the ball. He often played first base, but also enjoyed playing outfield to field the balls that sneaked through the legs of his fellow players :). Like Gabriel, Judah was recognized as one of the fastest runners on the team, to his delight. He also found it his place to correct other players when they weren't following the rules (yes, mildly annoying) and debate with the coaches occasionally while playing outfield. This is Judah. He talks a lot, he thinks a lot, he has big and specific ideas, and he's not afraid to articulate them! All of the kids were able to graduate over the course of the season from using the tee to coach's pitch, and Judah is already looking forward to the Spring season and pick up with coach's pitch where he left off.  

Really proud of these boys for playing (and practicing) hard this Fall, next up, Winter sports! Basketball (G) and Tennis (J)!      

Happy 6th Birthday Judah!

Ok, our Goose is officially entering big boy territory. SIX. What a joyful ride these first six years have been! Judah loves deeply, stands up for what he believes in, sticks up for others, always looks for the positive in things, adores his big brother, is a great and loyal friend, is funny but serious, shy but outgoing, and so often wise beyond his years. He asks very smart and interesting questions, and a lot of times has smart and interesting answers. 

Judah is having a fantastic year in first grade, loving his teacher Laurel's class; he is even the class representative, a responsibility that he takes very seriously. We just had a parent/teacher conference with Laurel yesterday and she said so many wonderful things about him. She said he is a good friend and get along with everyone, that he gets frustrated when someone isn't on task (just like his momma) but he's also patient with them anyway, he likes following the classroom rules, is a good listener, is strong at partner work and naturally shares and takes turns, and he eagerly participates in class. His highest marks on his progress report were for being well organized and for respecting school rules and being a part of the school community.

We can also see great spiritual growth in Judah over the last year, really taking the verses we talk about in our family to heart. The other day, I mentioned I was worried about something and he said "have you prayed about it?". We are so excited to see the Lord's work in him, he has some really special gifts. He is eager to read either bible stories or bible verses at night when we have story time, and often chooses the storybook bible as a book to read in bed before lights out. Judah and Gabriel also enjoy going over the verses we picked out for them for the school year and we read them over dinner sometimes. 

I really enjoyed spending Judah's birthday day with him, it was a half day at school so we had more time than usual. I enjoyed watching him open his gifts (when asked by a friends mother what his favorite gift was, he said "I like them all the same" :) .. although I think he was pretty excited about the tennis racket! He has really gotten into tennis and Tee ball since last summer!). Just before the half day dismissal, we had Judah's "special day" in his classroom (they don't officially celebrate birthdays, but really it's the same thing). Judah read aloud a story he wrote in writing workshop, I then read Ten Apples Up on Top, and Judah shared two new toys, a transformer (from Gabriel) and a beanie boo named Beaks that has the same birthday. Afterward, we showed a brief slideshow of Judah from birth up until now. It was such a sweet time with him! After school we went home to eat lunch together and to start building his new Star Wars Lego set. 

We hit a bit of a bump when we thought we would surprise him with a Hibachi dinner, but he felt like we were taking away his birthday dinner choice (and apparently had his heart set on Dinosaur BBQ), so I apologize for that! We are going out Saturday to make up for it. He really enjoyed the hibachi once it got going (especially the ice cream with the huge sparkler coming out of it!) and said he'd like to go back sometime. We should have chosen a different time to expose the boys to Hibachi! Judah made some very valid points that I can't help but feel like are along the lines of lawyer-advocate ("if you were going to choose something new for us to try you should have done it on a different day, not my birthday" "you should have at least told me first thing in the morning that the restaurant was going to be different" "you took away my choice for my birthday dinner, it is supposed to be my choice" etc). Sorry, Pickle! He was smiling by the time we left, and we came home for (another round of!) birthday cake and one last "Happy Birthday".  

Happy 6th Birthday, my Judah, we love you more and more every day!!

Gv8.5

You know we love half birthdays around here! But this year, here is what Gabriel looked like on his half birthday:

Boo. He came home sick from school, 102 fever, and the works. He still wanted to open his gift (a book about basketball) but said he didn't want any cake. This  is how we knew he was really sick, this child has never declined cake!

We got through Judah's birthday party weekend, and Gabriel was feeling much better, so today we celebrated his belated half birthday ... 8 1/2 cake pops! (conveniently made from the remnants of Judah's birthday cake):

Just look at that smile. I have always said that one feature I love about Gabriel is that his whole face lights up when he smiles. Happy Half G! We love ya!

Summer Field Trips

I started my new job this Summer, which means the boys were either in camp or had a sitter for most of the Summer. It has been a nice, if challenging, change to our typical summers, adding more structure for the boys and of course a productivity outlet for me. In years past, our days and weeks have been a combination of "big" field trip days and low key local days playing at home or in a nearby park, or participating in the free tennis program. This year, I got two weeks off, which was essentially my summer with the boys, so we decided to make every day a field trip day. Every. Day. Here goes ...

Day 1: Art in the Park

The boys have been asking me lately to paint and I have been putting them off. Painting in a 500 sf apartment, even with acrylics, is quite an undertaking. Today I decided not only to let them paint, but to break out the oil paints, the real canvases, and head to Riverside Park to let them paint. Admittedly, I have zero experience painting with oils, so I did some quick research, gathered all of the supplies and we headed out. We found a nice grassy, shady spot and spread out our paint sheet. I laid out all of the supplies, gave only the direction that the boys needed to choose a background color and paint the whole canvas first before starting their art. Gabriel chose gold and Judah chose blue. Oils are tricky because they don't come off like acrylics. I had to monitor them closely for paint marks on their skin (and wipe promptly with a dish soap/olive oil solution), and for canvas contamination by various park debris. 

Gabriel seemed to know right away what he wanted to paint after he completed his background: The Joker Dragon. This only took him about 45 min total, after which he played around nearby (read: played in a circle around the paint area where I was convinced he would step, stumble or fall into Judah's painting). 

Judah was more contemplative in his art, changing many times what he was painting, and also went more abstract than Gabriel. His started out as a wind tunnel, then morphed into a flood, a great flood, I think something about a volcano, and ended on The Big Bowl of Spinach with Hot Sauce. Judah also took over an hour. They couldn't be more different. 

While we enjoyed the experience overall, I can't say I'll be doing it again anytime soon. I love that we have oil on canvas paintings from them, but the oil takes a LONG time to dry (over a week for Judah's), and ruined about 30 paint brushes because I was not proficient at cleaning them. Anyway, it was a nice outing to ease us into two weeks of outings.  

Gabriel is too cool for school

Day 2: Morningside Heights

Today it was raining all day, so we were a little limited in our outings. In the morning I had to run up to the Columbia lab to help a fellow student run an exercise test, while the boys watched the ipad, so after that I decided we could just stay around Morningside Heights (the neighborhood just North of the upper west side and walking distance from home). We played on the Columbia campus in the rain, did our final summer reading check in at the library, visited the Peace Fountain and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and ended with a playground in Morningside Park. It was a nice way to stay out of the apartment on a rainy day! 

Day 3: Chelsea + Meatpacking District

Today we headed to Chelsea. We went to Chelsea Market first, and got a treat from the Doughnuttery, then went up to the High Line at 16th street and walked North to 23rd street where there is a splash pad over near the River. We had lunch and played here for a few hours until a couple of large camps ran us out. I located another splash pad nearby, so we hopped on a bus (which oddly had nobody on it; in nearly 11 years in this city I have never been the only rider on a bus) and headed to the Meatpacking District to Pier 51. This park/playground/splash pad is on a pier out on the Hudson. It was a nicer park and less crowded. We played here for the remainder of the afternoon. On the way home, we stopped by Whole Foods at Columbus Circle and got some cold lemonade after a hot day.

Day 4: High Bridge

We discovered an awesome pool last Summer, in High Bridge Park, uptown at 172nd street and Amsterdam. It's kind of a trek, but there are two huge pools, one that goes from 0-2 feet deep, and one that is about 4 feet deep. It's a great way to spend a hot day, plus it's right by High Bridge, hence the name, which is a long bridge that connects to the Bronx (in fact during the one hour pool cleaning break we walked to the Bronx and back), and this is a location where NYCDOE gives out free lunches! NYC has crazy strict public pool rules (e.g. I had to leave an ink pen outside the gate, because it's a weapon (?)), so I did not get many pictures ... 

Day 5: Rain Out = Local Tourists Day

Today we were supposed to go to Montauk beach and lighthouse, but rain and threat of rain kept us local, so we decided to be local tourists where we could duck into a nearby subway at any moment. Aunt Steph was with us today too, which makes it extra fun! We started out at Dave and Busters in Times Square and let the boys play power hour (as many games as you want for one price in one hour). 

Next we found a restaurant where kids eat free, including a huge ice cream dessert! We then hit up M&M word, Hershey world, and the Disney store (reluctantly!). We added a new place today, Guitar Center, which the boys loved (although the sales associates maybe did not). We then headed East to Grand Central Station, the transit museum, then over to Bryant Park, then up to Rockefeller Center and the Lego Store. Being a tourist is not my ideal field trip day, but the boys had a blast. We topped it off with movie night! 

Day 6: Eclipse FAIL

I kiiind of didn't realize that this whole eclipse thing was a big deal, in New York at least because we wouldn't see totality, and only thought about how we would view it on Friday. Turns out, there are not a lot of places in New York to access glasses to view it and of course it was too late to procure glasses otherwise. I found one library WAY up in the Bronx that was having a viewing party and giving out free glasses so decided that would be our plan. I should have known better. The party (and distribution of glasses) was supposed to begin at 2:30 so I thought arriving around 1:45 would ensure getting some glasses, at least one pair to share, and access to the guided viewing. Since the viewing wasn't until mid-afternoon, I decided to be clever, if only to myself, and take the boys to Black Tap for a huge ice cream sundae before we headed uptown. That part of the trip was a success. 

We left Black Tap in SoHo, made our way through Little Italy and Chinatown to the 6 line, where we got on and rode allllll the way uptown to the second to last stop up in the north Bronx. About an hour's ride. I've never been to this area, it's pretty remote, so I was a little uneasy coming out of the subway, but I knew where to walk so we pressed on. When we arrived at the library, there were crowds of people (not surprising), and printed signs everywhere indicating they were all out of glasses (at first surprising because it was 1:45, then not so surprising as I realized this is New York and nothing ever goes as it is supposed to). So there we were, trapped way up in the Bronx with no way to view the eclipse and not enough time to get anywhere else. I apologized to the boys for not planning adequately, and indicated that I had hoped this was something they would remember when they were grown, and they were very gracious and not at all upset (in fact Judah said "mom, it's okay, when we're grown ups I'll just tell my wife about all the other trips you took us on" heart smile). I led us back to the subway and frantically worked to salvage our viewing. I sent a text to my parents to see if we could try to facetime them and watch the eclipse through the phone, to which they agreed, then I had to use google satellite images to try to find a park near a subway stop. I found one a few stops down, I thought, and so we got off. It was about 2:30pm. I navigated through very unfamiliar territory, and the park I saw on the map wasn't really there, so I scanned the neighborhood for other options and spotted an empty basketball court in chain link fencing (think about every movie you've ever seen with a basketball court behind chain link in a sketchy nabe and that's exactly where we were). It would have to do. I felt a little safer behind the chain link and felt I could pull out my phone to try facetime. The boys and I crowded around my phone, with our backs to the sun (ironically), and tried to see the eclipse. It just wasn't the same, despite our best efforts, and the connection was poor, so we decided to just bag it and get the heck out of the Bronx. We passed a Walgreens, so we ducked in to grab some snacks for the train ride home, then got back on the 6 and headed home, defeated. When we got home, I turned on the NASA coverage of the eclipse and let the boys watch to their hearts content. It definitely wasn't the same, and I still felt really bad, but the boys seemed fine with it. And now it's a good story. Plus, there is another eclipse in 7 years in New England, and we will be prepared for that one!!       

Somewhere way up in the North Bronx...

Day 7-8: Connecticut Road Trip

We have good friends that to to CT for the summer, and we always go visit them for a couple of days to get out of the city and play at a nearby beach. The boys love a good road trip. Madison, CT is only about 2 hours north of the city, so we drove up Tuesday morning, played all day, spent Tuesday night, went peach/pear/raspberry picking and played all day Wednesday, and came home around dinner time Wednesday eve (in fact we stopped at an Ikea in New Haven for a cheap dinner and replacement paint brushes (reference day 1 above). It was a nice quick getaway, and an extended play date/sleep over for the boys!  

It was the first day of the picking season so we ended up with 38 cents in raspberries ;)

We found baby birds in the raspberries!

Day 9: Governor's Island

We're nearing the end of our two-week field trips and I am wearing out, but today was a pretty big outing. Thankfully, we were able to meet up with one of the boys' best friends to go along with us to Governor's Island. It's a pretty long subway ride down to the very Southern end of Manhattan; the ferry terminal is right next to the Staten Island Ferry. We planned to take the 10:30am ferry, which upon arrival (as all three boys ran around the ferry terminal in unbridled excitement) we realized was the 11am ferry. It's a quick 8 minute ride across the mouth of the East River, and thankfully the boat was not very crowded. We embarked on the island and made a game plan. Gov Is is ginormous, and even though the boys are accustomed to doing a lot of walking, and Judah even had his scooter, it is a lot of ground to cover. We headed towards our first destination which was the slides (huge slides that are 2-3 stories long/high). We were slightly detoured by the boys wanting to do a maze and zipline that would have cost $40 (no thank you!), but after we navigated their disappointment (read: fits) we made our way to The Hills. The slides did not disappoint, however they were extremely hot! 

We left the slide area and went to Hammock Grove (fun but also very hot and no shade, which is ironic for hammocks, right?). Desperate to refill water bottles and find some shade, we left the hammocks and found some fountains for the boys to play in. They all got soaking wet! Nobody had water clothes on, but it felt so good, and they were dry in an hour or so anyway. We found a grassy spot under some trees, near an art installation that I'm pretty sure was entirely shotgun shells (?!), and ate lunch. Afterwards, we burned some more energy on a ropes-course type play structure, punctuated by ice cream! Being cognizant of the time and ferry schedule, we made our way back towards the terminal and hit up a mini golf course on the way. The boys played at least two rounds! And by play I mean wildly swinging their clubs. At last, it was time to line up. The boys played around on a grassy knoll that was part of a historic fort while the moms waited in line. We boarded the ferry at 4pm (5 hours later!) and headed home. And no ferry ride is complete without a brother-on-brother light saber battle while annoying fellow ferry-riders! We got on the 1 train uptown a little later than I had planned (it gets crazy crowded after 4pm) but since we were so far South we got seats, and had books to read. Unfortunately the train went out of service at 66th st due to mechanical failure, so we had to get off along with 100's of other NYers onto an already crowded train platform and wait for the next train. Sardines! We managed to make it on the next train and home by about 5:30pm. Whew. Now, one more day ...   

Day 10: Montauk 
We redeemed our Montauk day today, and Andy was able to take the day off so all four of us got to go. It's about a 3 hour drive (took us 3.5 actually because of traffic) way out to the farthest tip of Long Island, but it's worth it. We arrived around 11:30 or so to the only free parking/beach access and snagged one of the last spots. Conveniently, there is an IGA adjacent to the parking lot, so we ran in for snacks and lunch items, then hit the beach. I have only been to Montauk once, on a work retreat many years ago, and the boys have never been. It did not disappoint. I had always heard that surfing was popular in Montauk, and now we see why, the waves are crazy! The beach was not crowded, we found a spot right by the surf. The waves were big and they crashed hard. This is not the kind of beach you can sit at your beach spot nearby and watch your kids play in the surf, because you literally have to either keep them from getting knocked over, or you have to drag them out of the surf when they do get swept over! Judah had to be rescued from the waves a couple of times, but he always came up with a smile on his face and ran in for more. The boys enjoyed chasing the waves into the sea, then turning and running from them as they crashed. It definitely kept Andy and I on our toes. 

We knew we wanted to visit the Montauk Lighthouse, so we wrapped up our beach time around 4:30 to head to the point. Unfortunately, there was a private event there so the lighthouse had closed early. This was mildly annoying, but the views from the point were peerless and we enjoyed a nature walk around the grounds before succumbing to our growling stomachs. As we drove back towards "town", I was looking up restaurants for a low key dinner. Hmmm, everything looked pricey and fancy. What's up with that Montauk, you used to be a low key surfing and fishing town. It's probably all of those annoying people from Manhattan trying to turn it hipster. Oh, wait.... Anyway, we finally found (after dodging a lot of traffic, Montauk is NOT pedestrian friendly, you kind of have to just walk out in traffic with your hands up and hope the cars stop) an older establishment that wasn't pretentious, John's Drive-in: burgers and fries and ice cream. Perfect. We ate outside at sunset, grabbed ice cream for our walk back to the car, and loaded up to head home. It was a really fun day, one we are sure to repeat now that it made it on our list, and it was just the thing to round out our two weeks of trips!