Rainbow City

Today we ventured down to Chelsea with some friends to check out Rainbow City, the new section of the High Line, and one of our favorite summertime playgrounds: Chelsea Waterside Park.

We started at Rainbow City- a temporary interactive exhibit for kids and adults alike to jump around in the bounce houses & play with the oversized inflated balloons. To be honest, we were a little underwhelmed. Only one bounce house was actually open, and you can only hit an oversize balloon so many times. A few of the younger kids in our group were over it really quickly. Ella had a really great time, though, and was happy to jump in the bounce house then run back in line again. She probably did that 6 or 7 times in all. Alexis bounced in the house 3 or 4 times and then proclaimed the place "boring". BUT, it was free, and fun for about 30 minutes, so I think it was a successful visit.

 

Then we strolled down the newest part of the High Line park (built on an old elevated subway train track). Lovely urban garden project! Ella loves flowers and always wants to pick some.  She was just standing next to these flowers staring at them longingly.  I said, "Do you like those flowers?" and she responded, "Yes! Can I please pick one?!"  I told her we couldn't do that, but we could take a picture with her next to them.  She was happy with that compromise.

I personally think this second section of the High Line is a little squishy- as in, the path is not very wide for the amount of people there were strolling along.  Maybe the crowds will die down once the novelty of the "new" section has worn off, but it was a tight squeeze at some points.

Matt stopped to take a drink from a water fountain and mid-drink he realized the fountain was talking to him! He's not quite sure exactly what it was talking about- but thinks it may have had something to say about conservation efforts etc.

We ended up at Chelsea Waterside park where we spent about 2 hours letting the kids play in the water while I sat on a bench in the shade (4 days overdue, by the way, with no signs of an impending birth).

Lucky for us, we were close to the newest location of the Doughnut Plant (at the Hotel Chelsea) so we had to stop by and pick up half a dozen (for a pretty penny, let me tell you). But they are sooooo delicious!
And look at the cool pillows hung on the wall- decorated just like some of their doughnuts. (And their bathroom was awesome- it deserved a photo all its own, except that there was a line to use it).

Adventures NYC

Last weekend, Ella spent the night at Grandma's so Matt&I took Alexis down to an event in Central Park known as Adventures NYC.  They were giving out free bike helmets, so we each got one.  Pentax had a booth there and they were lending out really amazing digital cameras for 45 minutes.  You got to use the cameras to take as many photos as you wanted, testing out all the features (including UNDERWATER!) and then you could enter one of your photos into their photo contest.  The biggest bummer (besides that we didn't win) was that all the fun photos we took were on their camera- not ours.  So I have none of those photos to put on the blog.  My favorite was of Matt & Alexis jumping off the edge of the wall around Bethesda fountain.  Alexis also took several photos underwater in the fountain, which were kind of interesting.  I got a couple of shots of she and Matt using the camera.

North Face also had several booths there and had set up a sort of scavenger hunt of sorts- for each task you completed or item you checked off the given list, you could earn points which were then redeemable for prizes.  We earned enough points for Alexis to get a t-shirt and choose a design (she chose an owl) that was then screen printed on for her.  (One of the tasks was to pledge to help the earth or something like that... Lexi wrote that she would "pick up trash and keep the world clean." They placed her pledge at the top of the map).

And guess who we ran into?  Unplanned.  My brother, Uncle Chris.  NYC is awesome that way!

I just realized I forgot to add Ella's 4 year old birthday interview to the previous post:

Favorites: 
color: Red
food: Quesadillas
vegetable: peas & corn

drink: apple juice & milk
school subject:  puzzles
thing to do: 
movie: Cinderella
game: computer games
book: Princess books
restaurant: McDonald's
holiday: Christmas with snowy days
animal: giraffes and falingos

Tell me about your friends:
Julia! She likes playing dress up.  When she's dressed up she plays playdoh, she sings songs, she dances, she plays Cinderella games.  She sometimes does puzzles with me. Draws pictures.  Some other friends are Noah & Gabey, Eli & Audrey, and Stella.

What do you like to do when you’re not in school?
I like to go home. I like to go to the zoo and the park and ride my bike.  I also love going swimming with my friends.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A builder, of course!

What do you love about each person in our family?
Dad…he tucks me into bed and puts on my Tinkerbell music box.
Mom…she gives me great big hugs and kisses.
Alexis.... she always sometimes lets me play on her bed.
The baby.... what I love about the baby is because he's almost born.

Ella is an amazing little girl.  She finished her first year at preschool and really flourished.  She's able to write her full name all by herself.  She can do 100-piece puzzles all by herself.  In fact, doing puzzles is one of her favorite things to do and can keep her occupied for up to an hour at a time.  She is remarkably capable of entertaining herself.  She adores her big sister and loves to play with her.  She is also a wonderful helper around the house with laundry, groceries, setting the table and cleaning up.  She is a sweet girl with a happy disposition almost all of the time.  She absolutely hates getting in any sort of trouble, no matter how mild and when my tone of voice is more serious than usual her big blue eyes will well up with tears.  She is such a well-behaved little girl that I can take her with me virtually anywhere.  She is concerned about others and is always willing to share her snacks or toys.  Her speech has developed by leaps and bounds and she has virtually caught up with her peers- only struggling with articulation of the /v/ and /th/ sounds, but actively working hard to improve!


We love our little Ella! 

A Baby Shower

Since this is my third child, I didn't even think twice about not having a baby shower.  I haven't been to many showers for second, third etc. babies.  But because it's my first boy a couple of my friends insisted on throwing a shower.  I didn't really want a big deal, and was really only secretly hoping that maybe a bunch of people would pitch in a little money to help us invest in a new Ergo carrier (mine was 8 years old and had been through 3 children b/c we bought it used in the first place).  But these ladies did an absolutely amazing job with the decor, the food & the atmosphere.  And so many of my nearest and dearest came to celebrate with me!  And the generosity of everyone was really so flattering- clothes (including an amazing handmade sweater which I expect to fit him at family photo time), books, blankets, diapers, a pedicure for me(!) and various other sundries.  I just felt so much love for me and this new babe and am so grateful for the friends I have here!  Extra special thanks to Erin, Jessica, Abbie & Lynn for all they did to organize & WOW me!

My  new (organic!) Ergo carrier!! A most wonderful group gift!!

My lovely hosts, Erin (who has since moved away, sniff) & Jessica

Ella's Birthday

Ella turned 4 this year, and what little 4-year-old girl doesn't love princesses? So we celebrated like royalty and had over 4 of her best friends, Julia, Stella, Jena & Addie, all dressed as princesses, of course.

Ella dressed in her new Sleeping Beauty dress from Nanny and Pop-pop.  She wanted to curl her hair, too, so we did. Lots of mousse and hairspray!

Here's a shot of her hair....

We started out with a little crown decorating & face painting (we did Ella's face before the party began):

Early on, Ella had a little emotional setback.  Too much excitement I guess.  And it's her party, so she'll cry if she wants to!

Big sister Lexi was a BIG help during the party- teaching the girls how to play "Kiss the Frog" (aka Pin the kiss on the frog's mouth).  Stella got it right on!

Pass the Poison Apple (for Snow White)... aka Hot Potato

It was a tie!

Freeze Dance (did they play Freeze Dance at Cinderella's Ball?)

Then a little snack time and free play time in Ella's room where we had set up the princess tent and some toys. Ella's favorites: strawberries, quesadillas & goldfish.

Presents!  She was so happy with everything she got.  But the gift that stole the show for everyone was the musical jewelry box from Jena.  All the little girls just sat and watched the little ballerina dancing to the music.  When it stopped, they'd wind it back up and listen again over and over and over and over..... it went everywhere the girls went for the rest of the afternoon!

Lemon Cupcakes (requested by Ella, made by mom) and Ice Cream!

And after everyone left and Ella decided to have another cupcake, she couldn't eat it without the musical jewelry box at her side.

(Thanks to Aprille for being the unofficial photographer! I wouldn't have half the photos I have without her help).

Ella's Preschool Ceremony

For the past 2 semesters, I've been taking some classes at a local college.  There was a preschool/day care on campus and Ella was able to get a space there, so she attended preschool 3 mornings a week while I was in class.  It was a perfect set up.  The teachers and staff were amazing and she really had a wonderful time.  At the end of the year they had a commemoration ceremony where each class got up and did a dance & then each child received an award.

Ella's class did a Hawaiian Luau theme & dance.

Ella's award was "Ella the Explorer".  I don't know if you can tell in this photo, but "Ella The" is typed and "Explorer" is handwritten on a white piece of paper that is taped over the top of the laminated award.  When we got home I lifted up the paper to see what was underneath and it seems her award was originally "Ella the Intellectual".  (Ahem, excuse me while I brag a moment) Which I loved to see, of course!  Her teachers were always telling me how smart she was and how amazed they were that she could write her own name (before she was 3!), and was able to write most of the letters of the alphabet and other such intellectual things.  Maybe they didn't want anyone else to feel bad about not being intellectual?  Not sure, but she is an explorer, too, so that's fine that that was her award.

Here she is with Ms. Bianca

Ms. Maritza (the head teacher)

I'm blanking on this teacher's name right now!  Ms. Tanya was a teacher for most of the year, but left for a  head teacher position just 2 weeks before the end of the semester (no photo of her).  This teacher was her replacement, and was equally wonderful!