I own New York

Actually I don't own any part of New York, unless you count a half acre of New York State. But it was cool up there.

Just a little something to let you know we are still here...

One hour of our lives...

I thought I would try to document one hour of our lives, so you all could see what happens on an average afternoon. (Is this considered scraping the bottom of the blog barrel?) Anyway, every few minutes I went around and took pictures of what everyone was doing. Here is the result:

In the beginning...

Anders slept.


Liam, however, is waiting on the couch and ready for excitement. Ellie's hands are there to make sure he doesn't fall off.


Ellie then ran off to get her school library book out of her backpack.


Nico is playing with his Lego castle.


Getting bored of the couch, Liam now only wants to be held. He therefore finds himself relegated to the backpack.


I have grand plans of cleaning up all this.


Ellie has commenced her science projects including this delight involving water, lots and lots of cornstarch, and food coloring.


Nico is playing with his Lego castle.


Out of the backpack, Liam now tries to eat the camera.


The Lego men defend the castle.


Ellie is dispatched to get Anders who is now awake. She puts him in the highchair and gives him toys.



Nico, now done with Legos, calls his good friend Grace to tell her he completed Steamworks Island on Poptropica.com. Grace was not home.


Liam and Anders get their daily bottle.



Disappointed that Grace was not home, Nico turns to George and Martha for solace.


Ellie does her homework.


Exhausted, Liam falls asleep eating, and is simply left in his bouncy chair.


Anders, having eaten, then spits up all over his clothes. As a result, he is left with nothing but his diaper and his pointy hair.



He loves it.


I did not get the kitchen clean.

Gone Fishin'

Okay, so we didn't actually go fishing, but we did see fish.

A few days ago, the kids and I went to Atlantis Marine World. It's a somewhat cheesy looking place from the outside, but it is actually a super-cool place once you get inside. It is very hands on, and the kids love it.



Their favorite thing to do is buy sardines to feed the rays.













I think Nico is showing me the last of the sardines here. I did buy them several more boxes since they were having so much fun. And also because they were both super-nice and kept sharing them with all the other kids, all of their own accord.














Ellie is holding a crab, although it is somewhat difficult to see. She just finished holding the horseshoe crab as well. Nico stuck to holding seashells.

They were both delighted to see a hermit crab. One of Nico's favorite books has been A House for Hermit Crab.













The babies were troopers. Anders was his serious little self for most of the time.













But even he warmed up by the end.


(Disclaimer: I very occasionally dress the babies alike. I just couldn't resist with these cute little outfits. Who doesn't love a vest on a baby!?)

Pi Day

You've got to love living by other nerds. Especially other nerds who can make great pie!


This year's pies included Triple Berry, Orange Marshmallow, Cinnamon, Banana Cream, Black Bottom Peanut Butter Fudge, and Lemon Meringue. They were all good, but the Orange Marshmallow will not be making an appearance again. It simply didn't measure up.





Ellie and Nico have been around for Pi Day before, and enjoyed it as always.






This year's newest Pi Day initiates: Liam, Corinne, Anders, & Malcolm

donuts reign supreme

Last week we had the second run of the Donut Bar, with the Rich and Lott families. Our talented chefs cooked up four varieties of donut (chocolate, yeast-raised, buttermilk, and apple cider), and spread out a wide array of toppings. Needless to say, the offerings at Dunkin' just don't compare at all.



































Miles went for the Deep Chocolate option. And he actually lived to tell the tale.























All the kids (and adults) had a blast thinking up creative and tasty combinations.


















There were some really great ones, but I think my favorite was the apple cider donut with real vanilla frosting, and toasted coconut. Amazing.

Thanks to our great friends for an incredibly delicious evening! And now, I'm off to do a little Wii Fit.

Tummy Time

Every day we have tummy time. Or we try to at least. They are getting pretty good at it. And I think they kind of like it at first.







But sometimes Anders has just had enough. Or his cheeks get to heavy. I'm not sure.