Gymnastics classes

While we are in this "in between time" I have decided to try out as many things as possible to get an idea of what is there for the kids to do and what we like. And so that once fall is here and hopefully "normal life" will start, that we can have a nice schedule and fun things to do for us.

One of the things we tried was gymnastics class. There is actually a gymnastics school for kids in the same building as the preschool the kids attended this spring (on a drop in basis once per week) and we were able to catch the last two weeks of the session.

Finn was able to go himself and he did ok. I think it might not be his favorite, but he had fun.
With Lilly I had to attend the class (gets a little complicated as I have nobody to leave Finn with - he came and played the iPad in the corner) and I think she really liked it. So I think we might sign her up for the fall.

As we caught the last classes, they were able to participate in the "graduation" which was fun. They all got a ribbon and a fun final class.

Evening in the city

A few weeks ago I went out for dinner and drinks with Kimberly who works with Ben in the office and used to live in Nashville as well. It was great to go out without kids, take the train into the city and read a book on the train and then have adult conversations and drinks :-)

We went to a hopping restaurant/ bar in midtown. As we had to wait for a table, we had yummy drinks at the bar and chatted. We then shared some delicious dishes at a table with the view of NYC streets. I loved to watch the people walking by.

Thanks Kimberly for a fun evening and I look forward to exploring your new neighborhood with you soon!

Library Visit

Even though we currently live in White Plains, we love to visit the West Harrison Library. The librarian Liz there is absolutely fabulous and we always have fun. There is also a little ice cream store next to it, that we frequently visit after story time or mother goose time ;-)

Liz is great, she even blows bubbles in the library!

Finn in his hat catching bubbles

And we always pick another color of ice cream.

More Pool Time

I know I talk about it a lot, but we really love having a pool right outside our apartment - I am going to miss it! It has been hot for weeks now and we have been to the pool every single day. Sometimes even twice :-)

Lilly and her goggles

Some of our friends at the pool

Finn loves to jump into the pool

Lilly in her new bikini

Summer lunch

I had to post a picture of this. I really love summer eating: we go to the farmers market regularly and buy fresh produce which is just awesome. The other day I had this for lunch: bruschetta. Some fresh bread from the market toasted and then topped with chopped up fresh tomatoes, basil and onions drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Delicious!

Avalon Summer Party

Living at the Avalon White Plains has really not been bad and I have to apologize as I have been cranky about it at the beginning as the house hunting was going so badly.
Right at the start of the summer they hosted a party for all residents in the common area downstairs.
They had hung out posters by the elevators weeks before and Finn and Lilly were counting down the days till the party. There were pictures of cotton candy, ice cream and hot dogs on the poster and my kids were counting on it. And sure enough, they had everything. And our kids ate everything: a hot dog first (good), lots of watermelon for Finn (still good), cotton candy (not so good), snow cones (a huge mess), ice cream (melted of the sticks because it was so hot).
There were tons of kids and lots of food. Finn and Lilly had a blast eating and playing!

Cotton Candy

Snow cones

Playing with all the other kids on the playground

Visit from Amy & Ampy

As we are pretty close to Ben's family now, we get to see them on a regular basis - which is really nice. A few weeks ago Ben's parents Barbara and Bill (Amy and Ampy to our kids) came down for a visit.
We had a great time.
- We swam in the pool.
- We went out for nice Italian dinner.
- We went to NYC: to the Central Park Zoo and saw Ben's office.
- And Ben and I got to go out on a date :-)

They will be back soon and we are looking forward to it.

I had lobster ravioli for dinner - delicious.

The kids on top of Ben's and Bill's shoulders watching the seals.

We got everybody into the pool. The weather was not perfect always, but still good for the pool.

Summer Movies

We are having a fun summer so far and the other week we went to the movies! The Regal Cinemas have the Family Summer Movie Days, where every Tuesday and Wednesday at 10am they play a different movie for $1 a person! Yes, one buck.
We went with our new friends Abbie and Meghan and their mom Brigit. Which was very helpful because Abbie, Meghan and Finn loved Ice Age, but Lilly did not last the whole movie and I went wondering around the movie theatre with her.
We bought a big bucket full of popcorn and shared it all. I had bought little popcorn bags that they were able to refill from the big bucket. And after the movie we even got to play some games in the arcade.
A fun and cool activity on a hot summer day!

Fearless Finn

Finn and Lilly love the water (now). At the beginning of the summer they have not been too sure, but by now they just love to swim in the pool or to play in the waves at the beach.
Finn has become pretty fearless and he loves to jump into the pool. Here is a video of him doing it with his floaties on, but since a few days ago we are doing it without his floaties and practising swimming (can't provide a video as I am holding on to him).