Begin the Brain Dump...

Here is the first post I have of like 6 that are sitting in that almost done place on my blog dashboard. Man do we have some exciting stuff to tell y'all about. Drum roll please...

WE BOUGHT A MINI VAN! Yep it's official. We are a two car family and I love, love, love, love our new car. If you are not a "mini van person", well I just have one thing to say to you, "Why the heck not?!!!". We splurged on the Toyota Sienna XLE and it is epic! There is so much space to tote around all this kid crap all the time. In all this cavernous space I even sectioned off a permanent spot just for changing diapers. I am also not required to fold up the stroller anymore and take the wheels off just to load it into the car. I just put it in the back, on top of the easiest fold down seats ever. And yes, I may or may not have put those seats up and down, a few times in a row, just to bask in the sheer simplicity of the task. Then I hastily ran to the drivers seat leaving all the doors and trunk of the car open and pushed all the buttons on the dash to close them. I was like a little kid in an elevator. Button bliss. Then I pushed one more glorious button, the keyless start, and marveled that someone would make such a splendid machine where I no longer have to dig through my purse/diaper bag/swim bag/cooler/stroller to find the keys to open the car or start it. They just need to be in a near proximity to the car. Oh hallelujah! I love the leather seats, blue tooth, and all 16 cup holders. I think Peanut and I may go out tomorrow and fill up every cup holder with a drink,  just because we can. Then maybe we'll drive down the street tossing drinks out the roll down front AND rear windows to passers by, while talking to Grandma, hands free, on the blue tooth, accessible with the touch of a button on the steering wheel. Ok I'm going overboard here but it really is great. So for all you minivan haters, if there are any left, just stop. Give in. Love it. 

Also, you should be incredibly impressed with this guy...

He built this.

With his bare hands and engineering mind power. Ok and the help of a few power tools. Direct quote from the neighbor, "Wow. I went inside and took a nap and came out and you had put all these beams up. How on earth did you hoist those up there by yourself? [You small man in your safety goggles]?". That part in brackets is what I guessed he was thinking as our neighbor is a large, muscular man that we guessed was a club bouncer when he and his family first moved in. 

I made a funny Mama!

Peanut made a funny that is. Lot's of them actually. This is how I found him this morning when I finally made it downstairs after nursing Cashew. Helping himself to a cupcake from the freezer. "I have chocolate for breakfast Momma!" Well yes you did.

 He is such a talker and says the best stuff these days. He saw Cashew crawling into the kitchen the other day and said, "He's crawling like a dinosaur." My other favorite thing from him is his new fetish with calling us silly:

"No, I want chocolate milk, silly."
"It's over there, silly."
"I don't go to bed, silly."

Maybe I say this to him more often then I think. He is getting really good at saying things in context too. Should I be scared? Yes I believe I should.

Other favorite quotes in recent days:

"I need to get in there," said in reference to the lower kitchen cabinets.
"I saved the day Mama!", after finishing an episode of SuperWhy.
"I go bouncing then fly on airplane? Ok. Yeah, sure!" This is him giving himself permission to do what he wishes, without waiting for my response.
"Play Ants in the Pants?", asked to everyone who enters our home this past week...and no one knows that this is a real Milton Bradley game which makes the adults quizzical looks that much better.

"WE'RE DONE!", said exasperatedly and loud enough for the whole congregation to hear immediately following the closing prayer at church.

"I hold you." This is one of my particular favorites that I may have mentioned in an earlier post. This is how he asks to be picked up. I always make sure to act as though he is going to hold me first, "NO MAMA! NO MAMA! I hold you, PWEASE!" So I pick him up and chuckle. Every time.

And let it be noted here. He has officially hit the, I want to do it myself stage, and makes sure we darn well know it...before he hurries over and asks, "Mommy do it?".

Well Peanut also is a bit clumsy and had a down right rough day a couple Sunday's ago on the injury front. He fell over while standing still in the bathroom watching me put on make-up. I'm not sure if he slipped on his blankie, or the bath water he so kindly distributed over the floor, but no matter how, he fell forward crashing face first into the cabinet under the sink and splitting the inside of his lip open when the knob came in contact with his teeth through his bottom lip. And of course the first thing he did when I picked him up was wipe his bloody, tear stained face all along my shirt to burrow into my shoulder. That stain will hopefully remind me that that shoulder provides comfort.

Well my friends the day had only begun. We kept him out of Sunday School since he had had a cough and runny nose for the past few days. So at this point we're at a bloody lip and a permanent runny nose. But that is not enough. He somehow gashed his chin open while jumping on our front porch step and again crash landing on his face. The permanent whining switch was now turned on and we spent the rest of the evening replacing band-aids and reapplying Neosporin. And I took a little video. But of course it won't upload. That camera is such a silly ;).

New York, New York (Part 1)

There's somethin' about 'cha!

Look I'm only a week later on this post than my goal! Hoorah!

Well what an adventure! We just took our first trip to the big apple and had a great time. The theme of the trip was sardines, as we squeezed 4 adults, 4 kids in car seats, 4 umbrella strollers, 2 pack and plays and all of our luggage in a Honda Pilot and then squeezed the same into a hotel room with two double beds. If only I had remembered to take a picture of the sleeping arrangements Was it worth it? Absolutely! It was great...exhausting, and fabulous.

After a little GPS mix up when arriving in the city we found ourselves driving into Manhattan and over a bridge right out of it again into a part of Brooklyn called Williamsburg (I think) before we were able to re-program it to actually get us to the hotel. We saw a whole community of Hasidic Jews. It was really neat. We finally arrived at our hotel checked in, parked the car, and went immediately to Times square. We started the feasting with burgers and concretes (that is what they call their super milkshake) at the Shake Shack. We ate A LOT on this trip.What's a vacation without good eats? Ok and during the drive Peanut picked up the catch phrase, "You're killing me." Hilarious!

The next day we were up bright and early, no alarm needed thanks to all four kids, and headed off to the 9/11 World Trade Center Memorial. It was reverent. I found myself quite emotional. I still remember when it happened. I was coming out of swim practice early in the morning and I couldn't believe that the news was real, it all seemed so far away. Being on the site really solidified the event in my brain and made it that much more personal for me. God bless the USA.

 

 After that sober moment we tried to head to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Tried, being the operative word there. We had no idea that all of it was closed to visitors since Hurricane Sandy.  So instead we went on a hunt for some food trucks and then headed on a ferry ride to Staten Island. This was relaxing and provided a beautiful view of the skyline and the statue of Liberty.

 

 We made a quick stop at the bull on Wall Street. Oh how iconic. I kind of loved all of the giantness of the city. The buildings just towering everywhere. I love the suburbs, and I love farmland, so I wasn't sure if I would love the big city, but I do. I love it. And I love the ocean. What do I not love? :). It was wonderful for it's own beautiful and exciting things. It's dirty, and crazy and a little bit exhausting, but you feel like you are in the middle of everything! I see how it just draws you in. And I love how the whole city tries so hard to have green space anywhere they can fit it in. Aren't these tulips beautiful? Right in a courtyard near Wall Street. And this community garden. Gorgeous. All along our walk to the harbor.

We finished off this day at an awesome little Cuban restaurant in SoHo. It barely fit our group and of course we were the only ones with kids. Kelly, my old room mate from the Olympic Training Center was able to join us. It was so good to see her! I can not tell you how much I love catching up with old friends. 

TO BE CONTINUED...