Cohen's First Day of School!

Now I would like to interrupt my summer vacation posting to announce that Cohen started Pre-K today! We took him out for a special first day breakfast at Georgio's Country Grill. Cohen wanted waffles and sausage to start his day. He ended up pouring the whole cup of syrup on his waffles. 

We then headed over to the school to meet his teachers. They have a great playground in the court yard that Cohen has been asking about visiting for months. When I told him he was going to school today he immediately asked, "to play on my playground?!" 

There were some kids that clearly didn’t want their parents to leave and parents that definitely felt the same. I however told Cohen bye and he responded with what I think was supposed to be a wave goodbye, but it felt more like a “mom get out of here” gesture. I then proceeded to skip the whole way home!

When I picked Cohen up he didn't want to leave. He asked me for the rest of the day if he could go back to school. He's such an independent little soul. I'm so happy for him to take this next adventure.

I love you Cohen! I’m so proud of you and I know you’re going to have a fantastic time learning new things and making friends.

Ms. Green and Ms. D...Thanks, and Good Luck! You’ll be in my prayers.

A quick trip to the Met

Cohen and I finally made the trek across the park to go to the Met! (we went to three playgrounds the same day...it was a busy day) I didn't know how Cohen would like it, but I was so surprised when he totally got into it. He LOVED the armor exhibit and walking around looking at all the statues. We only saw a few exhibits so we will have to go back soon.

The Ruth and Arthur Smadbeck-Heckscher East Playground, Central Park, NYC

The last playground we visited on the East Side was the Ruth and Arthur Smadbeck-Hechscher East Playground. This is an amazingly small little playground. The water feature was similar to the one at the Adventure Park tots playground, but it didn't have much water pressure so Cohen wasn't that in. Luckily there were some little girls playing with water balloons and Cohen was a happy kid.

James Michael Levin Playground, Central Park, NYC

The next East Side playground we visited was James Michael Levin Playground. The play structure was ok, but Cohen really liked the water feature. It was just a bunch of small sprinklers in a row going around a little fountain in the middle. This meant that a lot of kids could sit and play in the water at the same time and the water wasn't too powerful. Cohen just filled up his bucket over and over again and LOVED it!

E72nd Street Playground, Central Park, NYC!

For the past couple months Cohen and I have been working on visiting every playground in Central Park. Since we live on the West Side we have seen most of those with friends and for playdates, but we haven't been to many of the East Side playgrounds. Well, since the weather was so amazing last week, Cohen and I did a little tour of some of the East Side playgrounds.

We started with the E 72nd Street Playground. We actually didn't spend a lot of time here. While the playground was nice and clean, we weren't that impressed. They have a huge concrete structure with sprinklers, but it seemed like a bit much. There was a lot of concrete with not that many sprinklers. It seemed kind of like a waste. Also, they have the same concrete pyramid structure they have in the playgrounds near our house, so it didn't really offer anything new for us.

4th of July in NYC!

Happy Birthday America!

We totally enjoyed our first 4th of July in NYC! We spent the morning in the park celebrating with some families from our church. The family that hosted did an AMAZING job. There was food, a bike parade, popsicles, water guns, and water balloons! Cohen had the time of his life running around with friends and eating candy and all things sweet!

We then headed home for a nap and to run some errands. We went out for some dinner and then hunkered down at home and watched the fireworks going off in the distance. I couldn't believe how many fireworks we could see. The were itty bitty, but hey...we could still see them and from the comfort of our own home! That said, I think we are going to try and find a small town in upstate New York to enjoy a more small town celebration.

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

After we saw the "fearless girl," we met Aunt Harleen, Rachelle, Sarah, and Kylie in Battery Park to catch the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was Cohen's first time down to Battery Park and he loved watching all the "big" boats. :) This kids loves all forms of transportation. He was thrilled beyond reason when I told him we were going to go on one.

We had a fantastic time being tourist for the day and hanging out with my family. It's always so nice catching up with them!

While Cohen and I were waiting in Battery Park, I decided to sit down on one of the park benches in the shade while Cohen ate his snack in his stroller. I saw some squirrels ransacking a garbage can a few benches down, but figured they wouldn't bother me. Oh how I was wrong! While sitting there checking my email, a squirrel literally jumped into my lap! I started screaming and ran away with Cohen and the stroller. I tried to play it off like it was no big deal because Cohen was worried, but not going to lie.....I was freaking out!

The "Fearless Girl" and the Charging Bull

Today Cohen and I spent a day downtown with my Aunt Harleen, Rachelle, Sarah, and Kylie! We had so much time spending time with them and seeing the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island!

Cohen and I headed down a little earlier so that I could finally get a picture of the "fearless girl" statue. State Street Global Advisors had the statue installed on March 7th in honor of International Women's day and the one year anniversary of a gender diversity initiative. I've been meaning to go down and see her, but I know the charging bull statue is always very crowded and I assumed that the addition of the little girl statue would make it even more crowded. So, Cohen I got up extra early so that we could get little alone time with the "fearless girl" and the bull.

Decorating the apartment with Mr. Sam

Cohen is obsessed with decorations and LOVES it when we get to decorate our house for a new holiday! Luckily, he has a grandma and an aunt (Grandma A and Auntie Harmizzle) who supply him with all the goods he needs every time a new holiday rolls around. A couple of weeks ago a package showed up with a bunch of 4th of July decorations in it. Cohen was so excited about the flags (he's totally a little Sheldon Cooper!). Auntie Harmizzle sent us a little Uncle Sam decoration (Cohen calls him Mr. Sam) and I had to put him up high cause Cohen kept grabbing it and I was afraid he would break it.  Cohen told me he wanted a flag and hat like Mr. Sam so, naturally Auntie Harmizzle sent him his own to help him get into the patriotic spirit.

Joy School: End of the year party!

A few weeks after we moved to Manhattan, Cohen and I joined one of the Joy School groups in our ward. It has been an amazing experience. Cohen loved making friends and learning new things. I enjoyed getting to know some of the kids and moms in the ward! It was a great group of kids and I'm so grateful for the other moms and all their hard work and willingness to put up with Cohen. He's totally a handful!

We had a little party in Central Park today celebrating the end of the program. Cohen will be going to pre-school in the Fall and I know he will miss seeing his friends during the week. Hopefully we will be able to schedule playdates in the park!

 

Playing in the fountain at AMNH!

My friend Liz invited me and Cohen to meet her at the fountain at AMNH today to enjoy the water and the beautiful weather! There have been several play dates there in the past few months, but I have never made it because we have been out of town. It was so excited to finally see what all the fuss is about. Cohen and I both LOVED it! Cohen was fascinated with throwing his blue bucket into the water jet and watching it fly up. :) Good friends, good weather, and water fun makes one great afternoon!

Back to the High Line for Rachel and Jilyn's Senior Pictures!

I really miss my YW in New Jersey! I'm so glad that Jilyn and Rachel come up to visit me on occasion and fill me in on the latest happenings in the good old Eatontown 2nd ward. I was called into Young Women's when these two were newly minted Beehives. I can't believe they will both be graduating next month.  Last month, they trekked into the city (ridiculously early...at my request) and met me at the High Line park to take some senior pictures. I love these two girls. They are such wonderful young women I can't wait to see what amazing adventures life will bring them.

Grandpa A. Visit May 2017: New York Transit Museum

Last week, Cohen and I went with our Joy School friends to the New York Transit Museum. Cohen LOVED it and didn't want to the leave. The only way he would leave is if I promised to bring him back with Grandpa A when he got here. He was quite upset when Grandpa A showed up and we didn't go right away, but we were able to squeeze it in on Grandpa's last day.

It's a really small museum, but they really do have some amazing things packed in there. Cohen's favorite part is going downstairs and running through all the old fashioned subway cars.

Grandpa A. Visit May 2017: Bronx Zoo

Clearly we really love zoos, because the day after visited the Central Park Zoo, we went to the Bronx Zoo. I really LOVE the Bronx Zoo. You get so close to the animals and they have so many. Dad really enjoyed the zoo too!

This was the third time I've been to the zoo in the past couple of months and I still haven't seen everything! It's just so big and there's so much to do and see. Cohen rode the Bug Carousel three times and loved every second of it. He insisted on riding on the blue bug. The monorail was open so we rode that too. The zoo was absolutely beautiful with all the green trees. I feel so lucky that Cohen and I get to visit so often.

Grandpa A. Visit May 2017: Central Park

On Monday Grandpa and I took Cohen to the Central Park Zoo! Dad's visited several times and I've never taken him to the Central Park Zoo! Since he (and Grandma) gave us a zoo membership for Christmas, I figured it was about time we went. He was expecting it to not be so great (probably because I always said it was nice but small and not worth the price of admission), but he loved that it was small and you could see everything really quickly. It's also really beautiful in the summer with all the ivy.

I was thrilled with our trip because usually the Red Panda is sleeping or hiding and this time he was out eating and climbing around! We missed the bears because they were being lazy and sleeping, but I got a chance to see the penguin feeding!

We then headed to the Plaza to get a Black and White Cookie (Cause why not!) and then headed to a diner for lunch. All in all it was a good day.

The picture below (right) is totally a perfect representation of Grandpa's trip here. Cohen would not stop licking him (Poor Grandpa.)! Cohen was running on a whole different level. He was crazy hyper and soooooo excited to see Grandpa.

Grandpa A. Visit May 2017: A quick trip to get pasta and a treat

On Saturday we ventured down to Greenwich Village for some fresh pasta from Raffetto's and a sweet treat from François Payard Bakery. Jeff and Cohen have made this tip several times over the past couple of months, so I was excited to finally join them and see what it's all about. It was lunch time so we also stopped and grabbed some pizza from Denino's. Dad said it was the best pizza he's had in New York. I don't know if I agree, but it was pretty good.