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.

A very quick trip to Palmyra NY to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant

A couple of months ago our good friends the Buhl's invited us to meet them in Palmyra to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Well, they are such a good time and Cohen has never been to Palmyra so it was totally a win in our book!

We left on Thursday morning (stopping at Animal Adventure Park on the way) and arrived at Palmyra around 3:30pm. We first went to the Sacred Grove and the Smith Family Farm. About three minutes into the Sacred Grove Cohen decided it would be fun to play in all the mud puddles left over by the rain storm that passed through a few hours earlier. While I'm ok with Cohen splashing in mud puddles when we are on our way home and I can throw him in the bath, I wasn't too excited when on our trip and washing machines are not readily available. Well, after I told him not to play in the puddles he did one last jump which resulted in him tripping and face planting into a big puddle.  Please note all the mud on his "digger" shirt. One of the sister missionaries said she didn't even notice because she thought it was part of the shirt :)

We went to the visitor center for a quick look around. I mean quick cause Cohen was going crazy after riding in the car for so long, so we didn't stay long.

We then headed over to the Pageant to make sure we got seats (since the ground was so muddy and wet). Well, we got there VERY early and really had a large selection of seats to choose from. While we waited for our friends to arrive, Cohen and I made the trip to the top of the Hill Cumorah. We also spent some time talking to the cast members. Cohen LOVED it because so many people came up and wanted to talk to him and he in turn chatted their ears off. He also spent some quality time kicking a ball around with anyone who would join him. He convinced this poor woman into playing with him for a sold 20 minutes!

We really enjoyed the pageant and liked being so close to the stage. Last time we went we sat in the very back, which is totally ok, but we couldn't believe how much of the details that we missed. They use so much water/mist to help them tell the story and we really got the full effects being so close (we were third row center). Cohen was not that excited about the pageant to tell you the truth. It was late and he was tired. His favorite parts were when Nephi built the boat and Abinadi.

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.

Feeding April at Animal Adventure Park - Harpursville, NY

On our way up to Palmyra, NY to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant, we stopped at Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, NY, so Cohen and I could feed and pet April the giraffe! Eek! While checking out travel time to Palmyra, I realized that we would be passing the park and decided to check it out. It was the perfect half way point for us to get out and stretch our legs and have lunch before making the rest of the trek to Palmyra.

I've been wanting to go to the park for some time, but couldn't justify the 3 hour drive to spend 1 hour at a zoo. This is the park where April the giraffe had her baby (for those of you that watched the birth on the Facebook via the live stream)

We had a fantastic time! It was totally crowded but it wasn't too bad. Cohen loved walking around and feeding all the animals. Surprisingly, his favorite part was feeding some of the animals through the white pipes or "slides" as he liked to call them. This place it totally out in the middle of nowhere and it cash only, so basically who ever owns this place is making a killing. :) I'm glad we went because it was fun to feed and pet the animals, but I don't think we will be making the trip again soon (unless Auntie Harmizzle comes out and wants to go)

 

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.

Another day....another Zoo!...Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn

It's official....Cohen and I are collecting zoos. :) I did a quick count and we have now been to seven different zoos and two aquariums. Maybe that doesn't seem like a lot, but it feels like a lot to me! We still have one more zoo in New York (Queens Zoo) and I'm hoping to hit up a zoo in Minnesota when we are there next month.

Last week Cohen and I made our way to Prospect Park in Brooklyn to go to the zoo and a playground. The zoo is really really small, but it was so beautiful! There were some AMAZING flowers and the grounds were just lovely. They really didn't have very many animals, so we didn't spend much time there, but I'm still glad we made the trek out there.

We then made our way through the park to a playground that was near our subway stop. Cohen LOVED the playground. It was HUGE! The water feature was kind of lame, but it was ok because there were so many other things to do.

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!