Busy little bee

Bronx Zoo.  Lovin' those baby lion cubs!

My father sweetly sent me an email letting me know I'm behind :)  So, while I'm bound and determined to finish putting up pics of our summer trip before we head back to Kansas for our winter visit (yeesh), tonight is a quick catch up of our busy, busy days....

The child has chosen to participate in an art class every Wednesday and a book club every Friday.  After art typically finds us frolicking afar on some adventure and our post club E-free Fridays are our fun "date-night."  Tuesdays and Thursdays have been filled with playdates and errands and projects, leaving lowly Monday to supposedly catch up on housework... hah :)  Well, we had a great time in the park on a treasure hunt this Monday... the best  of intentions....

I know I've said it a million times before, but its soooo fascinating to watch the child go through cycles and seasons.  There has been a flurry of creativity and projects around here (more to come on that!).  He's jumping to play with his friends more and more interactively and is really excited about adventures.  Then, suddenly, like today, we c.r.a.s.h.  Despite the planned playdate (sorry, Dina!) the intake finally comes and respite has to be found.  We lolled and cuddled and crafted our way through the day in our p.j.'s  :)

At any rate, here's some quick phone pics from our fun-filled days....

Beach time, post summer filled frenzy.

I swear.  A soft frisbee is the only safe frisbee with a five year old ;)

P's freebie pedal bike.  The child biked all the way to Dumbo, played, then biked to Red Hook.  That's no joke.

Rocks in the park.

Bronx Zoo.  Mysterious tiger caravan and super cute cubs.

The Aviary was the one area P requested we hit.

The box house.  We've had it for 2 years (yah, store that shit in a Brooklyn pad!) and it has undergone a HUGE renovation this week... Pics of later stages to come.

The subway.  P got his first card.  He was hanging it out, all cool-like ;)

Hapkido trial class.  The child was So Focused.  The instructor even came up to us after class, amazed at the child's focus.  E, the proud Papa who had never seen the kid in a class before, was seriously beaming.  I had to chuckle from experience.  Give the child a chance to get comfy in a few more classes and he'll get as squirrelly as the rest of 'em :)  The instructor also handed out stickers for accomplishments.  It was fascinating to see a child raised without rewards focus on getting one :)

Treasure hunting with pals.

Awesome new climbing gym in the park.

Cooking.

Climbing some more!

Oh. And there is LOTS of Birthday and Halloween talk too.  Serious T-Minus mode here. Harry Potter has been chosen as Halloween inspiration and the child is beside himself with happiness, constantly wearing his costume in anticipatory glee (which, in and of itself is a huge change to his fancy-frock-free past).  To keep the vibes going, the child chooses his Harry Potter book each night for pre-bed reading.  Since the story is thoroughly memorized, the Little Man just thumbs to any ol' page and we read for as long as we want before nodding off to magic filled dreams.  But this is only after he expresses his sheer delight at all of his plans for the next day.  His love of life and fire for Do-ing and Be-ing is down right contagious.

House guests and Star Wars

P had looked forward to the block party for a year. So when he asked, Friday, if we could sleep through Saturday(block party day) to skip to Sunday faster, I knew he was super excited to see Ella and Reed (our dear friends from Kansas). All day Sunday he asked when we could go to Grand Central. Even as he laid suspiciously still on the couch. Even as he covered his eyes with his flax seed pillow. Even as he eschewed food for the cool floor.

Fortunately, his fever was short lived and we were able to adventure with our friends the following morning. Our typical tourist trappings weren't at the top of the kids' lists, so we mapped the Empire State Building, Dylan's Candy Bar, Central Park, it's Zoo and FAO Schwartz in an attempt to minimize walking for short, midwestern legs.

While the kids were a bit underwhelmed by the mighty matron of the city, the candy shop didn't disappoint :) P handles the sweet shop with aplomb, and I'm always surprised ;) Two floors of brightly colored sugars, all of which he is allergic to, shine beneath bright lights and booming music. A childhood candy aficionado myself, P's allergies to fake foods have put an extra emphasis on my adult whole foods preferences, and my feelings about candy shops were summed up in this one shot: (The treat's name said it all :)

                                  P and Ella, wowed by the wonders of a candy filled floor:

Its not just my kid that likes to climb rocks in Central Park. After a couple of subway rides, our guest were giddy running into the rock strewn green for a snack.

                             Public art, en route to the zoo (cuz climbing rocks doesn't always do):

After climbing, we headed to the zoo. I had waxed poetic about seeing a polar bear in real life and hoped he wouldn't be holed up in the heat. But no disappointments there, we were all thrilled to see him bobbing in the water, watching us watching him. Mammals in captivity break my heart, especially when they make eye contact ;) P seems to have the same reaction, because after seeing the snow leopard glide past the glass, he demanded to know why the regal feline wasn't in his natural habitat.... Nevertheless, the zoo was a success, all three kids seemed pleased as pie with the lovely animals and the giant spiderweb.

At FAO, P very carefully picked his prize - a special occasion since friends were here. Yup, I said "special occasion." After years of constant toy purchases, we agreed to take a break. We're fully stocked, overflowing our space, in fact, due to toys (seriously, we own almost nothing other than toys, toy containers and the food making basics). And the child.... he doesn't play that much with them these days! He typically turns towards his rocks and sticks, a cardboard box, BB or a hammer and a board. And, of course, us. His favorite toys, the live robots that play endlessly, he can spend an hour on the floor with either of us and nothing else but sheer joy. He's finally starting to realize this and has decided to wait a while for new additions, (thank the holy freakin stars.) But there is a difference between taking a break from toy stores and actually leaving a live toy store empty handed :)

So, despite his total ignorance on all things Star Wars, the Little Man chose light sabers. His best buddy is all about Star Wars and has been talking up his lighted swords for a while now. Additionally, the older boy downstairs has spoken of Star Wars in hushed, reverential tones. This has made an impact. Nevertheless, P agrees he's nowhere near ready to watch the flick. But swords with lights, well, that sounded kinda cool :)

And honestly, they are. Our previous swords have been a tad short (read: hand injuries) for me to enjoy swordplay with P. And its a pursuit he loves. Now we can jab and dive together, in the dark, bouncing on the bed, illuminated by our sabers. Its ridiculously fun.

But there's one problem. P got a red one and a blue one. Then Reed told him the red one was the bad guy's. Well, P doesn't really want me to be the bad guy and he doesn't really like the idea of the bad guy going after me either - so after a few rounds, he was stuck. I let him sit with it and then suggested the colors were ours to interpret. No go. Damn defined toys. Sticks pose no such problem ;) Hmmm, I said, maybe I could be a good guy that had grabbed a bad guy's saber? (Don't even get me started on the good guy/bad guy delineation!) He liked this solution and we swung and bounced merrily, for a moment. Then he stopped. "But wait. If we're both good guys..... why are we fighting?" OMG. I love this child.

Day two had big plans for two museums and plenty of park play... and we just barely made it through the American Museum of Natural History. After our afternoon indoors with bunches of bones, we headed to Belvedere Castle before getting dinner. Travel with kids is an amazingly different beast that beats to its very own drum :)

                                                         The pic P took at he the AMNH:

P was sad to see his friends (and their mum!) leave the next morning. He, in all seriousness, invited them to be our flat-mates :) Unfortunately, I'd guess that a few more days of P inspired late nights and Reed inspired early mornings and the situation would have been less "Three's Company" and more "Star Wars," for real :)