Old McDonald Had a Zoo

So at the beginning of this month I was able to get a babysitter for Owen, and go on a field trip with Eva and her Pre-K class to a “Farm” is Queens. As the bus pulled up I quickly realized that this was indeed not a farm but a zoo of sorts filled with farm animals. Farm animals were all over the grounds in these little pins, and there were a few cows chained up outside so the kids could come and milk them. Eva had a really good time petting the animals and even getting to hold a few, and trying her hand at milking. The highlight for her was getting to ride the pony, and as you can see she kept a close eye on the brown obstacles on the pony track. At the end the kids got to pick a pumpkin from the patch (aka….large pile of pumpkins on cement slab) and go on a hay ride. In all, it was a good time. NYC has a lot to offer our children…..world class museums, aquariums, planetariums, zoos, botanical gardens, etc…..I would not however, include “Farms” on this list :).

BOO!

Halloween was pretty spooky for all of us this year. Marc spent most of the day cramming for the series 31 examination ~scary~! Madeline and Eva really enjoyed going to school in their costumes, and watching a magician perform. This year all of our kids recycled their costumes from last year- this was by request. Eva really wanted to be Peter Pan again, and it still fit, so everyone was happy. Madeline chose to be a different princess this year. This year she was Sleeping Beauty. Owen, well-I didn't start thinking about his costume until the night before, and in a sheer stroke of brilliance, I had the thought that maybe his newborn cheetah costume from last year would still fit :). It actually did still technically fit, but he looked like he was in pain when he walked so we cut the feet out and he looked much more comfortable. The girls went trick-or-treating in our building, and then a friend from our ward took them over to their building nearby to trick-or-treat. They came back with enough candy to last them until next Halloween. You can get a lot of loot going to Apt. complexes- the doors are only 15 ft. apt, and it is all indoors, out of the elements, so you feel like you could go for hours. Truth be told, half of their candy has already been eaten by mom and dad, so it will not really last until Halloween.

Eva's Birthday

Eva is 4!!!
On September 24, we celebrated Eva's Birthday. She had a little "party" at her classroom in the morning. Mom brought in cupcakes for the class. Eva enjoyed having her classmates sing to her. In the evening we continued the festivities- we had Eva's favorite dinner- Chicken Teriyaki, and then opened presents and watched Eva's blow out her 4 candles on the snake cake she helped Mom create.

Student of the Month

So Madeline is already making academic strides in school here at P.S 217 :). She was honored at the school assembly as "student of the month" for the kindergarten. It was fun for me to go and watch the assembly. I have never seen a five year old run back and forth to and from the stage as she did. I barely had time to click my camera, and she was back sitting down with her friends in the crowd. Specifically she was honored for "being a writer who takes risks." We are guessing that that is a good thing.

Favorite Pastime

So, Madeline and Eva's favorite thing to do right now is perch themselves on the window ledge and watch the world around them with their binoculars. Right now, this pastime is pretty benign- the only things really to see are people playing on the ball field, cars and people on the Queensborough bridge, construction crews working on the building adjacent to us, boats out on the river, the tram as it comes and goes, and the Manhattan Skyline. It will however, come to a sad end when the building in front of us in complete. Ceiling to floor windows, most of which have no window coverings, make for more of Manhattan than you want to see, I am sure :).

Grandpa Chenn Visits

We had Grandpa Chenn visit us in September, and really enjoyed spending time with him. We were able to show him a little of what our life is here like in NYC. He took Madeline down to China Town, on a hunt for a rice cooker, and we spent some time in Central Park together. Marc and Grandpa also were able to spend some time together eating out. They went for Sushi one of the nights that Grandpa was in town. Here is a picture of us all together on the Grandpa's last day with us. We went to the Farmer's Market in the morning and came back to make some pasta primavera, and eat our french pastries we purchased from a bakery in town. It was fun to eat lunch up on the roof together.

Owen's First Birthday!!

September 19th brought William Owen's very first birthday. We celebrated by having some NYC pizza, and some Peter Pan Cake. Owen is too young to ask what kind of cake he would like, but the girls assured me that he would say that he wanted a Peter Pan cake if we asked him. He loved eating the cake of course, and it was fun to watch him cheese it up for the camera. Every time Marc would take a picture he would pose with this big grin on his face, it cracked us up. Uncle Patrick was even in town so we had a pretty big crowd to sing Happy Birthday.