From the Mouth of My Babe

Walking with Grandpa on Park Avenue in New York City on Tuesday.

Ryan: "Bye, Maddie, I gotta go to work today."

Maddie: "Yeah, 'cause everybody's legs and feet are falling off and you have to put them back on, huh?"

From the Mouth of My Babe

Sword Fighting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Ryan was talking with Isaac tonight about our day trip to NYC before dropping my parents off at the airport.
"We were walking, Dad, and I dropped my snow cone on the ground. I wanted to cry, but then I pulled myself together."

M&D Take Boston and New York

 My parents are in town and we are living it up. The kids are in heaven with unlimited bubble gum and attention and frankly, so am I. Ryan has even been able to take a few days off work so we took a few quick trips this weekend.

 Boston

Maddie and Gram Maddie at the Boston Common. 

Sword fighting brothers. 

D is picking up on every little thing Grandpa says. Words like "freakin'" and "shiz" will have to be detoxed from his vocabulary after our guests head back west. It's a small price to pay to have Grandpa around for a little while.

The Lobster Tail pastries and Berry Tarts were every bit as good as I remember them tasting last fall. 

Thanks to Grandpa and priceline we stayed in a posh 4 star hotel in Beacon Hill for a screaming deal. Maddie is donning the leopard printed bath robe here. 

After exploring some of the Freedom Trail and Little Italy on Thursday, my mom and I took the kids to the Children's Museum on Friday morning while Ryan and my dad headed to Fenway Park. Hands down the best children's museum I have ever been to. Ike practiced his basketball skills while we were there. 

Old Ironsides.

M at Boston Common. I love this picture of her.

Maddie succeeding in outrunning the swimming sea otter outside the aquarium. 

M and D below the largest American flag I have ever seen. 

 The more I see of Boston, the more I love it. We just invested in a membership that is reciprocal at their Children's Museum and I look forward to having many reasons to go back their over the next couple of years. Some of the highlights included the massive amounts of seafood consumed by our party, watching the street performers, and the fantastic weather the whole time we were there. I could really get used to vacationing with the folks.

New York

After carting the kids all over Bean Town we decided to give both them and us a break and left them with a trusted babysitter while we headed to New York.

In front of the NY stock exchange.

M&M on Wall Steet.

Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge was one of the highlights of my day yesterday. 

A view of Manhattan from the bridge.

Look really close and you can see Lady Liberty in between my parents. 

After we walked across the BB, we took the East River ferry back up to Midtown as not to wear my mom out with a lot of walking. Unfortunately we were too late. 

D really wanted to see Times Square, so on the way we stopped for lunch at Bryant Park. I am still raving about the sandwiches we ate there. Who knew a ham and cheese on cinnamon bread would be so delicious? Seriously. Aren't my parents adorable together?

After a short stint in Times Square we booked it down to Canal Street to watch my dad haggle with the locals for a good deal on a knock-off watch. I came home with a new pair of sunglasses. We both loved it. Ryan and Mom hated every minute of Chinatown. This was my attempt to get a photo of D wheeling and dealing, but the watch seller jumped out of the photo as soon as he saw I was trying to get a picture. Too risky, I suppose. D came home with a new fake Tag Heuer. The verdict is still out on who haggled whom in that deal. 

It was great to have a day away with just Ryan and my parents. We have never been able to do that before sans kids and it is something I will always remember. Spending Father's Day weekend with my dad is something that doesn't happen very often and I think we made the most of it. Thanks M&D!

From the Mouth of My Babe...

Isaac and Maddie climbing at a local playground.

We spent a couple of days in Boston this past week while my parents have been in town. As we passed by the place where the Boston Tea Party occurred, Maddie inquired, "Can I join their tea party, mommy?"

The Birthday Girl

Yesterday was Maddie's birthday so we tried to jam pack it full of fun for her and the whole family. I hope we succeeded. 

Her day began with an early wake-up so her dad could see her before he left for work.

Isaac had his last day of preschool in the morning and I arranged for Davis to go to a friend's house to play so that Little Mads and I could have some one-on-one time. She chose to go to Fro-Yo World because she wanted frozen yogurt with a cherry on top. There were balloons outside the door as we went inside and Maddie exclaimed, "Look! I think they're celebrating my birthday at Fro-Yo World, too!" and as soon as we walked through the door she announced, "Today's my birthday!!"

Then it was off to Old Navy--I had a gift card and told her she could pick out a new shirt but she said she wanted to get something for her brothers. Pretty cute. She chose a tacky Mario shirt for Isaac (he loved it) and a Superman t-shirt for Dave (so did he).

I put together a small party for Maddie and a few of her friends. She originally opted for a Popsicle Pool Party, but when the weather forecast looked a little chilly we decided to change it to a Princess Popcorn Party.

We ended up playing "Pin the Fairy on Maddie's Nose." Did you know you can blow up a black and white photo to 3'x4' at Staples for $4.99? Pretty sweet. 

Check out those fairies.

Grandma sent her an Ariel dress and she pretty much picked up a Diva attitude as soon as she put it on. See the video below for proof. Here she is helping me put popcorn into goodie bags. 

Ice cream cupcakes for dessert.

A few fellow princesses.

Make a wish! 

Maddie loved capitalizing on the fact that it was her special day and milked it for all it was worth, so this morning when I refused to give her bubble gum for breakfast and she pleaded, "But it's my birthday!" I smiled and with great pleasure quietly replied, "Not anymore, my dear."

Because it's her party and she'll dance if she wants to:


A special thanks for all the phone calls and well-wishes. Maddie thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention and we had fun celebrating with her.