Sidewalk Chalk

Look closely... Better yet, click on the picture above and view it even larger. Trenton drew this picture-- himself-- of WALL-E. You can see his eyes, roller feet, and small robotic hands. Come on, now, that is GOOD!


Jim's rabbit and picture of our neighbor, Sammy. Also good.
One benefit to living in our neighborhood: sidewalk.

Oliver thinks that this pulling-up-to-standing and then holding-on-forever-with-only-one-hand- thing is pretty neat. I had to run and grab the camera after I saw the proud look on his face. Stinker! He's started doing it in the crib. Even refused to go to bed tonight-- kept popping out the paci and standing up. Will this be the end of the paci (as the doctor recommended?)

It's Friday Already?

Dang lordy! Where did the week go? We've been so busy doing all kinds of stuff this week (and not blogging until now). Monday was the beach, Tuesday was a trip to IKEA, Wednesday was Mountain Lakes, Thursday was Washing Machine Day, and today is RECOVERY.

These pictures are from our random trip to IKEA on Tuesday. I got the new catalog in the mail last week and have been DYING to get up there. Trenton is now tall enough to go in the play place and it was wicked hot and humid that day... I was a bit hesitant to stick them in the car, drive an hour, play for two hours, and drive back... but it all worked out. The darn store is under construction, though, so about half of the displays are new, and the rest are behind some crazy draped tarps... lots of noisy workers, too.
Oliver loved crawling around in the model bathrooms! Tried to eat the dust bunnies... He is very into pulling himself on ANYTHING he can reach. Above, he does this with a front-loading washing machine.
We desperately need to update our bathrooms at home... I think I like the one below the best.

Trenton had such a blast in the ball pit. I never usually let him go in those things (cesspool of germs, but I'm pretty sure there were no snakes). He was SOOO SAD when I came to pick him up. They only let you leave them for an hour. He made several friends (who we kept running into later on in the store). Kids meals were FREE this week (sweet!) and we ate lunch while watching the planes fly into Newark.

We make it a point to visit Jim's grandmother each summer. This week we spent time with her at her home, enjoying lunch together and dinner out at a local restaurant.
Nice picture Jim took above, no?

Trenton and Ollie like the old toys that Great Grandma still has for them to play with. Amazing to think that generations of Wilsons have probably done the same thing that T is doing above.

In addition to the high-chair, Great Grandma also had a smaller chair with a tray, back from the days when her two middle daughters were small enough that they both needed to be seated at the same time. Works for us!

As Ollie and Jim napped, Trenton and Great Grandma read If You Give a Moose a Muffin. I had brought supplies from home to create sock puppets (as the moose does in the book). It kept us entertained and quiet for awhile.

These last few pictures are from a local park. The day was hot, muggy, and overcast... but we were still able to enjoy the outdoors.

Below, Trenton watches as a guy does a wicked flip.

Next week: Bluesteens are here. This can either mean EXCESSIVE pictures and much blogging or NO blogging due to crazy schedule... Stay tuned... and pray for us parents with 6 boys in one house...

NYC With Friends

Drove into the city for this trip. Going in on a weekend means no commuters and lots more street parking. We met up with Mina & Maya, Bridget, Adam, Libby, & Logan, and Jennifer, Brayden & Barron at the Vesuvio Playground. Our only plan was to avoid Midtown and to explore what the Tribeca and SoHo area had to offer. We ended up taking it at an easy pace and discovering some great (free) things to do in the city.

It seems as though all the good parks have spraygrounds. The boys were happy to have their swimsuits on and to cool off in the water. The weather was remarkable-- no humidity, nice sunshine, cool air.

Lunch/brunch was at Bubby's. We actually fit 11 people into one long table-- ha! The kids were really well behaved. I had a lamb burger, Jim ate an asparagus and goat cheese omelet, and T had pancakes. Ollie ate the heck out of some biscuits. I forgot a bib for him (doh!) and my CELLPHONE (bigger doh!)
I think we were inside when this happened. So unfortunate. But we did see NYPD helicopters in the sky and boats in the Hudson all afternoon.

After lunch we decided to walk south alongside the Hudson River to see if we could get a good glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. We somehow wandered over to Rockefeller Park-- which was fortunate, as it was definitely the highlight of the day. Everyone was out there taking advantage of the wonderful weather. The Parks & Rec people man a building that houses every board game and outdoor toy you could think of-- and you can 'rent' one for the price of a valid ID. Above, Jim and T play Hungry Hungry Hippos. Below, Trenton makes the shot into the kids' basketball hoop and rides on a scooter.

A bit further down in the park was an enclosed playground and sprayground. Ollie napped while Trenton ran around. Above, he plugs the hippo's nostrils. Ha!

Our gang: Mina, Bridget, Jim and the boys, Adam (where are Libby and Logan?), Igor, Maya, and Kevin, who joined up with us after I was FINALLY able to track down his phone number.

For dinner, we went to a pizza place in SoHo with Jennifer, Andy, Brayden and Barron. Trenton pretends to hold the menu above. With all his thumb-upping you think he would have posed like that... but no.
Then we briefly hit the Scholastic Store. No qualms with thumb-upping there.


Jennifer kindly let us bathe the kids before packing them up and heading home. Ollie absolutely loved teething on the faucet. Barron is doing some teething of his own now, too.


Our attempt at a group shot. ;)

No Humidity

Niiice!
After three days of unbearable humidity, it was so nice to wake up this morning to 75 degree weather that didn't feel like a sauna!
Jim took Trenton for a jog around the reservoir while I ran errands with Ollie.
Above, they stand beside our fig tree. That thing has certainly grown. It is very tall, much taller than I ever thought it would be. Could be due to the rainy June? Or pruning? We are seeing some small green figs emerge, but nothing to eat yet. Last year they all ripened around September.

Trenton was actually singing a fingerpainting song (that he made up) when I took this picture. So sweet.

"I want to paint too, Mommy!"

Little Man Oliver is all about pulling himself up and standing nowadays. I took the following pics as I held onto the chair with one hand-- otherwise he would have toppled over. My favorite is the one-handed hold where he's just barely secure in standing.
Still not much in the way of crawling. He finds it very easy to drop down to the ground from a sitting position and then to just roll everywhere he wants to go. Gets up on all fours, but then plops back down. Soon, very soon!