Big Sister

On the way to school today, Clare and I were talking about how Alice and Gigi were going to have a new baby sister soon. Clare said she wanted another baby sister, just like Gwennie. I'm not sure if it is in the cards for us to fulfill her request, but I thought the way she asked was awfully sweet.

Busy Sunday

We were ambitious and went to Dim Sum in NYC and then onto the NY Hall of Science in Queens (thank you Jenny for the suggestion). Our Dim Sum experience was a bit overshadowed by the amount of time it took us to find parking but we all had a great time at the Hall of Science. Clare ran around like crazy and particularly liked the Cyberchase exhibit (she loves that show on PBS) and the preschooler area that had a great play grocery store complete with a conveyor belt at the checkout. Clare loves the conveyor belt at the real grocery store! She also insisted on sitting in on a mini lecture on probability - yeah she's a genius. I think she liked the guys headset and the fact that the older kids were listening. We hope to get back there again to visit the outdoor playground. We just ran out time this visit.

Dance Class

We decided to try Miss Michele's dance class again. The last time we took Clare to class there, in the end, she did not want to participate at all. Now after a few months break, she seems genuinely interested in and excited about the class. It helps that her friends Alice, Amanda and Claire G. are also in the class.

Apple picking upstate

We went to an orchard outside of Saratoga with Nana, Annie and cousin Hannah. (Gwen fell asleep as soon as we arrived and Annie was nice enough to stay at the farm stand (and listen to ukelele music) with her while we picked.) We rode a wagon pulled by a tractor into the orchard and had a great time picking. We couldn't get over how many apples were on the ground. We finished our trip with delicious, hot-from-the-oil cider doughnuts. We were surprised to find out that Nana, in all her years, had never been apple picking before!

Gwen's First Music Class

Well technically her second but this is the first where I remembered the camera. She seemed to enjoy it so we hope to make it a regular habit.

After School Chums

We've been going to the parks after we pick Clare up from school. We typically play with friends from her class but on this day we also met up with Holland and Amy. I particularly like to the photo of Clare and her friend Dylan with this mystery boy who jumped into the photo.

Hoboken Arts and Music Festival

Clare and I went to the festival while Paul watched Gwen. Clare had a great time riding the ponies, and using the bouncy slides. We listened to the kids concert for a bit and Clare even got up in front of the bandstand and danced! For as shy a kid as she is, she does surprise us sometimes. (Mommy neglected to bring the camera to the festival - oops.)

Feeding Time

Gwen has become quite the eater. We were concerned about starting her on solids so early but she just loves her grub. Clare is obsessed with helping to feed Gwen. She does a good job. The other day I gave Gwen some prunes and Clare said 'Mommy don't feed her that black stuff. She won't like it!' Of course Gwen ate the whole serving, no problem. I'll let you just imagine what the diapers to follow looked like though. Check out Gwen's handlebar mustache of food in the last pic.

Washington, DC and Virginia Beach - yet more pics

Clare has been saying some pretty funny things lately. In the car ride back from VA, I started to fake cry and whine for ice cream when we passed a Dairy Queen (I LOVE DQ!) and Clare said 'Mommy, Mommy calm down. We'll get some fresh salad later'. Not sure how that relates DQ, but it was comforting nonetheless.

Washington, DC and Virginia Beach - more pics