Sprinklers or Sparklers

The girls had their first experience with sparklers or sprinklers as Clare calls them. I think she has sprinklers on her mind because at her new camp they play in the sprinklers and water table a lot. Gwen seems more concerned with rehearsing for her part in the next Superman movie . . . it's a bird, it's a plane . . .

Frankie's Party

Clare and I went to the birthday party for one of her classmates from Y Beginnings. The party was held at Screamin' Parties in West Nyack. Screamin' Parties is a huge warehouse space where they have five inflatables, like Bouncy Castles, and a roller coaster simulator. (I went on it once with one of the other Moms and it was pretty fun.) Needless to say Clare had a blast. Not only did she get to run around like mad on the inflatables, she got to see most of her former classmates. She even went on the roller coaster simulator twice. The timing could not have been better because she started camp the next day with three of the kids from the party.

NYC

Before Clare started her new camp, I decided to take the girls to the City on the train and meet Paul for lunch. The girls were great on the train. Clare was such a big girl, getting on the train by herself while I contended with Gwen and the big stroller, without the conductor's help - Argh!Paul met us at Christopher Street PATH station and we went to the Cowgirl restaurant for lunch, which was fun and delish. We strolled by Paul's office building before heading to the waterpark. The girls had a blast at the park. We had been there once or twice with Clare, before Gwen joined the family. Clare definitely remembered it. The park was not too crowded seeing that it was a Friday afternoon. When the girls tired of the park, we had ice cream sandwiches and wandered around Chelsea Market and the surrounding area until Paul got out of work. While at the Market, Clare decided she wanted a loaf of bread and grapes for the train ride home so I obliged. (I'm surprised she didn't also ask for cheese and wine to make it a complete little Parisian picnic. I blame those Fancy Nancy books.)

VA Beach July 08

'We spent a few days with Paul's Dad and Diane. It was during a really horrible hot and humid spell so it was even too unpleasant to spend much time at the beach. Still and all, the girls had fun going out in the mornings to collect shells when it was cooler. A neighbor took us for a cruise of a small nearby lake on his pontoon boat which was a nice way to spend an afternoon. Paul's Dad has lived there 20 years and never been on the lake, so it was a treat for him as well. Clare painted porcelain with Diane and Diane was nice enough to fire the mug in her kiln, so Clare could have it as a souvenir. Clare also got to play with their neighbor's daughter Hannah who will soon turn six. Hannah has started to lose her baby teeth, so they compared the gaps in their mouths!

Ice Cream Sandwich

As we were heading out of DC to go to VA Beach, I decided to give Gwen her first taste of an ice cream sandwich. Clare had just had this Pink Panther popsicle thing that went into the trash after a few licks, so Gwen was feeling left out. We had to get on the road, and I knew it would be a huge mess but what the heck. Well of course Gwen LOVED it. The good thing was that it was frozen solid, I'm talking rock hard, so the mess was not nearly as bad as I expected because all she could do was sit there and suck on it.

Dupont Circle

On our way to VA Beach we stayed for one night in DC. We stayed at the Hotel Palomar where Paul stayed often when he was travelling to DC for work. We all loved the hotel, because they gave us a suite with a huge jacuzzi tub and two flat screen TVs (one of which you could watch from the tub), AND the place had a pool. The next morning after we reluctantly left the hotel, we visited the Lincoln Memorial and afterwards Paul took the girls to the Museum of Natural History (or the dinosaur museum as it is referred to in our house) while I spent time at the Newseum, the project Paul had been working on for the last two years. I'm still not sure if I liked the Newseum so much because of its own merits or because it was the first time in years that I had been able to stroll through a museum by myself. Either way I really enjoyed it. Hey Clare, is it a little sunny?

In the Pool

A typical summer afternoon at Chez Stanbridge. Gwen getting in and out of the pool countless times and Clare just chillin' after a 'grueling' morning at camp.