To the City Here we...."so...are we really doing this?"

 Haha! We talked, and even planned on a trip into the city this trip. Brother Sam hadn't seen it, it might be hard with both kids, but fun, or perhaps not fun... We even packed up the car and started driving
We didn't end up going for a number of reasons. And all of them did make sense. Another day, another time, perhaps without babies, and more days to see the Big Apple, I mean it didn't get that name for no reason, it is very big, and has a lot of apples! There was no way we would see all we would want to see in a day.

So did we get some great New York pizza? Yes! Did we get New York pizza twice?! Yes. We also went to Port Jefferson, and enjoyed a lovely day together.

Dad and Sam meet...the Splash Pad

looks like the best conversation ever...Josh is a good listener

the water..was cold

what the?! Where'd Uncle Sam go?!

My Sam turned to me last night and said, "it was really nice with them here" It really was. The standard way family has been visiting is flying the redeye Jetblue flight. The price is hard to beat. You are flying through the night, and ya know, you say you'll sleep on the plane, but let's be honest, it is a little hard getting comfortable when you are in the upright position with no pillow, and a stranger on one side of you, or both, and part of you doesn't want to fall completely asleep for fear you might fall to the stranger side, or drool, or talk in your sleep, or miss your stop...ha, so the first day here is always spent easy going and getting some shut eye. 

When dad and Sam awoke from their beauty rest we went a grabbed a burger from Bobby's burgers. They have quite the selection, and they are de licioso (love Jim Gaffigan) cruised around the mall in a fire truck, where dad bought some shorts (hey! are those cargo shorts?!) and we went to the slash pad, and then to a friend's house who had the ole sprinker/trampoline thing going-a classic, so they got to meet some of my favorite girls of all time, and chat with them for a bit. I was happy they got to meet and talk with them actually, because they are my family out here, and my dad agreed I am very lucky to have such a great group of girls. 

So all in all the first day was a success!!

Feeling OutNumbered

One of these things is not like the other: my Sam, Kaj, Josh, Dad, and brother Sam, and...me. As if there wasn't already a house full of boys in the house I added a couple more! Boy, (ha) was I outnumbered!

On more than one occasion I was definitely feeling it! They would start talking mannish, the language of the man. A lot of grunting, a lot of talk on tools, the technical ways of how to hammer certain things, talk on man caves, telling man jokes, and telling me to clean or cook something, and, of course, a lot of man smells...
haha! No, not really. Although there are a few things that I mentioned that were true.

It was so much to be with them! Kaj and Josh loved them! Kaj seemed to remember them immediately. It is so much fun to see all my favorite boys all together.

We played, we bantered, we sang, we had pizza, and watched man movies. Like we never had been apart. It couldn't get much better. (I really do like a good man movie)

It really is so important to me for my boys to know my brother and my dad. They both have had a great influence on my life, and have impacted who I am. I feel uplifted around them and appreciate the positive and honest way of looking at things. My dad is so kind to others, and can talk with such ease to new people, and smiles at strangers. (Not in a creeper way) My brother is funny, uplifting, and genuine. I feel blessed to have them in my life.

More pictures, and more specifics to come! I just wanted to give them a shout out, and thank you for coming to Long Island. (said with the Long Island accent)

Pretty Sweet

Yeah...not just pretty sweet, pretty dang sweet! I have to say this kid (happy sigh) I am so crazy about him. He makes my day every day. He will wake up in such a good mood most times, and is just happy to see you. He does like to hang out a lot, prefers very strongly not to be left out, and enjoys getting carried around from place to place just to get in on the fun. He is satisfied with company even when Kaj is in a really excitable mood, like a fire that is hard to put out, he just smiles and is happy to be there.

Strim Boarding!

prototype one

Introducing....the strim board! Our friend Andrew, who Sam met at school has recently put together what he is calling a strim board. A lot wider than a long board, and thin like a surf board, we got to be some the first people to test his product. Well, it was an absolute hit! Kaj was not scared as he went gliding a long the streets. And he was the perfect size to just relax and enjoy the ride.

See Kaj Run

 Oh boy, was this day awesome! I have been on the hunt for a splash pad, spray whatever your want to call them, for a while now. Kaj has recently fallen in love with water! Bath time has turned into a question of how many laps he can make in the tub before tubby time is over, I haven't counted but I can imagine it is quite a few! We are lucky enough to get invited to a friend's house from the ward who has a swimming pool also, it is hard to pull him away from any kind of water, so of course, I needed to find another source of water that would follow that same trend. I went with a couple of girlfriends and their kids. It was a lot of fun! And I was so excited when I first caught sight of it. It tempted me so much just to drop everything, and run around like a crazy person. I was able to run around with Kaj. I feel a mathematical equation coming on.

Splash pad or Equivalent in fun and greater + adult type = awkward and out of place

Splash pad or Equivalent in fun and greater + adult type+ your kids = totally acceptable 

Splash pad or Equivalent in fun and greater + adult type + not your kids = creeper 

Kaj is such a fun kid. He is happy, and smiley, and excited about everything!

I love him so much, and I love all the moments that I have with him. He seems like he growing so fast lastly, and it reminds me even more to be grateful for this time.

Ecology Center Take 2

Now this looks familiar! We went back to the ecology center as a family! This week has been great because Sam has had the whole week off between rotations, and this was in the cards as we planned our week together. It was a lot of fun. 

Yes it does scare us

Kaj a little older and a little wiser this year really got into seeing all the animals...and the flowers. Kaj is a good example to us all to be the kind of person to stop and smell the roses...or stop and smell purple and white flowers. It was a hot day, of course, classic Long Island behavior, but conveniently there was some sprinklers on, so we also stopped to run through those. 

Kaj loves the ducks, and making the duck sounds, I feel like he could possibly be eligible as a translator for the ducks. In the event we ever need to communicate with ducks? 

Kaj also loves his puzzles right now. He has a hundred million of them and we like to put them together over and over. There is one of animals, and he put the bear where it is supposed to go Kaj grabs it and exclaims: "Bear! Like Kaj" I'm glad he put that together! haha! One in the same!