NYC interlude

We survived Spring Break! Emma came home last Friday after school and announced, "I told everyone we were "going to the city" for Spring Break, so what day should be go?" Love when the kids make plans for us without telling us!

But first - a girl in Emma's class won the prize for best Science Fair entry for the 1st graders so the whole class won a pizza party for lunch the last day of school before break. Daddy, who didn't want Ben to feel left out, took him out for lunch. I got texted the following pic - how's that for technique? ONLY BEN!

I know what you are all thinking, "PATENT IT!"

I forwent  the egg dye kit this year in exchange for hardboiling eggs and painting them with ACTUAL paint! The kiddos loved it. Things to learn from this pic: I serve beverages in mason jars - stronger glass that is kid friendly if knocked off a table top (plus I think it looks cool) and our multicolored dining room compliments of Daddy and his mad skills (added the chair rail, did the dual paint).

Who wants egg salad?

I was inspired the other day to remove the top bunk from Ben's bed and put it in the basement - WOW! It opened up the tiny room so much!! He was so happy, too, saying, "My room is less scary now." I didn't know it was scary! Plus, it's WAY easier to change his sheets and to snuggle him and the kids no longer "hang" from the bunk giving me a heart attack. Win win!

The rug completes the room...

Have a look at this next shot. Doesn't the dog look guilty??? There is goshdang easter basket "grass" in every nook and cranny of every single room on the 1st floor. No, Dodo is not to blame. The children are to blame. Daddy was out. I was power napping (20 minutes - I SWEAR!). I came downstairs and LOST IT. I didn't yell. I didn't take away privileges. I simple got out the shop vac and started sucking it up. You have never seen two siblings cooperate so quickly in trying to salvage the grass. I hate the grass. Daddy hates the grass. I was "almost" happy to have an excuse to suck it up and toss it out!!! The kids were "reverse snow angeling" trying to save it from the dreaded shop vac. I gotta tell ya, it felt good sucking that evil up!

For once, the dog is innocent!

Back to the CITY. Here's the thing about "going to the city" especially during "spring break" - every other family who doesn't live "in" the city is doing the same thing and it's wicked crowded - even more so than a typical NYC day... But daddy and I sucked it up for the daughter's sake and we headed in. Every time we are in the city Ben begs to go inside a "tall" building - so this trip although at Emma's suggestion, was all for Ben! We did a ton of research and talked to pals and opted for the "Top of the Rock" vs the Empire State Building. We chose well! We prepurchased our tickets online, were given a 15 minute window of elevator time (think Disn*y fast pass), and up up up and away we went...

Rockafeller Center ready for Easter!

All the Fabrege eggs on display.

Our elevator time was at 11:50 so we had about an hour to kill around Rockefeller Center. It was COLD (42 degrees), so we hit up the Lego store (warm and fun!), Saint Patrick's Cathedral (beautiful) and the bank so we could grab cash from the ATM to buy lunch from the carts. Here is a highlight of the kid's day:

Riding the escalator at the Bank!

Eating "lunch" while we wait. Em had a hot dog, Ben had a pretzel, I had a falafel sandwich, and Daddy had an empanada. Gotta love the choices in the city!!!

Who is hungry?

We rode the elevator up 67 floors and enjoyed an amazing view of the city. Seriously, the pics do not do it justice.

On top of the world!

We parked at 10:30am, were done with the tall building by 12:30pm and wondered what to do next...

LET'S RIDE THE SUBWAY!

That's right. We hopped on at Rock Center, went two stops. Hopped off, switched side and came back!

HAPPY is the truth.

The subway cost less than $6 round trip total. The tall building, 14x more! Where did the kids have more fun?? You guess.

Lookie who passed out 5 minutes from the house and slept for 2 hours that afternoon??? The city tuckered him (and me) out!

We entertained for the first time in the bungalow last night. The verdict? The bungalow is awesome - family friendly, the kitchen outputs good eats (thank you, Daddy!), and it was an awesome night.

Who wants to come over and sample Chef Daddy's eats?

70 percent a home.

Every day the bungalow comes together a little more. Today I got the office / spare bedroom completely unpacked. Now it just needs a lamp, some pics on the walls and a rug to cozy it up.

Daddy got the kitchen pot rack hung, magnetic knife rack installed, and the spice rack hung. We rearranged the pantry and are making better space of the shelves. Now to declutter the counter and all will be well with the kitchen. 

It's Spring Break. Yesterday was gorgeous so we built sand castles on the beach near the bungalow. I'm now realizing I'd like an outdoor shower at the bungalow! I'll add it to my wishlist. Today is rainy and windy. Lots of indoor play...

I haven't taken many pics yet because we are only at 70%, but here is a taste of the bungalow:

Front drive. Bungalow sits on a sweet hill.

Back drive way is flat. Lots of parking for parties. Bring it!

Ginormous backyard - kids happy, dog happy, mama happy.

The sun room by morning: half playroom, half cozy couch sitting.

same space in the afternoon: LOOK AT ALL THE LIGHT!!!

hard wood floors = trains have reemerged.

The giant tree in the backyard is sure to provide years of climbing entertainment.

Happy Chef Daddy - pots up, knives on the magnetic strip on the wall. Happy mama - more counter space.

Boxes slowly disappearing...

We are slowly settling in. The main floor has been unpacked. The basement has a ton of boxes with God only know what inside. The 2nd floor, or should I say the "Master Suite" is still an unpacked mess, but as you know, a gnarled ankle girl can only do so much - actually, I'm feeling so much better, thank you for all your kind words!!

Some things to note - in the Penthouse you couldn't look out the windows unless you were standing. Here in the bungalow there are windows every 6 inches - all I do is get distracted by the outdoors and I love it! At the Penthouse, it was hard to see the sky as the trees were so tall all around us. Here at the bungalow we can see stars for miles, and the skylights in the sunroom and the master suite allow us to star gaze AND moon gaze... I do love me the bungalow.

Dodo (pictured below) "likes" the bungalow. He has room to roam, he, too can look out the windows and see the world... But what he does not like is the fact that the floors are hard wood throughout (excepting the sun room, kitchen and bathrooms - those are tiled). He is dying to lay down anywhere, ANYWHERE - bu the floors are COLD and this old dog can't handle it. I am confident he would be very pleased if we went area rug shopping tomorrow.

This pic may be the only time in 10 days he sat on the floor.

Moving day was good. Em faked sick to stay home - she totally got me!. We needed to be in the bungalow by 8am for the cable guy to show up (he never did - I hate the cable company, whatever!), then Em's furniture was arriving at around 10am. Em had NO CLUE she was getting a new bedroom set from Abuelita - it was supposed to be a huge surprise! So I made the kids go upstairs and watch Froz*n while the furniture guys were here. Em assumed they were just bringing her bunk beds from the penthouse and setting them up for her. She had no clue and the reveal was caught on video and was OUTSTANDING.

hanging in the upstairs closet watching the dvd from Gramma Lou

I can't get the video to post, so you must just settle for this happy pic. She was and still IS in LOVE with her pink painted walls and brand new bedroom set. Thank you daddy and Abuelita for all your awesomeness!!

Clap your hands if you know that happiness is the truth.

WAIT. Stop reading and view the pic below. These 7 blessings from the local LDS church replaced my gimpy-unable to do anything but direct traffic on the day of our move self, and seriously, what would have taken Daddy and I about six hours was accomplished within 2 1/2 hours time. Thank you thank you thank you, Missionaries for donating your time and muscles to our cause!!!!

We fed them pizza - that's a fair trade, eh? :)

As much as we "thought" Ben wouldn't notice that he got the smallest room in the house, Ben noticed and felt short changed and made it known that he would like a bedroom with a bathroom (like Em has) and has made other comments here and there about his shortchangedness. To compensate him, we surprised him with these awesome Mini*n decals for his wall. He got to peel and place with no help from anyone and loved personalizing while bedroom.

I may look appeased, but I still want my own bathroom...

These wacko kids have shared a room for 5 years. They now have their own room. Em was the first to jerky it up with this "No boys aloud!" sign:

Look at the door separating them!

Ben beautifully rebuttaled with ABSOLUTELY NO spelling help from me:

NO GIRLS ALLOWED!!!

Gramma Lou came back to the island last weekend to help once again with the move and discovered a brilliant use of Ben's talents! I still had a few random things in the cupboards of the penthouse, but could not climb up due to cranky ankle. I figured I would just recruit daddy to get the goods until Gramma beat me to it by putting Benny to work! And hey, what 5 year old would give up the chance to walk all over the counters and clear out shelves!

Super Ben to the rescue!

Did I mention the bungalow has a jacuzzi ginormous tub in the upstairs suite? Turns out the kids WANT baths every night now - go figure.

It's just like a pool, Mom!

I love the following pic - not just because Ben is picking his nose - but also because it showcases my amazing bungalow windows, and one of my favorite spaces in the whole place, the cut out from the sun room to the living room. Looks cozy, eh?

I'm NOT sleepy.

Today not even ONE box got unpacked. Why is that? It was back to back friend's birthday parties for Em that Ben tagged along to. Can you say Emma had pizza for lunch AND dinner? Ice cream cake x2 too!

ready, set, GO!

Didn't bother me one bit that there were 18 girls and 1 boy!

Fun party

We are in...

...and I am on the mend.

The unpacking process has been slow going. We have TRIPLED our space, yet I "don't know where to put anything." Ha! Can you say thrift store donations?

Add that to the fact that a lot goes upstairs and I am trying hard not to climb up and down 20 times a day (I am not succeeding).

Daddy has been working late into the nights patching, sanding and painting. He is pretty much done and the bungalow looks amazing. Everyone who wanders through remarks on how it has a "beachy" feel to it. I may have to rename it to the beach bungalow or BB for short.

Things I like: having a washer and dryer on the first floor. The old school dishwasher works way better than the fancy new one at the penthouse. Two toilets (but you already knew that!). All the windows = natural light, I am in heaven. The back yard = I actually got to relax on chairs with my pal, Henry's mommy and watch the kids explore while playdating - I think I'm going to like it here!

So much more to post and pics to show, but the boxes won't unpack themselves!