Summer in the city

 The rooftop cafe at the new Whole Foods is a great place to have lunch and peer out into the Gowanus Canal

and the surrounding shipping/construction activity. It might not be a traditionally beautiful vista,

but it was a source of endless fascination and enjoyment for Everett.

When we ride the subway, we always make it a point to spot the Gowanus canal and a pit of diggers as the train leaves Smith & 9th Street right before we get back in the tunnel, so he was excited to see it from another angle.

If we're going somewhere nearby, within the neighborhood, we now just all walk.

Otherwise the kids will fight over who gets to sit in the stroller or Everett will insist on pushing

the stroller (despite his inability to do so) and end up in a puddle of tears and frustration.

It's really cute to see Alice toddling down the sidewalk. She waves and says "hiiiiy" to everyone we pass, and inevitably Everett will turn to me and say "aw, they're cute" which is hilariously charming for everyone involved if it's a baby and slightly awkward if it's an adult, especially an adult male. But Everett shows Alice all the cool places to stop: the oak with the big roots, the tree pits that have a thin edge to balance on, and of course the stoop fronts with the best low walls that you can walk along carefully with one foot in front of the other while counting down from ten, and then jump off as you say "blast off!" It's so cute to hear them together saying "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 ,4, 3, 2, 1... bass off!" with a distinctly un-climactic, thoroughly unimpressive, 6-inch "launch" back onto the sidewalk. 

They certainly do have trouble sharing toys at times, but for the most part we are so happily pleased with

how well these two get along. And pretty blown away by how frequently they show affection for each other.

It's almost always initiated by the big brother and once they have their arms around each other,

they both do little pats with their hands. It's just the sweetest sight.

 Brooklyn Bridge Park is one of favorite places.

Several incredible play areas to choose from, landscaped grounds, the Manhattan skyline, and lots of activity.

We spend a lot of time in the water playground, but no one can resist a few rides down the giant slides.

Sometimes we take the bus.

Once we were lucky enough to see our old morning bus driver, Miss Dee! It was such a nice surprise.

Everett likes to sit in the very back and assign seats to everyone else.

We always look out for the Barclay's Center and the "giant tv" in front of it.

And of course Everett gets to pull the yellow string when it's time for our stop.

We told Alice we were taking the subway and had to "catch the train."

She took it literally, getting so excited, running in place and putting her arms out saying "catch! catch!"

Sometimes it's so confusing for a little girl!

We still do a lot of loafing around, too, especially in the afternoons after a big morning adventure.

This is what we affectionately call a cuddle puddle.