fourth and forth

 Back at Adam Yauch playground, as requested demanded.

Everett likes to drive the train and climb to the top to see the smoke.

He picked up a fun new trick from some other kids there, which involves putting his dirty finger in his mouth

and making an ear-shattering screech in his throat, as if he's blowing on a whistle.

 If they think watching the boats in the stinky East River is fun, just wait until we go boat-watching in Greece!

I'm starting to think Brooklyn Bridge Park is our happiest happy place.

 And speaking of happy places, I can't believe I've gotten so disconnected with the park. We used to go to the park at least twice a day, spending countless hours walking around, exploring every nook and cranny, and just really enjoying it. From the long meadow to the boathouse to the waterfall to the Vale of Cashmere (yes, really), the park was our symbol of home. And ironically, the kids are what's taken us away from that. I remember when Everett was a newborn, snuggling him up in what we called "the bear suit" and slipping him into the carrier to take him out while we took Wally on (what was to be one of his last) morning off-leash romps in the park in the freezing cold.

That was the last time I remember really spending time in the park and that was almost 4 years ago!

So it was almost magical to spend a few hours just relaxing in the shade, and exploring all around, and really appreciating this amazing resource again.

  In Tinkergarten, under a 100 year old Elm tree, we read Where the Wild Things Are, and made preparations for our own Wild Rumpus, including finding nature treasures to decorate flower crowns.

Somehow Alice knows the word for Acorns and also knows where to find a squirrel's secret stash of them.

 Lately Alice has been doing the cutest thing, where she climbs in your lap, looks you dead in the eyes and says "I'll be right back, ok?" putting her little finger up in the air and waiting for you to say ok. If you don't reply, she attempts to lock eyes again and says "ok?!" in a more serious tone, finger raised even higher and pointed a little straighter.

And when you agree, she bounces off, nodding very seriously "ok," turning back to sing "bye!"

Typically this is done at bedtime, when she wants to go from Everett's bed and take the few steps to go across the room to get another book, but it also happens when she feels her crown needs more nature treasures.

This is what a Wild Rumpus looks like. 

We're making a real effort to wean both kids off of milk and on to water. I feel like a failure of a parent saying our kids don't typically drink water, but historically they won't unless it has a splash of apple juice in it. And sometimes they drink enough milk to not need food. Hence this new effort. It wasn't going very smoothly, until I figured out the magic trick: pour water for myself and then it's guaranteed that they will want it.

So it felt like a win to hear Everett say "ooh, I'm firfty, I need water!"