Cousin Elliot's Visit to Normal!

May 26, 2017

Elliot is Kylie, Evan and Jaden's only cousin, so obviously he gets spoiled with attention when he comes to visit! Elliot loves the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so the boys chose that theme for his (belated) birthday party for him! 

We played a lot outside. 

Which included a fire with s'mores!

The party continued at the zoo!

Pool time fun! 

Movie night in bed! Nothing beats a sleepover with cousins! 

Evan and Jaden's Last Day of Pre-K!

May 25, 2017

We had a wonderful experience at Mulberry School for Evan and Jaden's Pre-K year. 

The boys made many friends, and especially enjoyed the friendship of two other twins in their class! 

Ms. Colette was their all day Pre-K teacher. Thanks, Mulberry School for all the memories. 

 And who knows.....we may be back in two years!

Evan and Jaden's Piano Competition

May 20, 2017

Evan and Jaden started taking piano lessons last summer. Their teacher, Miss Jenny, came from the Chicago area to Bloomington/Normal, so instead of having a recital, she asks students to participate in a state music competition. I went back and forth on whether or not to have the boys participate, but they were excited to hear Miss Jenny talk about it. The process of learning a piano piece, practicing, memorizing, practicing, and more practicing was a wonderful learning opportunity for them. They competition was divided by age groups and years of playing. They were in back to back groups so they didn't compete with each other! 

It wasn't until during the competition I learned that the other 7 kids in each group were kindergarteners and first graders! I was really proud with how well the boys not only played, but composed themselves before, during and after they played.

 Clearly ice cream was well earned! Bonus- I got to quickly run through IKEA since I was in the area!

 We took a two month break, but they both were excited to restart lessons this month!

NCY Day 2!

Food. Always a highlight of a trip for Evan. For all of my foodie friends, I know I committed a food-sin by picking a chain restaurant to eat at for breakfast (and later, snack) with so many other amazing options. Sorry, anything to keep the kiddos happy!!

 When Nathan and I were in NYC in '08, we visited the Top of the Rock. It was again recommended to us, but we chose to go to the top of the Empire State Building instead to get a different view. There was an indoor floor with a 360 view of the city. I was anxious to get to the outside observation deck on the 86th floor. However, it was SO windy up there that this was about the only picture without our hair standing on end!

Can't be in NCY without eating some cheesy pizza!! 

 We had time in the afternoon to explore Central Park. It was fun to take time to do this and not be busy site-seeing. The kids enjoyed climbing and running around. It was also a spot I could put Kylie down without worrying about losing her in the crowds!

Remember watching Home Alone: Lost in New York? The boys love the Home Alone movies, so they reenacted Kevin running and hiding in Central Park!

 Another carousel - must stop and ride!

 Afternoon nap and ice cream snack time! From this point, we gathered our stuff from the hotel and went on trains in opposite directions. Aunt Laurie headed to the airport, and we took the commuter train towards Trenton, NJ. 

From there, Auntie 'got' an extra night in NYC thanks to a cancelled flight while we drove several hours to have a head start on our trip home. 

It was a very busy family trip, but I would do it again in a heartbeat! 

Clearly Evan and Jaden were excited to be home in their own bed!

NYC - Day 1

May 7, 2017
Some may call us crazy, but I just couldn't resist being an hour from NYC and not visiting! We convinced Aunt Laurie to come with us to create a one-to-one ratio of adult to child. I would not suggest it any other way! The kids got to experience so many firsts that day. Laurie previously ran the NYC marathon, but really did not have a chance to 'see' the city. 

 Kids' first train ride! 

 Their first yellow taxi cab ride! If you are wondering why we didn't take Uber- there was a cycling race in the city which blocked off a lot of roads, so Uber was uber-expensive during the time we needed to get to our hotel.

 After we dropped off our luggage, we ventured out on foot to explore the sites....which with 5 year olds includes a lot of odds and ends like these little tables I would have totally walked by, but Evan thought they'd be a perfect location to just sit and chat!

Evan- at home in the city!

A highlight about NYC that the boys have seen from cartoons and movies was the Statue of Liberty. We'd been talking about it, and they were really looking forward to seeing it. With some advice from friends, we took the Staten Island Ferry which goes by the statue, instead of the ferry which stops on the island with the statue. Pros for this: it's free and you do not have to stand in line for hours.  

The Statue of Liberty did not disappoint, but the weather kind of did. It was cold and rainy during our boat ride, but nonetheless, we did get some pictures!

 While on Staten Island for our half-hour between boat rides, we clearly used it wisely by getting some ice cream. One thing about traveling with young kiddos---they need to be fed often! 

 After returning on the ferry, we explored Battery Park. 

 What do you do when you walk by a carousel? Clearly you need a ride when it looks this fun!

 The Charging Bull and Fearless Girl

World Trade Center Memorial. What a beautiful area. 

After visiting One World Trade Center, I realized how close we were to the Brooklyn Bridge...something else that was on our list. My travel clan were troopers!! Although we didn't walk the whole length of the bridge, we checked this one off our list. 

The boys' first subway ride! After a long day, my one travel mix-up was getting on an express subway that of course did not stop at the stop we needed! We were able to stop two stops before ours and that meant walking the rest of the way. We re-energized with some supper. Kylie disliked going into the carrier, but once she was in, she was happy!

A benefit of our extra walk was getting to see Times Square at night and that meant a visit to the M&M Store!

 Our day was not complete without a stop by Rockefeller Center which was near our hotel. It wasn't until we got home and Evan saw the people waving on the Today's Show that I realized he would have gotten up early to meet my friends Matt, Savanah, Hoda and Kathie Lee! Next time, Evan, next time!

 These may have been the most expensive M&Ms we have (and will have) ever purchased; however, they worked magic the next day as incentives!