4th of July Stay-cation

This year marked the third straight 4th of July we stayed in NYC.  On previous Independence Day holidays, we've visited Budapest and Antigua, but simpler times and a toddler in tow have us getting our kicks locally.

No cook-outs or sparklers for us (we're not un-American, just New Yorkers), but a few field trips and quality family time made the holiday weekend special.

We go to our local bakery often, but the red, white, and blue decorations made it extra special on July 4th.  Our little firecracker had a good time playing with balloons.

Tiger Cub has really gotten into trains recently.  He makes a cute "chugga-chugga" sound to imitate them and the alphabet train is by far his favorite toy right now.  As a treat, we took the Long Island Railroad into Manhattan instead of the subway.

Here's "chugga-chugga" in action:

Once we got to "the city" we walked around, had Mexican for lunch and split a cupcake (3 ways) for dessert, and caught a little bit of the Argentina vs. Belgium World Cup game.

TC wasn't sure about this escalator ride in the Lexington Avenue subway station.  "Don't drop me guys, it is a loooong way down!"

June Happenings

The good times of summer are even better when Grandma visits!  Under her care, we enjoyed home-cooked meals, a few outings, and weather that was fairly cooperative.  Grandma and TC spent lots of quality time together and hit up all the good spots like...

McDonald's.  I hear he enjoyed the fries but didn't care much for the nuggets.

Park Fountains.  Escaping the heat city-style.

The High Line (mom and dad came too).

Madison Square Park

Tiger Cub came down with a cold at the beginning of her visit but Grandma didn't mind.  More couch snuggles! 

In other news, TC recently became acquainted with his 7-week-old neighbor.  We're looking forward to many good times with our friends Lacy & Vinny and their adorable little monkey!

This moment captured by Lacy looks like a snapshot of what life with 2 kids could look like!

So if I had babies 14 months apart, I suppose I could expect something like two happy and peaceful boys just chilling out while one affectionately pokes the other in the butt.