Leaving New York City

We started this adventure almost 2 years ago and now it has come to an end. This photo shows how the boys feel about it. I think they have both really enjoyed their time in New York. Jasper almost doesn't know any better and New York is really his home. He just remembers one friend from the village in England but all his friends and frame of reference are about New York City. Thomas however still has most of his heart in England as you can see from his choice of tshirt. He remembers his friends so he is keen to go back.

Thomas and Jasper wanted to say goodbye to all their new friends but for individual play dates there was no more time. We decided to throw a party on our last day in NYC from our almost empty apartment. One box of toys, some pizza's and home made burgers and lots of friends sure makes a nice party. The kids had so much fun as they could run around, jump on the beds and make as much mess as they wanted with the little amount of toys. The grown ups had a nice time too - a few tears where shed when it came to leaving.

Bye bye New York City - we had a great time. We grew up here for a few years and experienced some amazing things. The highlights were the easy taxi rides back from any activity, the skiing and the great weather in the summer and often sunny days in the winter.

I started this blog with once upon a time, so hopefully this is the "... and they lived happily ever after. The End"

Exploring from New York City

The advantage of living in New York has to be to be able to travel that side of the world without a jetlag. So we like to take advantage of living on the other side of the world to explore that side of the world. We have less commitments at the weekends anyway due to not having family and friends around, and also you really do need to get out of the cement city otherwise it turns you crazy.

As Thomas is at school now we do have to take into account the school holidays. So our first trip in 2012 was during the February break. Off to Costa Rica we went. We had been before when Jasper was only one. One hotel with lots of entertainment was the solution then but we felt we could be a little more adventurous this time. And an adventure it was!Short summary: 3 hotels in 8 days, all 4 of us at different times vomited, 7 hour drive from one hotel to the other, mosquito bites over their little faces and getting lost on a dirt track. The high lights for the kids where the hot swimming pool, learning to buggy board, jumping in the high waves and seeing lots of pretty birds.

There was another break in April and off we went to Florida. We had never been away in April before and it turned out there was a reason. Work does tend to be busy around that time so we ended up having most of the holiday without daddy. But we had very good host in Pauls aunt so we didn't have to worry. They have a swimming pool in the garden and most days we just played around. Shooting water guns and playing with the inflatables was a lot of fun. The first activity we did was a home schooling project where we tried to work out which countries the boys come from. A family tree showed England, The Netherlands, Ireland and Iceland and we made flags for each country. The other activity was to go and see the alligators one one of those propeller boats in Myakka Park. Jasper loves animals and he was quiet upset to hear the alligators eat turtles and sometimes even their offspring!

Finally a quick night trip to Pennsylvania where we met the boys English friends Jake and Flynn (and sister Hollie and parents too). A tourist factory once again as its was a indoor swimming pool with lots of slides and lots of people! The boys didn't seem to mind the people and Thomas said it was amazing (going on his own on a tube off the slide).

The traveling from NYC has been a real bonus and lots of fun has been had!

Persueing new interests

We have so many new opportunities these days. Maybe its not clear whether its because we are in America, maybe its because the boys are getting older or maybe these time are just moving on from my own childhood? The last few weekends we have tried skiing out with the boys. Since we had children we have skied a little bit. Paul on his own mostly and then I went out for a few days whilst my parents looked after them. I wasn't w=sure whether or when the boys would be up for it. Especially if you go skiing in Europe you need to be very committed as you usually go for a week. If the boys wouldn't like it, it would be a big issue. So here we have found a place an hour away where they have a mountain with a few runs for us and a ski school for the kids.

The first weekend we decided to stay in a hotel close by. So there we went with 2 suitcases, 2 car seats, a few bag packs - all for one night! Its logical with kids that you take a lot of stuff but I thought we had outgrown this stage. Unbelievable that for one night you have to take so much stuff. Helmets, ski jackets, sallopettes, ski boots. We were not being efficient as we also had our normal smart things with us - coming from New York you are just so used to look very smart. So we got it right the next weekend when we just put all our stuff on and didn't care what we looked like!


Thomas was convinced he could already ski. He had practiced a lot on the Wii so how much more difficult could it be? Well he hadn't realised the ski shoes would be such a hassle! He complained a lot on Monday after 2 days skiing about this strange feeling on his legs (muscle ache?). But in general they both had lots of fun as you can see from the videos. They are so keen to learn more and ski with us but they really have to learn at ski school for the moment. I saw parents trying to teach their children and noticed a lot of shouting!

Jasper was really a bit young, in fact too young for ski camp which started from 4. But the lady said : He is almost 4 isn't he? and it was difficult to say no to that event though he only just turned 3 in January! He had a private teacher even though he was in camp for all 3 times we have send him so far. It did catch up with us a bit on the last Sunday when we really wanted to see how they got on. Jasper wouldn't stop crying after I left so in the end I had to go up and down the 1m down slope with him the rest of the afternoon.

Being in America its not wonder they call things different here and the ski terminology is Pizza for the snow plough  and french fries for straight on... food is always on the brain here!

Finally, Thomas has also started learning some new sports at after school. Gymnastics and sport sampler where they learn lots of different sports. We decided on gymnastics as it runs in the family and he likes to stand on his head. It was good to hear he cannot demonstrate everything at home 'as its quite dangerous mum'. He did show us something but he is getting a little confused between learning week 1 (rolly polly) and week 2 (headstand)! I am not sure what he learned at sport sampler as he didn't share much, maybe next time? Now I have to get them ready for the Olympics spirit as its approaching fast.

Celebrating becoming a big boy with a small party

Jasper turned 3 which he has self defined as being a big boy.  Suddenly he remembers his age whereas he actually never mentioned being 2. As we had literally just flown in from England, I didn't have much time to do a big party for such a big boy. I decided on just inviting one friend with his family. As he has a brother Thomas age and a little baby sister, it already turned out a nice big gathering of people and kids.

He loved opening all his presents in the morning. Its so soon after Christmas, he hadn't forgotten how nice it is to open presents! His main present was a doggy that barks and reacts to you. Its like having an instant friend and I also think he feels older because he has someone to look after. Thomas also got him a present (the one in the big FAO Schwartz bag) which interestingly Thomas himself managed to play with the whole day. I don't think he quit gets the idea yet of thinking about what the other person might like. There were a suprising amount of present ideas left even after Christmas.

In the afternoon we had Flynn and his family visiting. Flynn was excited to see his friend turn the same age as him. Pass the parcel with 5 kids was interesting and even tough they all got stuff - there were still some sad faces. That's life I think and they have to get used to it.

After Jasper's favorite meal of chicken nuggets (and stuffed chicken breasts for the adults), time for the cake. As I still don't have proper tools and cookbooks available as they are on the container, it had to be cake from a packet. It was nice and fluffy so that was good in terms of taste but a bit too fluffy for the icing. The icing they have here is fool proof as you scoop it out of the pack onto your cake.

Finally opening all the cards which lasted well until the end of the next week. He really appreciated them especially the one with the song. Not only the fact it had a song but specifically the text and the funny ending. Happy Happy Happy birthday to you to you... and now give me a big piece of cake! Jasper has always been our smiley happy baby and he is still very humorous and makes himself and other people laugh which we love!

one 5 year old and daddy off to New York

It's been nice to spend Christmas holiday in England. Thomas had to come out of school for 3 weeks as we had to go back early for visa renewal. Also as we are selling the house, it was prefect to have some extra time to tidy all our stuff up that we hadn't used for a year.

So I contacted the teacher and we agreed I would home school Thomas. We both actually really enjoyed it. He couldn't concentrated all that long with me but usually enough for one big subject, a reading workshop and some maths. The reading workshop for example would involve trying to figure out whether it was fiction or non fiction and what the characters are, the problem and the solution. Interesting that most books are structured that way. Mrs Stephanie (the real teacher) had come up with this idea for him to keep a travel journal so that's what we did. We wrote about our house and how old it was, the Christmas tree decorations, the English food and our trip to the Netherlands and the car train. All things really normal to us and Thomas but very interesting for the kids in his class. It was a great way for him to share his experience with his class.

Thomas in the Virgin lounge

So the school year started again but Mummy had to stay to clear the house for selling. And it was decided Paul and Thomas would go back a few days early on their own. Sounded like a logical plan at the time but when it came to it I realised how hard it would be for my son to be an ocean away at only 5. In the car to the airport the only thing I could think about was my own mother and what I was doing to her every time I leave for the US. But I am hoping it will get better when your kids are older, but its hard to b without them. Thomas was really brave, in fact he was really looking forward to having his daddy all to himself. What works with Thomas is to talk to him a lot about what is going to happen, how many days, what he will be doing etc. What helps for daddy was an email from mummy with very specific instructions about lunch preps and snacks, notes for the teacher and the new after school club.



After 4 days apart with hardly any contact (due to time difference and school its actually hard to find time to catch up), I finally picked him up from school yesterday. He said he didn't like being away from me but he sounded very enthusiastic about all the things he had been up to. Daddy let me play the Wii each night I came from school, was one of the revelations! He also started saying something but then said no he couldn't say. I still don't know what it is but presumably daddy said not to tell me!  When will I notice something is broken, missing or something really expensive has been ordered?

Burger and chips and a jetlag

Disney Magic Kingdom and Florida

We ventured out to America. It doesn't always feel like we live in America when you are in New York. Here there are so many nationalities and it's got quite a European feel to it, but its all very different when you venture out. The vastness of the countries and the amount of people that live in the USA is not something I normally think about - our trip to Disney World did make me think about it a lot. Americans are obsessed by Disney. Thomas and Jasper didn't even know who Mickey and Money Mouse were so we were not sure whether they were going to like it. Luckily the park also has some of the new characters from Toy Story so that's how I prepared them and they were excited to see Buzz Light Year. Walt Disney must own most of Orlando as the trip from the hotel to Disney World took about half an hour even though our hotel was next to Disney World entrance! Needless to say a long journey is not great with two young kids who are excited. When we finally got to the entrance of the park we first had to queue to get our pre purchased tickets and then join another long queue for a journey to the actual entrance to the park. Finally we were there with everyone else in market street on our way to the castle and the show.

 

Surprisingly the kids actually loved the how with Mickey Mouse and Money mouse and the dancers, the adults were not too convinced! Along with the dated characters, we also noticed the are building a big extension about Belle and the Beast and snow white - also very outdated, maybe fun for parents with girls?

We spend most of our time in Tomorrowland. Space Mountain was a hit with pops, daddy and Thomas - 3 generations on a roller coaster in the dark. Buzz LightYears Space Ranger was a hit with Jasper.Actually everything to do with Buzz Light Year was. Jasper had the most fun for his money, in fact, as he was free to enter. Nanny liked Astro Orbiter which I thought looked great but was just no better than any fun fair ride.

 

Where Disney's expertise really came out was at the Hounted House. The 3d effects were very good and much better than any hounted house I have been too.

For Thomas the highlight was Splash Mountain , a log flume with nice height and lovely characters to look at along the way. You can see it in the background in this picture.

We did all have a great day, as expected, but I wouldn't say its worth all that money. Maybe thats why they say once in a lifetime? That's probably enough!

Super Hero Birthday party

One of the first boys in Kindergarden to have their birthday during the school year so big expectations and all new friends needed to be invited. I thought we may want to outsource again like last year, but looking into pricing of these things in Manhattan we realised we could go on a small holiday for this money, so we decided not to do this. So mummy started organising her first party in an apartment. No outdoor space to let them run so I needed some help. 

I started with a theme which was not difficult as Thomas is very into superhero's. Facepainting sounded like a good additional to this theme, but was this really a help? Only one child could be attended to at the time so I would still need to entertain the other 17! On a previous outing to Rocking Horse Range, we discovered the boys are into magic. Or at least the magician managed to entertain them then for quite a while. Magician is was. A little searching on the internet later and I had found my magician (after excluding the ones that cost the same amount as a short break) . 

So one hour out of the two was taken up by the magician. He managed to find some doves in his hat, made Thomas feel really special and even did balloon shaping at the end. I think the microphone helped so I am thinking of getting one to manage my boys on a day to day basis.

 Food was the next thing that would entertain them. Superhero table set ordered, sandwiches, fruit and vegetables prepared (as a token gesture) and crisps laid out. We ordered pizza but unfortunately our Pappa Johns was not very reliable so although we ordered it an hour before tea time, we still had to wait. Not great with 18 wild boys. I made a birthday chocolate cake as this has been the tradition since Thomas' 1st birthday. Unfortunately I haven't got my Nigella Lawson cookbook here but the one from Betty Crooker was pretty good too.

The main challenge was the entertainment when the guest arrived. I set out some superhero colouring but that really only entertained some girls. I had set out a relay where they had to dress in a cape, solute Iron Man, go through tunnels and hoops and shoot the bat guy to safe the people (Playmobil). Unfortunately the space was not big enough I think, or maybe you need more parents to support the game. I still really like the idea but only a few boys actually participated. Well I think there will be a few more birthday's so I can only learn!