The Met: by day and by night

We had a morning playgroup at the Met last week. We were not admitted to story time (actually, half of us were kicked out early while the other half were not allowed to enter from the get-go, awesome.) But...oh the view from the gardens atop the museum. They were beautiful. 

 

So beautiful, in fact, that I kept that sticker on my shirt pocket all day so that James and I could see it that night on our date. By day is one thing but boy, by night. Wow!

I've gotten used to viewing museums with two littles pulling me in two directions. We speed through exhibits and I feel super lucky to see one item before leaving. And I mean see it, not learn about it ;) James and I sans kids, however, were able to walk hand in hand around the different exhibits, admiring famous pieces and really feeling the artwork. It was super enjoyable.

We actually took a picture together, and I laughed so hard when I looked at it. Look at those two hand-on-hip posers!

Elephants

For some reason this picture of our little preschoolers (minus Ever Knight, who was screaming bloody murder from his time-out bench in the kitchen at the time of this picture...you know, for repeatedly hitting his brother square in the face with a Tonka truck) makes me smile so hard and so wide that my face hurts. Aren't those kids just deliciously adorable? Preschool is at my house this week, and the letter E was good for us on this-here Tuesday.

A "sweet" playgroup

I was in charge of planning playgroup last week so I organized a tour of Magnolia Bakery, which is kind of the "it" bakery around here. The tour was short (because in true New York fashion they fit a whole lot of stuff in very little real estate) but we got to see endless jars of sprinkles, were taught how to get the signature Magnolia swirl atop their cupcakes, and the kids favorite part: a free mini cupcake at the end. I bought some banana pudding to round off our cupcake breakfast and we were buzzing with excitement. Literally. It was a really good time.

 

Turns out our playgroup thought this was a good idea--like, a really good one. There were almost 70 people in attendance!

We took all the kids to the playground after the bakery tour so they could run off their morning sugar rush before naptime. These boys were running around protecting everyone from the "bad guys" when all of a sudden they took a little break and sat down together. It kind of made my heart melt...and I am SO glad I had a camera handy!

A few funs.

My mom raised us McKee kids right in the fun department. This is the woman who infamously said, "chips are fun!" and yes, she really believes right down to her toes that Fritos are fun: like smile, and clap your hands and be pleased as punch because boy, "chips are FUN!" She is really that enthusiastic and just in case you were wondering, it was the best thing ever being her kid. Because heavens people, if chips are fun...then what about candy bars? And picnics? And don't even get me started on sports or vacations. Our traditional hot fudge sundae dinners = fun! But the mundane turned to fun too, like blasting music while weeding in the garden. Or getting a 10 cent treat when we successfully completed a shopping trip. So I'm taking a few pointers (and by a few, I mean about a million) from my mom and making sure to show my kids the wonderful world of fun! Because the more I learn the more I see that knowing how to have fun (whatever the task, whatever the day) is an awesome skill to have.

 

Here's some of the fun we've been having lately:

 

 An FAO Schwarz story time full of friends.

 Sizing up a giant teddy in The Plaza hotel.

Climbing all over the dreamy library in the New York Historical Museum.  

 First soccer game!

 Trying on glasses at an East Side street fair.

 Seeing a green taxi--the highlight of our walk to the Chrysler Building!

 This is what we call hands-on learning during Sunday School. Playing dress up with 13-year-olds.

 



 You know, my Columbus Day dinosaurs!

Daddy vs. Sons wrestling in Central Park.

For the love of pizza

The other day we attended a huge pizza party in SoHo called "Take a Slice Out of Hunger." Basically, all of the city's most famous pizza joints provided their pies for $1 a slice, with all the proceeds going to the NYC food bank. I loved the idea of trying lots of yummy pizza while also doing good in the community--so we decided to go...along with a million other young/poor New Yorkers!

 

The line wrapped around the Catholic church where it was held (heck, it wrapped around the block) but luckily we weren't too far back. It did take us over an hour to get inside though, so we did the only natural thing to do: make bff's with the people in front of us. They were all single (in fact, I think we were the only ones crazy enough to bring our young to this event) and adopted our kids as their nephews. When we were about 30 minutes from the pizza party one of our adopted "aunties" went and bought Everett his own pizza from a local food truck. He was SO happy, and the two boys ate a WHOLE pizza (8 slices) before we even entered the event.  

When we made our way inside, we got slices from almost every borough, and some of them were just amazingly unbelievable. But would you believe that we think our California favorite, Round Table, would blow any of them out of the water? Cali pride, baby!

We sat on the steps outside the church and shared every single slice of pizza, you know, to get the full experience. The boys also got specialty popsicles (um, root beer float pops, hello!) and kept thanking us for bringing them to the "funnest pizza party ever!" Yep, good times.

Until, of course, Everett fell down a whole flight of stairs at the subway station. Other than a bruised face he's ok, thank goodness, I know it could have been so much worse. Oh Ev, let me help you down the stairs next time, ok? 

Our Angel Nicqelle

One year ago today, the world was blessed with a true angel, Nicqelle Lily Astrid Johnstone Gustaffson. Oh, how I love that baby Nicqelle. I was immediately awed by her beauty and felt calmed by her peaceful nature. It was clear from Nicqelle's very first breath that my life would never be the same. In fact, I thought then what I know now: the world will never be the same again.

Nicqelle was born the same week I learned I was pregnant with our third child. As I rejoiced with Andre and Lotta about the safe arrival of their daughter, I secretly celebrated my own child, a son, I would later learn, that we wanted desperately and already loved. But that baby I was carrying would never enter my arms. He had the same heart defect as Nicqelle (a heart defect that affects 5 in every 1 million babies mind you). Then, in some act of fate I believe must have been heaven-sent, my pregnancy ended through miscarriage the same week that Nicqelle went back to heaven.

Most of those two months Lotta and I were swimming in an ocean of the unknown together. Those will remain some of the most intense months of my life and were filled with fear, faith and incredible friendship. When it was all over, I felt so deeply empty and couldn't believe I had lost both of these special heart babies in the same week. In many ways, I feel like that little Nicqelle is what I have to show for my pregnancy. Maybe I wasn't to have my own ectopia cordis miracle baby, but Lotta and Andre allowed me to share theirs, of which I will forever be grateful.

So it really is no surprise that Talmage and Everett were telling everyone from cabbies to homeless people to our dearest New York friends that "it's our baby Nicqelle's birthday today," for in a way she will always be a little bit ours (we sure love her like our own!) And it's also not a surprise that when I was trying to decide where in the city to release her birthday balloons to heaven (Central Park? Times Square? The Brooklyn Bridge?) I was filled with the warmest of promptings, "Release her balloons in front of the temple." So the boys and I went to Lincoln Center, and we talked about how families can be together forever. We talked about where we go when we leave this earth, and we talked about where Nicqelle is right now. And when we all felt good and ready, we let our balloons full of love float to our dear angel in heaven. Happy birthday baby girl, we love you so much!

All thanks to a nice person

Aren't nice people just so, well, nice.  

 

I'm not really shocked by the niceness of others because this world is just so good and so full of niceness, but every time I experience it first hand I sure am grateful.

 

Last week when we were at a restaurant with Noni and Grampa two ladies approached us and offered us their New York City Passes (they were visiting from Canada and wanted the bus tour, but not the rest of the package). Inside the City Passes were tickets for a boat cruise around Manhattan, as well as tickets to the Empire State Building. James has always wanted to go on the boat cruise, and T has been begging for us to go to the top of the "Pempire State Building." Our weekend was filled to the brim with fun all because someone was nice.

{I wish I knew who they were and could send them these pictures and a thank you note!}  

 

Our family of four heading out for the harbor lights cruise! 

We set sail at dusk and the views were breathtaking. Seeing the sunset and then watching the lights of the city start twinkling before our eyes was really special. The tour was nearly 2 hours long, and it was mostly a success (let's just remember it that way, ok?) Everett is my little home-body and sometimes forgets that adventures in the city are fun...but he was pretty good! 

This little tugboat was pulling a huge barge on the Hudson. Isn't it adorable?

Oh wow, that city is beautiful. And the lighting. And the boats. And the realization that we live here.

This tour was marketed as a romantic lights tour, and I can totally see why. I'm so glad we were able to make this work when James was not at work. 

The Brooklyn Bridge and downtown.

We spent the majority of the second hour outside, where we could see the city (and Everett's screams could be muted by the wind!) The weather was mild and ideal for a boat ride in October.

That little lady, up close and personal under the stars.

The next morning we made our way to 34th to visit the Empire State Building. There was also a Korean Festival going on down there, so the boys each got a balloon before we even entered the building. I am going to blame Ever's bad behavior on the fact that his balloon flew into the sky early in our day. It's either that, or I'm raising a monster ;)

For a second, Ev thought life might be ok on top of the Empire State Building. Seriously, how cool is that anyway?

It was a fuzzy morning, but still a remarkable view.

Talmage was a stud! The NY City Pass also included a free audio tour, and you better believe Talmage listened to every last second of it, and loved it. He'd say things like, "Wow Mom, there sure are a lot of museums in this city" and "Look, it's my favorite building--the Chrysler Building!" He's so big. All of this happened while James and I took turns taking a screaming Everett inside so as not to ruin anyone else's visit.

Talmage could have stayed at the top all day. But alas, Everett is his brother! 

This was the family picture the security guard took on our way down. His comment to Everett, "Kid, you just ruined your family's Christmas card!" Oh Ev!