Thus it begins...and chaos reined

Almost 2 years after we started planning a renovation, we start with some light demolition.

Heres a picture of where our back deck used to be.  It was cleared to pour the new part of the foundation that will be added on.  Part of the roof is already gone, and the deck is no more.

One more

Can never get them both to look at the camera at the same time.

Forgot to attach this to the last post.

Kira with her "what are you doing daddy?" face.

Quarter rides are made by the devil

I don't know who makes those quarter rides at the mall (now they are more like a dollar), but they must make a mint.  Kids are always climbing all over them, and mine are no different.

We've rarely ever put money in them, as probably most parents do, but you gotta figure that some do.  It probably translates to a pretty decent income.

Here's to parks

The kids have boundless energy.  My mother probably said the same about me when I was younger.   These days, I feel tired just watching them.

On the weekends and sometimes during the week, you can find us at one of our local parks.  Our favorite is Marjorie Post which has a large sandbox.  Most of the time, we are shadowing the kids around.  I don't like it when parents just sit on a bench and don't even pay attention to what their kids are doing.  Most of the children are very well behaved, but occasionally there'll be one kid that just storms around and pushes past other kids.  Invariably I'll notice that their parent is sitting on a bench somewhere talking on the phone without a clue in the world.

I will say that the parks are amazing these days.  I remember that my mother used to take me and my sister to a park in Port Jefferson that had a large rocket ship slide, that you had to climb up inside.  I remember thinking that if you could pretty easily fall from one of the internal steps and get hurt pretty badly.  The current parks these days all have rounded corners and this semi-firm all-terrain foam on the ground.  Its sort of squishy when you walk on it, but Aidan can attest that its hurts far less when you fall on that versus concrete or dirt.

Heres a few videos I took last weekend after they slowed down a bit.
They like to use chalk in the park because of the multi-level surfaces.

As usual, if you goto the youtube page, you'll be able to see it in HD.

Aidan looks like he's grimacing, but hes trying to do a fake smile...


Drawing on everything as usual



I'm always asking the kids what they are doing.  I think they might be getting tired of it.

darn battery died after 1 video

We took the kids to the Long Island Children's Museum and had the usual good time.  The yearly pass was totally worth it.  Thanks to my mom and dad, the kids play with all the displays, and touch all they want, without us yelling every 5 seconds.

This is great, however its usually helpful to make sure the batteries are charged.

I was able to get 1 video of our last trip, before the battery went dead.

Next time i'll make sure we have plenty of power.

Here is the quick video, with my EVO, you can play in HD if you goto the youtube.

Boy, did this cause a ruckus...

Aidan did not have any problems with going on their first carnival ride by himself.  I think Inessa was a bit sad that he didn't even hesitate when she told him that mommy and daddy can't go on the ride with him.  His immediate acknowledgment of this should have hinted to us about his reaction after the ride.  I can say that he had his first official tantrum.  He was inconsolable when he wanted to "go back on".  Kira didn't as much as a fuss, but clearly enjoyed it as much.
I have never seen Aidan crying for well over 10 minutes.  We sat and watched him with some odd fascination.
He eventually got over it after we got him some juice.