This Past Week: A Good Playdate; LBI; Hoboken with the Fam

From last Tuesday until now (Sunday night) we've been busy - in a very good way. This past Tuesday I had to connect with Irene to borrow her Pack N Play, so we met at a great park in Chatham. Declan fell asleep on the way to the park which meant I only had to contend with following one child, easy-peasy. Declan transfers from the car to the stroller, which is wonderful. After playing for about an hour, we went to downtown Madison and took the boys for pizza. Yes, four kids: 2 two-year olds, and 2 one-year olds. And we survived. It was actually one of those great moments of "Wow. We've reached that point where we can take the kids for pizza for lunch." And then afterwards, we walked to an ice cream shop and the boys hung out on a bench and ate their ice cream until it became soup.

Wednesday we left for LBI! I pretty much had to do all of our packing that morning - 2 Pack N Plays and bedding (including two blankies, lovies, pillows, etc.), booster seat, double stroller, train set and miscellaneous toys, cooler with dinner for everyone that night (earning my keep!), beach bag, clothes, diapers, swim diapers.... phew! We left around 11:30 and happily Declan was asleep by the time we finished at the gas station in downtown Summit. Declan slept all the way to LBI - just about 2 hours - a few times he'd sort of wake up, but then I'd put on the Jack Johnson CD and he'd fall back asleep. I love that CD. Jack was a darling - was awake for about 1.5 hours, happy as could be, and then he passed out with about 30 minutes left in the ride.

We got there just before 2pm, fed the boys their lunch, unloaded the car and headed to the beach. Both boys were wary of the water and the loud crashing of the waves. Jack was scared but when I held him and went to the water's edge he was OK. Then when I told him the waves say "CRASH" he seemed to like that, and soon we were saying "Crash!" and "Come on waves!" and jumping over the waves. And then Jack was tugging us into the water to jump the waves, and he liked to crouch down and put his hands in the water as it flowed in and out. Declan was very happy to be held a bit away from the water's edge. The water was beautiful and I was able to swim out and jump in the waves and do some bodysurfing - something I haven't done in years. I felt so happy and free - as I always do in the ocean when the water's warm and the waves are big - it was amazing. Back at the house we set up toys in the living room, and the boys played inside and out and about on the porch. I love that beach house. BBQ skirt steak for dinner, boys ate with the grown ups and they were so good, eating what we ate - skirt steak and salad. Jack loves salad which for some reason cracks me up. I slept in a room with the two boys in pack n plays, Declan joined me in bed somewhere around 3am.

Thursday was constant rain - a trial with two toddlers in a non-baby-proof house, with limited diversions. But the boys were great - we had their shows on TV, read books, played with them outside on the covered side of the porch.... but ugh. What a day. Around 3pm, mom and I took the boys for a ride around the island and they both fell asleep so we got to explore and search for our favorite houses.

Happy Birthday Jake and Nina!

Yesterday we had two first birthday parties - one at 10:30am in Madison, NJ and one at 2pm in Norwalk, CT. As Jack would say, "a busy busy day".

After our typical weekend breakfast (eggs, bacon, english muffins, coffee) we headed out to the Rodin household for Jake's bday party. It's been awhile since the playgroup crowd had a birthday party, so it was good to have everyone together on a weekend, and this time all of the husbands came as well, which somehow made it more festive. Irene rented a big moon-bouncer-thingy and the back deck was filled with a ball pit, a train table, and a sandbox. It was just fun having all of the kids together, the food was dee-lish, cupcakes were beautiful, and beer, wine, and coffee for the adults. Perfect!

We left Irene's just before 12:30 to head to Norwalk - happily both boys fell asleep in the car almost immediately, Javier and I made a pit stop at Dunkin Donuts, and we had a beautiful drive and some quiet time together. When we hit I-95 and CT, the trip was less fun - I-95 is the pits - too much volume, not enough lanes. Must remember to take the Merritt Parkway. It took us close to an hour to go 16 miles. Pitiful.

Noel and Maria were having Nina's party at Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk - a beautiful park with lots of shade on the Long Island Sound. It took us awhile to find the party (I forgot the invitation - sigh) but once we got together with the party, it was great to see the DeGuzman Family. They always do such a thoughtful job with their parties - Maria had put together pails for each of the kids with bubbles, beach balls, and snacks. It was also a wonderful party - with a playground in the shade right by the party tent - and we took a trip out to the pier with the boys (a bit steamy hot, and a few drunk fishermen who made me nervous).

When Declan started to get fussy we decided it would be best to head back to NJ, as opposed to wait until the kids' bedtime. Right after we said our goodbyes and packed up the stroller, Declan threw up all over the grass (and me). He was not a happy camper. So we went straight to the car, got him cleaned up and changed into his third outfit of the day (he peed all over the first one in the ride up, threw up on the second one) and hit the road. Somewhere along the Merritt Parkway near Greenwich Declan threw up again (sad) so we pulled over into a rest area and cleaned him up again, putting him back into the now dry peed on outfit, and used up almost all of our baby wipes. Somewhere along the Cross County Parkway Declan threw up again, so we pulled into an outdoor mall that was sketchy at best (I think we were in Yonkers somewhere) - where we finished the wipes, Javier and Jack went to buy Declan fresh clothes, and then I watched the boys while Javier went in search of new wipes. Watching two stir-crazy boys playing in a parked car in a sketchy parking lot is not fun. Jack got into my mascara while I was pacing outside the car with Declan, and I had no wipes.

When Javier returned (it was almost 7pm at this point) we decided to re-locate to the Westchester Mall, even though it was north and we wanted to go South. We wanted to see how Declan's stomach was going to behave, and we didn't want to get stuck in the Bronx or on the George Washington Bridge with a sick kid, and I didn't want to stay in our current location. So we had a Vargas Family Outing at the Westchester Mall where the boys ran around and Declan seemed to be doing much better. We left the mall at 9pm, and the boys fell asleep about 20 minutes into the ride, at which point I took my first easy breath of the day. Somehow Javier and I stayed in good spirits through the traffic, the vomiting, and the detours, which makes me happy. We got home around 10:15, transferred the boys to their beds (thank goodness they both transfer well) and I collapsed.

A busy, busy day.