20 Days without School or Camp (End of August)

There is a special time in the school calendar between Summer camp and the beginning of the school year for Mom's everywhere. I am now an official member of this club and know how difficult it can be to manage two young children during this time. I have been navigating this time since last week and I have about a week left until Asher starts school and my normal routine resumes. Last week was rough trying to figure out how to keep Asher entertained in the house long enough for Orli's morning nap. To top it off, they both had colds. This week, I have finally hit my stride and am feeling more confident in taking care of both of their needs.  Luckily, Orli is so agreeable that it makes things manageable. The other little sanity saver has been a blog I found when we first moved here.  It is written by a mom that shares all the fun things to do around the City with young children. These two things, coupled with a son that still naps has kept me afloat.

When you have a lot of one-on-one time with your children, little things like bangs in their face start to bug you. This was the case for me. I cut her bangs last week, on my own.  I did feel a little guilty for doing it before she turned one but my little girl needs to see.

This is one of Orli's new talents. She carries foam letters in her mouth, so she can chew and crawl at the same time. Our baby girl is efficient. 

What do you do when you are confined in the house? Dress up and dream about riding a train with your Bubbe- of course. 

When you are tired of playing dress-up by yourself, dress-up your sister. She loves it!

Standing is also a fun activity in Orli land. Unfortunately, she is not pretend cooking, but Asher doesn't know that yet and tries his best to interact with her. Yesterday, he said, "Orli put the chocolate and pickle with cheese on the stove, like this!" Orli just grunted back and that was good enough for Asher to continue.

We did a lot of art projects in the past several days.  This is one of our favorites.

With all that playtime in the house, we are bound to find some trouble.

Cords are not the best activity

Even if she does look cute!

Time to do things out of the house.

Thankful that Target is open at 8am. We are also thankful for these cool new shopping carts. 

One good thing about being in the park early is that you get it all to yourself. On the flip side there are a lot of bugs.

Thankful for my babysitter who comes once a week to watch Orli. Last week, it meant that I got to go on a date with my son to the aquarium and a Children's garden in Camden (yes, I said it) New Jersey.  The garden was magical and we became members on the spot. In fact, we are headed back there tomorrow.  We also went to the zoo on the weekend, while Daddy watched Orli.

First camel ride

Asher loves warthogs.

We rode 3 different carousels last week. At this rate, we are on track to ride every carousel on the East Coast.

This week, I have ventured out with both children to different activities further away from home. I have given up the ideal napping situation for Orli and instead let her take her nap in the car on the way to our morning activity. This way, my son gets his energy out and this makes for a better day for everyone.

We have gone to the Please Touch museum, Elmwood zoo, and a moon bounce place in New Jersey.   We even went out to lunch today and Orli had her first taste of garlic knots--she loved them and the pizza was the best I have ever tasted.

Asher inhaled his pizza and his slice was bigger than his head.

I can't end this post without sharing this little nugget.  This morning, before going to the bounce house Asher was playing with the magnets while I was doing the morning dishes. I turned around and he was working on spelling his name, Bravo, Asher!