May 19

Weekend Recap: Day at the Museum

It seems like the weather here in NYC is so unpredictable lately. Last week we went from having to pull out the winter coats again in the beginning of the week just to turn around and have it feel like summer. This weekend was a mix of cool temperatures and a lot of rain. As much as we love spending time outside as a family exploring the city during our weekends, we didn’t let the weather get us down.

Harlan is a big fan of the many museums we have in the city. I saw that MoMA had a new rain exhibit that is being featured throughout the summer and what better day to go and see the rain exhibit than on a very rainy day in the city.

We set out for the museum in the rain only to show up to see that the new exhibit had a line that would take us about five hours to wait in just to see the new rain exhibit. We didn’t want to stand in the rain just to see the rain, so we made our way inside the museum to explore.

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Harlan and MacKay are like two peas in a pod when they get inside a museum. They are both into the same things and just walk around discussing different pieces of art with one another. It’s quite possibly the cutest thing I’ve seen. I love watching them in their element together.

While MacKay and Har did their thing, Avery and I set out to see some things of our own. The tricky thing with going to a museum with a toddler that loves to walk everywhere is that they want to walk everywhere. I attempted to get Avery out and let her explore when we got to the museum and the second that she tried to climb on an exhibit it was back in the stroller she went. Although confined, she still had fun checking out different pieces of art with me.

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We tried to create our own art in this picture. Just a little Warhol to get you through your day. ;)

Usually MacKay and Harlan have their “dates” at museums by themselves. This was the first time in a very long time that I’ve tagged along. I couldn’t believe how interested Harlan was in all of the art. She would see abstract pieces and tell me what she “saw” in them.

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And no day would be complete without a little twirling. It’s even more fun to do it at MoMa.

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We entered the room full of paintings and Harlan sat on the bench in the middle of the room and said, “Mom, I want to draw a picture.” She found a pencil and paper and proceeded to draw for the rest of our time at the museum. I love that she felt inspired by all of the art that surrounded her.

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She even felt a little inspired to strike a pose. (I fully blame my sister for teaching her the “hands on the hip” pose.)

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She wanted Avery and I to pose with her too. (P.S. Why does Avery look HUGE in this picture??)

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We decided to make it a rainy walk home because our train wasn’t running (gotta love the weekend schedule changes) and I’m glad we did. They were filming both Anchorman 2 and a new movie with Bradley Cooper called American Hustle. We saw these cabs everywhere we walked yesterday and I think it was for both movies. Always love walking through a movie set on our way home. It’s what makes NYC so incredible.
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Har had fun walking in the rain with her umbrella. She loves to be independent and do her own “big girl thing.”

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Until she gets too tired and needs to be carried home by daddy.

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Although it was a rainy one, our weekend was spent just the way that I love; with my family.

Hope you had a great weekend!

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May 13

Mother’s Day Love

When MacKay asked me a couple of weeks ago what I wanted to do for Mother’s Day I honestly had no idea. I love my sleep and was fine with just sleeping in that morning. I feel like our lives have been so overbooked lately that I didn’t want to book anything that day and just let it go with the flow.

Thankfully, that’s exactly what happened. The girls woke us up super early on Sunday which halted my only plan for the day of sleeping in. Thankfully Harlan hopped right back in bed with me and MacKay took Avery out to the living room for a few more hours of sleep. I awoke to breakfast in bed and a surprise gift from the girls (for all of my Mother’s Day photos, check out my post on Babble.)

I took full advantage of my morning in bed and ended up staying there until about noon. It was absolute bliss. I don’t remember the last time that I laid in bed absolutely care free.

The rest of our afternoon was spent enjoying the gorgeous weather that NYC gave all of us mamas for Mother’s Day. It was rainy all last week, so the sun shining was definitely Mother Nature’s gift.

We ate lunch outside at our favorite restaurant and then strolled to Central Park for a relaxing afternoon sitting around and enjoying being together. Central Park is my absolute favorite during the spring. We would spend every single day there if we could.

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Har found this stick as soon as we got onto the grass. She inspected every single inch of this branch. She was obsessed. You could imagine her disdain when I told her that we couldn’t take it home with us.

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Along with my little nature girl, Har is also obsessed with sports. She will sit for hours watching games with MacKay and always insists we bring our soccer ball to the playground with us to get some practice in. She’s gotten really good over the past year and was showing off her dribbling skills.

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She even got Avery to get over her fear of grass and step off of the blanket to join in on the fun. Avery was absolutely terrified of stepping anywhere near the grass, but as soon as she saw MacKay and Har playing and then had the encouragement from her big sister, she was off and running around just as Harlan was.

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I decided to get in on the fun too. Avery loved trying to kick the ball back and forth.

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I can’t think of a better way for me to spend Mother’s Day than with my husband and children who are the reason that I am a mother. Spending an afternoon laughing and running around is just the pampering this mama needed!

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I hope you all had a Happy Mother’s Day!!

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May 9

There’s a Story in Everything

For anyone who knows me, you know how much I love sharing photos of the girls. Most of it is our ordinary everyday moments. I want to be able to look back on these photos years from now and remember the little things, not just the big occasions. Thank goodness for the iPhone.

Because most of my photos are taken on the iPhone, I am always looking for the latest and greatest apps that help me enhance and organize my photos. I recently downloaded Disney’s newest app, Story, and soon fell in love. It takes my photos that I’ve taken each day and organizes them together into a story. You can customize the story, add captions, change the colors, and even add videos. It makes it quick and easy, which is perfect for any parent.

Disney Story takes the ordinary moments and tells the story behind it.

Take a look at the first story that I made with the app. Our family started a tradition three years ago of going to Central Park each Saturday morning in the warmer months. I’ll let Story tell you the rest……

 

 

Turn your everyday into a story by  Downloading the Disney Story app from iTunes – for FREE – right here! You can also follow Disney Story on Twitter and Facebook.

This post is sponsored by Disney Story. To find out more about this brand-new story-creation app – and how it puts the power of storytelling in your hands - click here.

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