Crazy busy good weekend

Last night, as I was about to head to bed (uncharacteristically late), I thought to myself "Geez, I'm exhausted... and the weekend isn't even over yet!" We've had such a fun busy weekend, that today, honestly, we're laying low, relaxing. Cleaning. Maybe checking out a new playground. Not running around and trying to fit everything in the short 12 hours (or whatever remains of this day).
On Saturday morning, we headed to the Bronx Zoo to see one of Sasha's favorite cartoon character, little orange dinosaur Buddy - we had such a blast, Sasha even enjoyed the carousel ride with papa, until it was time to wait in line to take pictures with Buddy. I stood in line, waiting patiently, when at the last minute (and I mean one family in front of us), we were told that Buddy was going on a break and if we wanted to, we could wait about half an hour and he'd be back. So like a good mom that I am, I grabbed the kiddo and ran after the departing dinosaur, so that she could at least wave hi. It's a good thing she's so little and didn't realize what exactly was going on and was still very happy to see him.

We then dropped Sasha off at my in-laws' and headed to see Pirates of the Caribbean (which by the way, was really excellent). In the evening, we headed to the city for my sister's birthday party.

Sunday, we were back in the city for a pizza-making-and-wine-drinking class (which, ahem, was my sister's present for my birthday... last June) and it was fantastic!!!

Then to pick up Sasha, hang out with Z's parents, hang out with Sasha's cousin Jonathan, and then back home.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, everybody!!

First beach day of the season

Last night, when Z got home from work, we grabbed our stuff and went to the beach for an impromptu picnic. The weather was finally nice and warm, though the water was still freezing, so we hung out on the sand and built sand turtles (I think)

Sasha was not happy that Z put his foot into the whole they'd just dug!

Two birthdays - one Sunday!

Sunday was my "little" sister's birthday (for the record, I've been promising her I'd stop calling her that for the past 4 or 5 years and she just turned 25, so she's clearly not so little anymore... I promise to do better, Anya!) So we headed to Hoboken for a brunch, and in the afternoon, we went to my aunt and uncle's house for my aunt's dad's birthday.

Addicted

Anybody who knows me, knows that I am just a tiny teeny little bit obsessed with Harry Potter. And not just the movies, in fact, I prefer the books. I've read them all, they're excellent and such a fun read, they really suck you in and you can't put them down! The last movie is coming out in July and I cannot wait to see it. But before that, certain preparations must be made. A friend of mine's boyfriend hasn't seen any of the movies, so we are hosting Harry Potter viewing parties/bbq - cannot wait. In addition, there's a Harry Potter Exhibition in the city right now which we have to go see (just as soon as our crazy busy weekends subside a bit!)
And to tie this post into the baby-relatedness of the blog: Sasha totally loves watching HP too! Granted, I think movies 4-8 aren't exactly toddler-friendly, so she's only seen bits of the first three. On our way to DC, after waking up from her nap, Sasha said "What's Dobby doing? He's hitting his head". A couple of days later at dinner, she asked where Snape was. And every time she sees Voldemort on the screen, she says "The mean guy has an ugly nose" This mama is so proud!!
And yes, as a matter of fact I am watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix right now (in my defense, Sasha's in school, the floors are clean, the dishes are washed, and the laundry is loaded).

P.S. I just realized that to further fuel  my addiction, ABC Family is running a Harry Potter weekend, starting tonight!! Good thing that our entire weekend is full and I won't have any time to actually watch, because otherwise I might have been very tempted.

What's up with the weather?

It's been a nasty few days here in NY, and by the looks of it, the rain isn't going to go away till the end of the week. That makes for a very cranky mama and kiddo who can't get out (although, a very thankful mama who doesn't have to get out there) We're feeling under the weather too, it started with Z, who's now thankfully all better, so we have at least one fully-functioning adult in the house. Then it was Sasha, with her runny nose (but thankfully nothing else). Finally, I felt this mystery illness making its way to me - now I sit here with my throat on fire, drinking hot tea with lemon like it's going out of style.
And here was us before this nonsense started spreading:

 

My girl's got style!

According to a recent poll by Parents magazine, 88% of women said that their kids are more stylish than themselves. How sad is that?! But yeah, pretty fair in our household... unless she dresses herself that is ;)

Well, this last one is courtesy of papa, who apparently has this random green hat at his desk at work!!

Washington in pictures (finally!)

It took me an awfully long time to go through and edit all the pictures from this trip: my computer kept freaking out on me, then I was busy (not unpacking the suitcases, you know), the kiddo wasn't going to bed on time, leaving me little time to work on them. But I'm done. And here they are.