Here Comes A New Shelmet

Yesterday afternoon it was pretty hot out. Zoe asked to go for a bike ride and I suggested that we take the bikes, along with some snacks, over to Lorimer park. We could eat, ride, and bring along some bread to feed the geese. Well the eating went well. The riding was short lived. The geese were nowhere to be found. So we did what anyone else would do and made our way through the goose poop to the creek. It didn't take long for Zoe to ask if she could go in. I put her shoes and socks in my bag and watched her wade into the water. She was having a great time. Sinking into the sand. Looking at rocks. Marveling at how high up her leg the water gets. It didn't take me long to remove my shoes and socks and join her. When she noticed a spot that was fairly deep, she asked if she could swim. I didn't see any signs, so I told her to take off her shirt-dress and go for it. I swear the kid is part fish! She even insisted that I record a little video, especially for momm...

Yesterday was Zoe's last day of school. All of her classmates were on stage to talk about what they learned during their time at AJ, as well as sing a number of songs. Even with a seat near the stage, it was hard to get a good picture. She was super cute getting her flower and her certificate. The best part was the songs. Take a listen to some of these classics. When we were done, she was happy to take a picture with me, as well as pose for a nice one outside. We're both super proud of Zoe. She's looking forward to Kindergarten, while we're looking forward to one more summer with our little girl.

For the past three days now, Zoe has asked that we go in to the creek. This started on Sunday, after Nana arrived, and the weather was just starting to get nice again. She had her coat, and her backpack, and her boots, and her skirt. She did an excellent job navigating through the water and over the rocks. There was an excellent display of balance and courage, while still asking me which path was the best to take to reach a certain spot. Monday night, as soon as I got home, there was the question, "Daddy, can we go in the creek." So we got dressed, this time in shorts, since it was warmer out, grabbed a sieve and a walking stick and did some more exploring. It was a lot of fun and we picked up a few extra rocks and pieces of broken pottery for her collections. On Tuesday night, again, as soon as I walked in the door, I was asked to head down to the creek. She was convinced that it would be better to wait until after dinner, this way we would both have more energy...

The holiday is almost upon us and for Passover, crazy cousin Kellie got Zoe a package of 10 plague masks. Little did I know, she already had seen these masks in her class, and played a game with them where you at them out. As soon as I opened them up, she squealed with delight and was super happy to model exactly what First Born is supposed to look like. As soon as Cheryl got home, we all got in on the action and took some group shots as our favorite plagues. Even the stuffed animals were joining in! I don't know about you, but I think I look pretty good as Cattle Plague and Cheryl really wears Darkness well. Here's to more holiday traditions in the future.

Zoe's crazy cousins the Goffbergs recently purchased a pet bird. Since the bird was only recently hatched, she still stays at the bird store over in Jersey. Hearing that this bird store was totally awesome, Zoe and I took a ride over to see Peepers, as well as the other birds in the store. At first, Zoe was a little hesitant to even pet the bird, even though Jellie and Kon were old pros at the whole bird thing. Once she warmed up to the idea, she actually asked if the bird could sit on her arm. Kellie was happy to oblige, and it looks like Zoe instantly regretted the decision, but soon realized that the massive talons of the tiny bird were not, actually, hurting her. After another circle of the store, it was almost time to leave. Zoe requested another chance to hold Peepers on her arm and, on the second time around, was much more comfortable. Since it was April Fool's, I did try to convince Cheryl that we were coming home with a bird, but she didn't buy i...

This past weekend we visited a couple of local parks. First, we went to Lorimer Park just down the street. Even though there wasn't much wind, Zoe had her heart set on trying to fly her kite. While I wasn't sure that it would work, I was more than happy to make the trip to see if we could get it airborne. It took some work, and it didn't really stay up, but we did manage to kind of, sort of, fly a kite. After that we threw some rocks, and climbed around for a bit, but all of that happened after she went to the bathroom under the bridge. She swore that she only had to pee, but that wasn't quite the case. The picture of her standing and laughing was taken after she was done. Once it got dark, we made our way home for the evening. The next day all three of us went out to Tyler Park. Here there was a lot of swinging done by all members of the family. Some of us went a little higher than the others, but everyone had fun. After the swings, we made our way t...