New Years With The Costa Rica Friedlanders

On New Year's Eve we flew down to Florida to stay with Babcia and Dziadek. We went to visit our cousins Isa and Harrison and Uncle Harry and Tia Emily.

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New York Botanical Gardens Train Show

After Eason's preschool holiday sing-a-long show we went with Jack and his family to the New York Botanical Gardens to see the train show.

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pirates

Eason's friend Henry had a pirate birthday party, so...

Andrea's First Hanukkah

We went to Babcia and Dziadek's house to celebrate Hanukkah. We ate lots of yummy latkas, played Hanukkah Bingo, and opened presents.

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The Nutcracker

We saw the Rockland Youth Dance Ensemble Nutcracker Ballet at Rockland Community College with a bunch of my friends from Hoboken.

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Andrea's First Thanksgiving

We had everyone over to celebrate Andrea's first Thanksgiving.

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Selling

We're selling our place in Hoboken.

Washington Irving's Sunnyside

We went to Legends Weekend at Washington Irving's Sunnyside.

Hoboken Halloween Party

We went to our friend's house for a Hoboken Halloween party.

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Boo at the Zoo

We went to Boo at the Zoo at the Bronx Zoo. Eason dressed up as Diego and Andrea dressed up as baby jaguar.

Farms and Faires

We went pumpkin picking at Muscoot Farm and then we went back to Ward Pound Ridge Reservation to listen to stories about fairy folk. The stories were good and Eason saw some fairies. Too bad Aviva and I got stung by some yellow jackets.

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Ward Pound Ridge Reservation

We went to an Outdoor Art Exhibit at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation after we got home from the Max & Ruby show. Eason was really drowsy from the medicine we gave him for the bee sting on his lip, and he tripped and hurt his hand. He was a trooper.

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Victor's Birthday Party

We went to Tor's birthday party at Gymtime.

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Going Around The Lake

We took a walk around the lake.

Rosh Hashanah At The Bungalow

We spent Rosh Hashanah at the bungalow.

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Bungalow Fun

We had fun at the bungalow, like always.

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My Rye YMCA

Almost every morning I workout at the YMCA in Rye. My wife works out there sometimes too. And my son also take some classes there like swimming, gymnastics, sports, etc. They even have babysitting for my daughter.

For the most part the people are very friendly and it's a great value. We pay about the same price that I would probably pay for gym membership just for me. But all I use is the fitness center and sometimes it seems like you get what you pay for.

Fun At The Bungalow

We had fun at the bungalow with Eason and Andrea.

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Cold At The Bungalow

It was cold at the bungalow so we had to cuddle up.

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My Babies

I love my babies!

In The Garden

We had a party at The Gardens with our friends.

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Eason's Fourth Birthday At Rye Nature Center

We celebrated Eason's 4th birthday at the Rye Nature Center.
                                 
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Ava and Christian's birthday party

We went to Ava and Christian's birthday party.

Playland Time

I took Eason to Rye Playland to see the fireworks and go on some rides.

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Summer Fun In The Bungalow

Everyone had fun with Andi at the bungalow.
                                                                 
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Pinocchio

We saw Pinocchio at the Forestburgh Playhouse.

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Mohican Lake (At The Bungalow)

We went to the bungalow. It was just Aviva and the kids and me. We spent a lot of time in the lake.
                             
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Family Get Together

We met up with some of our cousins, and aunts and uncles, on my side of the family. We had a lot of fun.

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Excavator

My uncle Marc let Eason (and me!) drive his excavator.

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Father's Day

We had a BBQ at Rafi and Marissa's house for Father's Day.

Sophia's birthday party

Family Smiles

Just happy being together. Happy and very silly.
                                                   
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Mother's Day

We went to Marine Mommies at the New York Aquarium for Mother's Day. We saw the walrus feeding, storytelling with Luanne Adams, and the sea lion show.

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Mamapalooza

We saw Harry and the Dirty Dog at the Rochambeau Theater. Then we went to Mamapalooza at Kensico Dam Plaza.

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Mom's Birthday

We took my mom out for her birthday. I think she had fun.

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Spiderman vs. Thomas

I wonder when I'll let Eason start watching shows with violence like superheroes and power rangers. For the time being I'm more than happy to prolong his interest in the more innocent variety of television entertainment. While he no longer has that much interest in Barney and Sesame Street, his favorites include Thomas and Friends, Little Einsteins, Blues Clues, and now his new favorite Go, Diego, Go. All of these shows are educational and none of them have anything close to violence. I know it's a matter of time before he loses interest in these shows, but the longer it lasts the better.

some friends

Now I know (or at least I'm reminded) of why I like to see Eason playing with some of his friends in particular. The play is nice and for the most part well behaved. Watching Eason play with some other of his friends always brings this right home.

On the other hand other friends always seem to want to make everything into a hostile game, with banging, throwing, hitting, etc. And no its no wonder that these kids parent's, when they occasionally begins some semblance of discipline, do it in either in a monotone dialogue about how the behavior was not okay, or a whining plead for them to stop.

The good part about all of this is that it offers an opportunity to impart to Eason that just because his friend was doing something did not make that type of behavior acceptable.

The whole time I kept thinking "now I know why I like to see Eason playing with 'some' of his friends.

Taking Andrea Home

We took Andrea home from Greenwhich Hospital.

Afterwards I took Eason bike riding.

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At Greenwhich Hospital

Aviva is still with Andrea at Greenwhich Hospital.

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Sticks And Stones

Anytime I'm with Eason in a playground, beach or anyplace where there are other kids playing, and Eason picks up a large stick or a rock, I always tell him to put it down right away. I always think "that's an accident waiting to happen."

Funny enough, one day we were at the beach and Eason picked up a rock. I told him to put it down, but Aviva interjected mentioning that he likes to collect them in his bucket.

Dark Chocolate

It always amazes me how people claim that food that may have some beneficial ingredient is "good for you." Supposedly ice cream is good for you because dairy is a source of calcium. Dark chocolate is good for you because some ingredient is good for your heart. Too me "junk food" is any food that is more bad for you then good for you.