You Nork City and Balmer

Let me start the post with the *best ever* Mr. Potato head. I've never seen its equal for statement-making potato heads. Although James appears to be the proud father, it was Scotty's creation, sitting there on the couch as it is to greet me one afternoon when I came downstairs.

Next, "summertime head II:"
Maybe now Jeremy and I, the young parents that we are, will know better than to have a family race .to the car. over pavement... doh!

Here is proof that we had one good tomato off our pathetic little plant:
We figured that little tomato cost us about $15. Not sure if we'll try container gardening again here. Everything's moldy. I think it the plant molded. The pizza was good though, and Scott actually kneaded his little pizza alongside me. He looks that proud for a reason! He's turning into quite the little kitchen helper.

Labor Day weekend was busy for us in the very best way. Saturday we made the trip to Baltimore again to see my brother Ben. Scott, every time he sees his uncle Ben, runs full tilt and clobbers one of his legs with a bear hug. They're becoming great buddies. It's fun to see. We had a picnic at Federal Hill Park with this view:
Then the boys thought they might try some hill rolling, but thankfully waited until Jer was near to start:
After the picnic, we shopped a bit around the harbor, then went to Ponyo, then out to sushi. It was great to see Ben, as always. Mellow fun day.

Monday we decided to take our first all-day trip to YOU NORK CITY!!!! Scott is convinced this is how it's pronounced. We decided to take the ferry from New Jersey to Battery Park and frequently on the boat Scott would half yell, half sing "You Nork Cityyyy, You Nork Cityyy." He refuses to be corrected, and frankly I'll be sad when he learns the grown-up way to say it.

The hands-down most unforgettable moment of the trip was when, about 15 minutes before arriving at the ferry, Scott pipes up from the back, "My shoes! I forgot my shoes!" No joke. He had no shoes. We thought, "aw, we'll pick something up when we get there." Little did we know that the people of New York do not buy shoes for their children. They can't possibly shop for their kids in the city. We walked *miles* peeking in shops, high-end to low-end, and found one (yes, only one) pair of shoes, $55, that I didn't even like. So he went barefoot, the whole day, hopping on an off the stroller, in big yucky New York. I kind of wish I took a shot of his feet before we washed them, but I'm also kind of glad we didn't.

The ferry trip:
James saying "uaaaaaau:" Ground Zero:
Rockefeller Center (hay hay 30 Rock!):
Carnegie Deli. Note Jeremy's horrified sterno-cleido-mastoids. Yes, that's ONE sandwich, in two halves. The four of us couldn't finish the thing:
More "horror," very tasty this time:

FAO Swartz. I'm not sure if it was more embarrassing to have Scott wear my socks (why did I pick that day of all days to wear my craziest pair of socks??) or go around with filthy footies:
THE PIANO, with crazy socks
Central Park boulder climbing:


And the ferry ride back to Jersey:
Fabulous day. There really is something about that city! I'm thoroughly charmed. As much as I loved it, though, I was grateful to come home to quiet little Bethlehem. It's fun to have the city so close, but it's also fun to not have to live there. Maybe I'm not as much of a city girl as I thought I was?

Lastly, one of Jeremy and my favorite things to do when we get to a new place is hunt down the hilarious signs some businesses use to rope in customers. Not that we don't love where we live/have lived. Don't take this personally Des Moiners or Bethlehemers. One of our favorites in Des Moines went out of business before we ever had a chance to take a picture. It said only: "Service Saw. If it's dull, get it sharpened." I don't know why it struck me as so hilarious, but I loved driving past and getting the giggles. Here, my favorite so far is this:
Incidentally, anyone know what cargo those trucks ship? Peeps! Marshmallow peeps. Yep. Just Born, the Peeps company, is only about a mile away from us. So if you're a fan, come stay with us and take a tour. Wahoo!