How to beat the heat - for cheap!

August in NYC is brutal and window units just don't quite cut it for a full day of crazy heat and humidity.  Here are our 5 favorite ways to beat the heat.
1- Pool in Central Park - the pool is at 110th on the north end of Central Park.  It's huge, clean, FREE and so much fun for the boys.  We can only go on the weekends when daddy is available b/c I can't handle 2 non-swimmers on my own, but we love heading up there Saturday morning.
2- Parks.  For some reason, as soon as you step in the park it feels 10 degrees cooler.  I guess it's a combination of the trees, the shade and the lack of concrete but it feels amazing.  And if you walk down to the water in Riverside park there is usually a nice breeze that feels amazing.
3 - Ice cream from roadside stands.  Not free but remarkably cheap!  Theo loves chocolate, I love coconut.  What Liam doesn't know won't hurt him and he's the only one who still eats a good dinner :o)
4 - Whole Foods.  We love to shop the store, (Theo pushes a cart and takes up about 10 feet of space) then pick up dinner in the prepared food section and eat in the cafeteria.  There are high chairs, bathrooms, AC and the best is that mom doesn't have to clean up all the food that falls on the floor!
5- Find nice friends with homes outside of the city :o)  We were lucky enough to do this last weekend and we took the train to visit some friends who have a home an hour outside of the city.  The kids were in heaven in the big playroom and going to the pool at their club.  Shane and I loved the space and the delicious meals prepared for us!

 Riverside park by the water

 Chocolate ice cream!

 Liam got the rest of my cone :o)

 Ice cream sandwiches on the Highline

Soccer in Central Park

Next week we head to Michigan to really beat the heat and enjoy playing in the back yard, waterskiing and hanging out with grammy and poppy!

love, Sarah

Why I love online shopping

So, not much going on this week. Theo had croup on Monday (his 3rd time) and Liam picked it up on Wed.  Poor boys!  We have been laying low and taking lots of medicine.  Between the coughing and not sleeping I definitely don't have time to remember how much formula or diapers I have left (actually, I almost always manage to run out of both but this week I'll blame it on their sickness!)  So, I would like to give a shameless plug to my all time favorite baby friendly website - diapers.com  It is amazing.  You can order ANYTHING and it will arrive (for free assuming you spend $39 which is pretty easy when buying diapers!) the next day.  It is incredible.  I once placed an order at 8am and it arrived at 8pm that same evening!  They save my life pretty much once a month.

Also, funny story that has nothing to do with online shopping - last week we were going to meet a friend at a playground in the park.  I wasn't sure where it was and managed to get royally lost.  Theo was walking and had basically walked for almost an hour, Liam was cranky, it was nearly dinner time and I finally checked my phone and realized that the friend had actually canceled our playdate several hours earlier, I just hadn't noticed!  So, we were all hot and in a bad mood.  But, the great thing about NYC parks - every few blocks there is an ice cream stand!  We had a delicious pre-dinner of ice cream before heading home.  Here are a few pictures to show the boys enjoyment :o)

Have a great week!

love, Sarah