It ain't over yet

The birthday celebrations may be over, but summer still has a few more weeks left in it. And so despite the fact that school starts in a week for Elisa, we are attempting to savor every last bit. First up was a rendezvous with Irene and her brood at Astoria Pool on a muggy summer's day. It wasn't the hottest of the week, but it was pretty close so the cool waters helped us all to enjoy it. This time, we didn't wait for hours to enter so I suppose arriving early on a weekday was a good thing. We swam for about 30 minutes when Elisa pulled a coup and refused to get back in. She had all three big kids sitting on the bleachers, so we decided it might be best to refuel with a picnic and come back for a pre-closing swim. That worked out well, and just after 3 p.m. when it closed for cleaning, we headed down to the playground along the river for some ice cream and relaxation. Driving German back to SGP with us so Irene could take the bus in relative peace was also a good idea. The kids did great and really it was one of our calmest days out so far.  All in all, a pretty perfect day out with friends. Then  Jill and Dave came to town with their boys Miles and Graeme to visit her sister Kendal and baby Atticus. It was the a great excuse to hit Central Park and Shack Shake for lunch one day and  the East River Ferry to Brooklyn Bridge Park with its carousel and ice cream another. Yes, we do things up right for our visitors, and hopefully they will remember this trip or at least the fun they had. Graeme is the cutest (and shriekiest!) little heel biter you ever did see, and big brother Miles is sweet and serious and a bit goofy which proved a good match for my two. Within minutes of heading back home solo with us, he was professing his love for both Nacho and me and holding hands down subway tunnels with Elisa. We even got offered seats and lots of information about the train delays from a guy on the subway that clearly thought we were tourists with our three kids in the city. Too funny. Somehow in the midst of all that activity, we managed to celebrate Leonardo's birthday yesterday and have a date night to Mar's in Astoria with Jill and Dave. So yeah, summer isn't over yet. Not by a long shot...