compare and contrast

may 2011/present day

circus day!

today was circus day (gosh, it feels like i say that a lot around here)!  the red show was in town to play the brand new barclay's center for the very first time!  it is not at all a prerequisite of my apartments that i can walk to the circus from them, it just happened to have worked out that way twice in a row.  there wasn't even an arena yet when we moved into this apartment!
i am lucky enough to know several of the clowns in the alley this year, including the current boss clown, taylor.  penny has been waiting to go to the circus since the barclay's center has started looking like something - she was SO EXCITED that it turned out to be today!

circus dress!

penny has her ticket booped!

penny meets chris!

penny would not go into this inflatable play thingee unless taylor went with her.

the alley plus two girls

this last photo, though small, really sums up the circus experience to me.  penny was exhausted, overwhelmed and cranky.  i wanted to keep on catching up with the clowns.  chris sat down with penny and engaged with her on her level, and she had a wonderful time and a personal experience.  and, the whole time, there was a performer on silks in the background.  it's quite a life.

after the circus, penny took a well deserved nap in her stroller, we went to the library and ran into a friend of hers from school, and then went grocery shopping!  while alex made dinner, penny and i cut snowflakes out of origami paper.  overall, a very fun but exhausting day!

playground photos!

i really got out of the blogging groove - i'm sure you could tell :)
part of the problem is that i got out of the habit of bringing my camera everywhere, so i made a point to bring it with me to the playground this weekend.  it's still cold here in ny, but we still managed to have a good time!

giant snow

the weather was weird yesterday.  i walked home in sleet that felt like needles on my face - but the temperature was fluctuating so rapidly that sometimes the sidewalk was a slushy mess and sometimes it was a sheet of ice - all within 15 minutes.  i got home to find penny pretty punchy in the bathtub.  she and her sitter were all giggly and she was warm and smelled delicious.  i got her all changed into pajamas and she asked if we could read one bedtime story on the couch, and one in her bed.  this sounded like a fine plan to me.  we got all settled on the couch, and she looked out the window, pointed, and said "look at the snow, mama!"  it was falling in some of the most giant flakes i have ever seen in my life.  we ended up turning off the light, and sitting snuggled together on the couch just watching the snow together for a while.  i haven't felt so relaxed and at peace with myself and the world in a long time.