Saturday Afternoon in December

Our Little Elves

Unpacking the Christmas decoration boxes...the boys were loving the elf hats.

Thanksgiving Weekend 2012

A very Happy Thanksgiving in the Brown house with Grandpa and Nana's visit.  As you can see, Dash got very comfortable IN THE BUFF.  At the end of their stay even Hugo was saying "Bye grandpa.  Bye grandma."  Trouble viewing slideshow? Click here for album

The Canadians are coming!

Maple Leafs touque in honour of Nana and Grandpa coming to visit tomorrow!

Little Leafs Fan

On our way back from Mrs. Michelle's this afternoon.

Recent Images - November 2012

Can't see the slide show, view images in this album.

Our New School Bus...

At least for the moment. 

So when our school bus didn't show up today (as the city schools opened up for the first time since the storm hit), and the prospects for gasoline are still slim in the city, we had to outfit my bike to truck Hugo across the East River into Manhattan for school.  He was such a good sport and he seemed to really enjoy the ride; it only took one kitty and two suckers.  

We were updated that our bus company had all their vehicles flooded from the storm; that they were, literally, "under water!"  So, here we are, back to square-one with buses.  Tomorrow is election day so no school, but Wednesday, weather permitting, me and Hugo may be two-wheeling again. 

One of those mornings...

Every now and then I get one of those mornings.  This event proceeded Dashiel's explosive poopy event in the living room.

:)

Thought you'd like to know that...

No public transit for some time; trees and power lines down everywhere in the neighborhood

The Browns are OK, but WOW, this city is a wreck.

Riding the Storm Out

NASA/Getty Images - Holy Crap!

Not much else we can do here in East Elmhurst, Queens.  At this time Sandy's winds are picking up, but we have the fortune of being significantly up from the shore line, and three flights up on top of that.  Flooding in NYC is already reaching unheard of levels and the worst is yet to come we're told.  But in the meantime, while we have power, we're watching Thomas the Tank Engine.  To all our friends riding the storm out, stay safe.  To Mommy, who's working the news desk in the city, we miss you.

New Bike!

Apple Pickin'

More photos from our afternoon at the orchard...(if you can't view the slide show, click here).

A two-fisted Hugo

Shaking the apple tree in New Jersey

Daddy picking apples

Apple picking in NJ

The family had a grand time apple picking in New Jersey.  We opted not to go to Long Island for fear of crowds.  Turns out we made a great choice.  Mom was tired so in this video she refers to New York apples... WRONG!  These apples fist pump.

A Go-Go Dancer in diapers

A rough week for the Browns.  Hugo ended up in the ER after Dash slammed a door on his finger.  He's okay but  the ER visit was traumatic enough!  Mom has a cold and had to get the winter stuff out of storage.  After trying on some 4T clothing a 2-year-old Dash stripped and danced for his dollars.

Extra Extra: Big Boy Get's Bigger!

It's a bit blurry, so let me describe what you are seeing here:  these are Dashiel's feet, they are standing on a scale, the red line marks a point between the 40 and 50.

Slideshow 10-12-12

Sideshow not working?  View album here.

Tremors felt at LaGuardia!

incredible.

Jukebox Saturday Night...

But on a Tuesday!

Big farm boy

Enjoying the Queens County Farm

Why I get up for work everyday.

I go to a job with crazy hours and major stress to tell a good news story.  This week the Brown Family became part of a local news story involving the bus not showing up.  Today we got word that particular bus company was fired.
A $29 million contract per year DONE.
Justice is served.

Thanks to hard working local reporters and parents who were persistent.  Today it is a great day to be a New Yorker.

The Amazing Uncle Mike comes to the Big Apple

And helps his sister buy a birthday gift for a friend at Victoria's Secret.  He was surprised to see men working at the store!  What a great treat for the family.  With all the crazy busing stress, a reason to celebrate, "Uncle Bike" is in town!  Dash keeps saying bike, a word he knows well.

Trains, taxis and a long park walk

Making the most of the sunshine in Manhattan.  The High Line is a park built on an old elevated train line.  We had never been and without a cloud in the sky off we went.  Dash was so pumped to get in a yellow taxi at one point, wish my hands were free to record him saying, "Taxi! taxi!"

Walking the High Line

Strolling the city with Uncle Mike

Siblings catching up!

Our current busing crisis

It has been an infuriating couple of days here.  The city started using a bus company that, clearly, wasn't prepared for the start of school last Thursday.  The routes they planned were completely unrealistic.  For the first two days last week, Hugo's bus arrived over two hours late at our place.  This week, after a weekend we were told  the bus company was to reconfigure new routes, the bus didn't even show up at our apartment!  Outrageous!

I wrote the following missive based on a story in the New York Daily News for my Facebook update this morning:

I so rarely bitch, but:

Buses 2+ hours late, in some cases not even showing up! And it is happening to the neediest, least-able children in the NYC! And what does Bloomberg have to say about it all?

“My understanding is that they’re actually doing a pretty good job, But there’s always going to be . . . a story like that. There’s 1.1 million kids.”

We're talking about children here, we're not bean-counting! We're not weighing the percentages here! Nor is it just one story! Nor is it reasonable to expect parents (who have to get on with the process of earning a living in our very expensive city) to put their lives on hold until the bus company can "figure it out."

I mean, it would not be OK if a set of parents decided they were going to drop their child off at school 2 hours late on a regular basis. It would not be ok of a set of parents strapped their child to a seat for two to three hours, in a room on a daily basis and ignored the child's needs for food, water, bathroom breaks (let alone most of these particular children CANT EVEN EXPRESS THEIR NEEDS VERBALLY). Those parents would be brought up on charges, but for you, sir, the bus company is doing a "pretty good job."

Sorry, Mr. Mayor, if I don't share your cavalier spirit.

 

Whereas I could only vent on Facebook, Jennifer, on the other hand, turned up the heat and started making calls to reporters and colleagues.  One of the fruits of her labor, shown below, was this TV news interview between me and CBS 2 here in the city (here's the accompanying story)  As well, Jen did a radio interview this evening, you can hear that here: link.

The best news though, is that appears to be working and we may actually have a bus at our place to pick up our son!  Kudo's to Jennifer for moving mountains (on top of everything else that has to get done in the day) and hopefully bringing visibility and hopefully swift resolution to this busing crisis--not just for us, but for all parents struggling to get their kids to school

** Revised note:  A bus came today for Hugo promptly at 7am, he was the only child on the bus.  It is true Hugo did get a bus ride to school, hoping the rest of our Astoria area friends join him. **
The stream has a couple pauses but will play out.

 

First Day of School for Hugo

Hugo recently started his second year of school - he was very excited to say the least!

Piggy-back Fail!  Sometimes Hugo hates holding hands and walking together and sometimes we don't have time to hash it out with him, so up on the shoulders he goes!  And then, sometimes, he doesn't even want the free ride so he falls back in protest, letting us know he's had enough.  We did about eight blocks of "up and down" like this to get to his first day of school.

Hugo and beleaguered Daddy at Lincoln Square. If you look closely, you may see some of Daddy's hair between Hugo's fingers.  :)

A good-bye moment with Mommy outside his school.  Jen and I are as excited as Hugo for him to be back in school.  We miss him, of course, but we know how much he enjoys himself here.

I just look at this schedule and I am tired.

Hugo didn't miss a beat.  He jumped right in and worked the room in his way, bouncing from station to station.

And here, a brief nanosecond to pause and reflect....and so Daddy could get a quick photo that isn't too blurry.

It was also nice to meet Hugo's new teacher, Mecka! Have a great school year everyone!

Field Notes on the Brown Boys (2)

These images were taken immediately after afternoon naps.  Guess which child finds it hard to wake up?  Right.  Hugo! Who is almost "teenager-esque" in his crabby, lethargic journey toward wakefulness.  Dash, on the other hand, usually bolts out of bed as if every day is Christmas morning.

Singing on the way to Costco

Dash got a little shy with the camera. But not Hugo!!

Brothers and Friends

Oh sure, there's the biting and the scratching from time to time, but there's also this. Enjoy.

Because school is about to begin. . .

All the boys got haircuts!  This week Hugo goes back to school after three weeks off.  Dash goes to school one day a week right around the block.  Even Daddy is getting ready for the new school year.

A sign of maturity, Hugo sat by himself and let Mr. Barber cut his hair.  He just kept talking to the mirror!

Our favorite Russian barber just barked orders.... "look down! look  look look look down!!!"

 Mommy makes the boys put on their old PJs for haircuts because fresh cut hair and suckers mean dirty, filthy clothing!  

The thing that makes dinner delightful

Half the battle of getting these boys to eat the wonderfully nutritious food Jen makes for them is to try and lighten the mood.  We have other methods when needed (bribery, begging, bait-and-switch) but we'd much rather use laughter and last night was all giggles and good times. Consequently, they ate well which makes for a happier daddy!

Field Notes on The Brown Boys

If he's not bothered (meaning if he thinks nobody is watching) Hugo will vocally name the animals in the Big Red Barn book

Few babies work a park like our little charmer, Dashiel Quincy.

Hugo on the other hand, is more the explorer--up, down and far afield, there are few city parks that can hope to contain his desire to wander.