Lions and Tigers and Grizzly Bear, OH MY!

This weekend marks the official end to the Pool Parties at the East River Park. Grizzly Bear was the band to close the end of a wonderful summer full of lots of awesome free music. It was a total pain getting into the park but well worth it when you consider the fantastic weather and the Asia Dogs (hot dogs with Asian-inspired toppings: super delicious).

Cousin Lindsay was able to break away from her slave-employing internship to join in the fun.

Zoe's new hat (so cheap, you wouldn't believe me if I told you)

Emma brought her daddy, Jason, to the park. She is feeling much better after another virus. POOR EMMA!

Zoe loved hanging out with all her peeps this summer and hopes that everyone can join her again next summer. Pretty please? PEACE OUT, SUMMERTIME!!!

Gigglestick

What in the world is going on in that little head of hers? The most random things can make a baby laugh and I guess this video goes to show it. We were doing a little cleaning up in the bedroom and Zoe was hanging in the Jumperoo. Debbie had a new trash bag in her hand and when she gave it a shake to open it up, Zoe went nuts. Check it out!



This reminds me of an old YouTube video of a baby who was laughing hysterically at paper being torn. Go figure. You babies are hilarious. Keep 'em coming.

GIRL TALK!

Now that Celebrate Brooklyn's season has come to a close, we can focus our full attention on the Pool Parties at the East River Park in Williamsburg. We've been attending the concert on Sundays for a while now but I had no idea how awesome the show was going to be for this week. How to describe Girl Talk... Well my lame attempt would be to say that the artist takes lots of pop tracks and samples them into one amazing set of tracks meant to be played continuously. He turned the park into one huge dance party!

Just chillin' and waiting for the fun to begin.

I guess she is ready for her close-up!

The skyline was looking ominous but nobody thought to leave. We were all having a blast.


When the sprinkling started, it was time for everyone to get hosed down. Why not? You weren't going to stay dry anyway.

It's not a dance party without large inflatable objects

Zoe didn't mind the sprinkling. She just used my "hooter hider" to keep dry!

There are only a few of these concerts left (maybe just one) and we are hoping to take advantage and squeeze every last drop out of this summer.

Random Zoe Fun

Zoe doesn't have to be out on the town to have a good time. She knows how to ham it up at home too. Children are natural explorers and Zoe is no exception. Everything gets a thorough examination, especially in her mouth. It's great to see her reaching for everything and wanting to be involved in whatever you are doing at the moment.

Nana Debbie was taking the laundry off the clothesline and guess who wanted to help?

Candace and Jason were nice enough to pass on Emma's Jumperoo. Zoe is diggin' it.

Zoe is such a BED HOG!

It's August and what does that mean?... A whole lot more naked time!

It's awesome that the city pools are all free but the bummer is that you can't take in any cameras but I got this shot of Zoe before we went to the pool. Thanks Nana Donna! The suit fit perfect for the whole summer.

I'm really excited to see what she does next. We are still working with solid food and she seems to want to skip the crawling and go straight to standing. There's no keeping this little girl down. She is quite strong and curious.

DINOSAURS in Central Park!

Okay, so we're nuts about free music. We hadn't made it to Summer Stage all season so we decided to go see the Walkmen and Dinosaur Jr. It was brutally humid and the site where they set up the stage allowed for absolutely no cross breeze. We ended up with decent seats and stuck it in the stagnant air.

We took a nice walk down the park after the show and made our way home.

Hanging with the ANIMALS in the park!

So we were lucky enough to have tickets to the last concert at Prospect Park. We had been listening to Animal Collective's new album for a awhile but we had no idea what was in store for us. A picture would have done no good to describe the scene. Neon everything, including floating jelly fish-looking things and digitized animal photos on giants screens. Well, I'm not doing a good job describing it either but it was awesome. The music was incredible and we all had such a good time. We were able to get another ticket for cousin Lindsay to come along.



Zoe just keeps getting funnier and funnier. She bounced back so quickly from her accident and she seems to be trusting her environment a little more now. She is so easy going and makes it a breeze to get out and enjoy the city. Thanks BABY!

Zoe's First Baseball Game

Aaron scored us tickets to the Mets game. They were playing the SF Giants and we were ready to endure the glares of surrounding fans as we cheered for the Giants. But it turns out we didn't have much to cheer about, seeing that nobody ever made it past 2nd base the entire game. Oh well! We had a great time and even got to chow down on burgers and shakes from the Shake Shack. Mmmm...

It's a really nice stadium. Just big enough to have that MLB experience but small enough to make all the seats good.

The fantastic view looking out from the stadium. Yes, my friends, that IS a scrap yard. If this was Pac Bell Park, this would be where all the kayakers hang out.

The field, post-game.

Zoe had a lot of excitement and by the end of the eighth inning, she was pooped. It was a great night. Maybe we'll go back.

More Prospect Park Fun!

We continue to enjoy the concerts this summer. This weekend we went to see Deer Tick and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. It was a good show and Zoe was a sport as usual. The weather has been humid but cooperative and we've been able to take advantage of the outdoor venue. All you need is a blanket and a picnic. Check us out.

Zoe wants to skip the sitting up and go straight for standing.

Her new favorite way to self-soothe is by sucking two fingers with her hand backwards.
TOO CUTE!

So we were at the Burning Spear show a few weeks ago and Zoe was mesmerized by those glowing rings they sell in the park during the events at night. I couldn't find anyone who sold them. During this concert, I saw a guy across the stage area and I took off down the hill. I thought I was going to bite it but I managed to catch the guy before he left the area. I think it was worth it. Zoe looks pretty entertained.

After all that rolling and face-making, she decided it was bed time. Lucky me!

Another great concert. I'm gonna miss the summer fun but it's hard to be too upset when you know the best season in NYC is on the way.

Our Little Mozart

Long before Aaron and I were even talking about having a baby, Nana Debbie was scrounging around for cool toys for her future grandchild. Lucky for Zoe, she found a cool piano for her to bang on. There really isn't enough coordintion for much else, but she sure has a good time with it. Take a look.



Too funny. There is definitely some Jerry Lee Lewis in there somewhere.

We are still having a great time in the parks this summer and are really looking forward to a nice fall: the best season in NYC.

Summer in the City

When Zoe's not at a free concert, she finds plenty of other ways to entertain herself. Albeit in some ways very difficult to make sense of. The picture below is best explained by going to atomicorn.blogspot.com and then it will make sense. Well... maybe.

It's the ZOECORN!


Mikey came all the way from Kentucky to see Zoe. Okay... so he really came to hang with the Brooklyn crew but technically she IS the Brooklyn crew.


See... I can hang (so can my drool).

Now that it's August, it's time to shed all clothing that is not essential and make sure to find a comfortable position.

Mission Accomplished!


Zoe also loves to hang out in the window of Dad's studio and people-watch.

The neighbors are always a little surprised to see her in the window but offer a friendly HELLO!

Celebrating Brooklyn

So there is a great concert series in Prospect Park every summer and they always have really awesome artist that play every year. Candace, Zoe and I got to see Burning Spear while chillin' on the grass. We were pretty far back but that didn't matter. You could feel the love and Zoe made sure to get the best view. Mine and Candace's hair were the casualties though.

That girl's got a GRIP!

Zoe always has fun with Candace. She's not afraid to toss her around a bit.

We all had a really good time and it was a great way to end the free summer concert streak. Long live good reggae! Long live trees and grass!