The title of the post is Michael’s favorite new phrase for when he’s especially happy and content. I first heard it one night after bath time. Michael was leaning back on a pillow with the fan on him as I clipped his fingernails and toenails. “Aaah. This is the life,” Michael proclaimed with a happy smile on his face. I’m a softy when it comes to doing things (within reason) to make my kids happy, so I hope to hear that phrase pretty often – or at least until Michael moves on to something new. I heard it several times last week:
-We went out “exploring” our new neighborhood and found the Arthur J. Katzman Playground a local playground with a sprinkler on Thursday.
-We spent the night at the Grand Hyatt New York on Friday. (I won the stay in a contest.) It was a wonderful, relaxing time after just having moved. We played Monopoly, had pillow fights and invented “hotel football” (don’t ask!). I laughed so hard that I could hardly breathe during the pillow fight. My husband and Michael teamed up against me and Sean was standing near the bed saying, “Leave my mommy alone!” That was until they picked Sean up on the bed to join in the fight. Then, Sean turned on me and helped them out by sitting on my head!
And
-On Saturday, we went to the Central Park Zoo for a THQ event where they were previewing an upcoming zoo-related video game. Michael (my little gamer) was all about the game. Reggie was all about the barbecue. Meanwhile, I wanted to show Sean the animals in the zoo. We had been to the Central Park Zoo several times before in the past, but Sean was younger/couldn’t really appreciate the animals as much. This time, he especially liked the penguins. I wanted to see their new animals (the snow leopards) but they wouldn’t come out. (I don’t blame them. It was hot on Saturday.)
(On a side note, I’ve noticed that I have more pictures of Michael on my blog than anyone else. That’s because – unlike the rest of us – he loves to “ham it up” for the camera. I’m determined to get more shots of Sean smiling though. He really is a happy, laughing, talkative kid at home. He just has a “serious face” in public until he warms up. Oh well….)
