Little Miss Clumsy

April 16th marked our first Friday Movie Date Night at our Prospect Heights playspace. While Amy was prevented from attending due to a visit from her in-laws, the five tots who attended were in great hands nonetheless, with Melissa on hand as the head sitter for the evening and Yamileth standing by to assist her with some especially fussy little ones during drop-off. No doubt Melissa has fallen for the allure of the cozy living-room feel and bright airy space at Underhill, since she paid another visit to the space the following Wednesday morning to substitute for 2: Cool for School teacher Amy.
While Lyouba was on hand to greet and sign-in Explorers and their parents as they arrived for the Friday evening fun, and then again on Wednesday to lend Melissa a hand with the 2-year-old crew, when Amy returned on Friday it was to a Lyouba-less space. It seems that in the course of several days our favorite Bulgarian transplant had managed not only to poke herself in the eye with a mascara wand (ouch!) but to follow up one injury with another---this time stepping on a nail as she tried to capture the perfect shot for her photostream! Hopefully she got some good photos of the emergency room as she waited to receive her tetanus shot following the unfortunate incident...
Last week was filled with milestones for our Explorers as Haven celebrated her fourth birthday, Amaya shared her last day with her fellow Explorers at 2:Cool for School before a several months stretch in LA, and Explorers Club teacher Gayla marked her last day with the bunch before heading off into the world to pursue her painting career with greater fervor. While the Explorers will miss Gayla, there was too much excitement in the air to dwell on her departure for long---after all, who had time time to be upset with Haven's Saturday afternoon birthday party on the horizon!

Must be the season of the trip

Field trip, that is! Last Thursday marked the first in the Explorers Club tots' new series of weekly outward-bound adventures, as Gayla and the older half of the crew headed to the Pratt Institute's Sculpture Garden. While the Rudorens had tried their best to pump up Lev and Shayna for the anticipated ride on the G train all morning long, it was hard to miss the nervous look on little Lev's face as he boarded the train and sat with a very straight back, hands folded in his lap, next to his friends and twin sister. When Gayla asked the cutie pie if all was well, he did his 2 1/2-years-old best to force a smile. What a big milestone for a little boy!
While the kids may be too young to have spent much time enjoying the sculptures themselves, the beauty of Spring came into full bloom after a butterfly entered the scene and all seven kids immediately gave chase! Maybe a trip to the Bronx Zoo's butterfly garden should be added to this summer's itinerary.
After a delicious picnic lunch and wobbly walk back to the G train, with Lev's and Shayna's backpacks measuring almost as large as the peanuts themselves, the group was back to the play space just in time for a quick wash-up and nap time, and after a day in the sun, the rest was well-deserved!
The next day the younger Explorers got their own taste of adventure, with an outing to the Carroll Gardens library. While the amazing Brittany would have had no trouble handling the smaller group on her own, the kids sure didn't complain when Explorer favorite Edwin came along for the fun! With so many native Spanish speakers in the group, Brittany was happy to have Edwin on hand to do some quick translating here and there. The library's official story hour was cancelled, but that didn't stop the tots from holding an impromptu story hour of their own, all snuggled up on the chairs set aside just for tiny readers.

Girls just want to have fun!

And they finally can, now that they are no longer grossly outnumbered by the boys at 2: Cool for School! But if Amy, Yamileth and Lyouba thought that more girls would mean tea parties and dress up, then they severely misjudged the young ladies of Brooklyn. When Amy discovered a crew of slippery, slimey worms hiding out in the backyard after an early Spring rain several weeks ago, it was Kansas City native Amaya who ran ove rin excitement to check out the critters, while Jackson and Thelonius backed up before Amy could suggest getting a closer look. Amaya, whose parents moved her to Brooklyn this year where her dad can be closer to the world of the stage, is a natural leader who strolls the playspace at Underhill with a self-assurance few grown adults have! Amaya has already had playdates with long-time 2: Cool for Schoolers Thelonius and Tommy. Perhaps it comes in part from having her good pal Bob, stuffed dog extraordinaire, close by her side most of the time!
While she's a bit more shy than Amaya, Mia, who just completed her third week with the tots and is the daughter of new Brooklynite Yelena, a yoga teacher from Serbia, has already adjusted remarkably well, especially considering English isn't her family's first language! Yesterday's morning circle time caught Mia clapping her hands, singing songs, and even cracking a smile or two!
Thelonius may not be a new Explorers, but he is learning a new skill---bike riding! The three-years-old is so determined to perfect the art of cycling that he rode, accompanied by Mom, of course, all the way form his Bed-Stuy home to our playspace in Prospect Heights! Kisha was lucky enough to see the cute pursuit for herself on her own way to work, and gave Amy and Lyouba a call with the heads up that the tyke might be a bit late to class. The exercise did body and mind good, as Thelonius has recently been mourning the loss of the family cat, which happened a few weeks ago. Our thoughts and hearts go out the Thelonius and his family for the loss of their much-loved pet.

Brooklyn in LOVE

Families who frequent our Prospect Heights playspace may have noticed that the artwork on the walls is constantly changing. From children's birthday cakes and expectant tummies to Brazilian beaches and African school children, each and every image displayed on the walls of 186 Underhill was captured by local photographers. As a business whose success relies on being strongly rooted in the community, whose client base is largely comprised or writers, visual artists, photographers and stylists, and whose two owners met in art school themselves, New York City Explorers is dedicated to supporting local artists and businesses whenever possible. Despite that fact, it may still come as a surprise to find out that the manager of our Prospect Heights location, Lyouba Assadorova, is a talented photographer herself. Lyouba, who goes by the photographer's tag, LOVE 44, has made an art of capturing the beauty in some of Brooklyn's least appealing cityscapes, in a way that only someone with a true love for the borough could do. Lyouba, a transplant from Bulgaria living in the Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn, has recently gotten some love back from the city she has given her heart to. "For the Love of Brooklyn", a photoblog focusing on the county of hipsters, selected our resident photographer as its Feature Fridays photographer in March 12, 2010. To check out her photos, and to read about some of Lyouba's incredible life story, go to http://fortheloveofbrooklyn.com/archives/2010/03/feature-fridays-lyouba-assadourova.html.
Not to be outdone, Bag of Tricks Babysitter and actor Sam Pinkleton has been recognized and rewarded for his artistic excellence as well---with a role in the musical comedy, "She Loves Me", playing at the Westport Country Playhouse from April 20th through May 8th. Sam has an ensemble part in the play, which tells the story of two feuding store clerks in 1930s Budapest who fall in love via anonymous love letter. Sound familiar? The play served as the inspiration for 1990s romantic comedy, "You've got Mail." Sam may not have hit it as big as Tom Hanks just yet, but that only means we're luck enough to have him as one of our most requested babysitters in the meantime! To book Sam or any of our other dynamic Bag of Tricks Babysitters, contact Amy Yurcan at ayurcan@nycityexplorers.com or at (718)809-6486.

There goes Peter Cottontail hopping down the bunny trail...

...but we'll see him again next year! Happy Easter to all Explorers and families who celebrated over the weekend. It was such a beautiful weekend, with temperatures in the mid-70s, that many of our Explorers hunted for eggs outdoors this year, including little Thomas Maresca, who, after a Saturday afternoon well-spent exploring all things vroom-vroom at the Jacob Javitz center's auto show, fell into a deep sleep with visions of marshmallow Peeps dancing in his head.
While Kisha and the rest of the Gandsy clan have spent many a weekend visiting family in South Carolina over the past few months, this holiday weekend was spent in the comfort of home-sweet-Brooklyn, which meant that Kisha was on-hand to facilitate the 2nd Annual Explorers' Club Jazzy Tea Party last Friday. While teachers Brittany and Amy were already en route to points south for the weekend, Kisha's energy and plans for fun were enough to fill the void and then some!
An afternoon of dancing, egg hunting, tea sandwiches and Easter bunny cake? The cute factor would be hard to believe if the ladies at 110 Schermerhorn hadn't immortalized the moment with a group picture!
Like everyone else in the city, we're excited about Spring's arrival and are eagerly making preparations for the warmer months ahead when our focus will be on our award-winning summer camp, headed by Senior Counselor Edwin Guzman and his staff of energetic Junior Counselors.
Despite the sunshine, there are still a few activities in the works that will be worth stepping indoors for. Next on the horizon? Breakdancing for Babies! Drop off your little one on May 1st, from 6pm-8pm for an evening that includes a pizza dinner followed by a breakdancing demo and lesson geared especially toward little ones headed by a local breakdancing pro. Bag of Tricks Babysitters will be on-hand so you don't have to! $25/child covers 2 hours of childcare, lesson and dinner! As always, siblings receive a 25% on this evening and all of our services and events. For more info or to book your tot's spot, contact Amy Yurcan at ayurcan@nycityexplorers.com pr at (718)809-6486.