Da, that's some yummy Borscht!

As the last day of school for our Explorers that attend public school, it was also the last day of camp without said Explorers before the group expanded to its usual size and old friends were able to be reunited. Keyanna and Sam took advantage of the smaller group and headed off the beaten trail for the day to explore everything Russia on a day tour of Brighton Beach! Chosen by Eastern Europeans as Home away from Home due to its physical, geographical resemblance to the Ukraine, Brighton Beach is still home to a bustling Russian community with storefronts and restaurants specializing in Russian foods and treats. While everyone was more than happy to sample pierogies and a few campers even enjoyed the red borscht, only one intrepid senior camper braved the green borscht, relishing the slightly sweet, spinach-like flavor. Kudos to our campers (and counselors!) for being so open-minded. Their taste buds sure did appreciate it! Since no meal is complete without a little something sweet, lunch ended on a high (and yummy) note with bags-full of imported Russian candies for everyone to share. While the campers swear it was some of the best they've every tasted, counselors Sam and Keyanna begged to differ. Perhaps their pallets aren't as refined as our sophisticated campers'!

Little Audrey is made of Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice!

Little Audrey, a staple at NY City Explorers' outward bound Summer "edventure" camp for the past few years is no cartoon, but she is just as animated! The Saturday before her final Monday of Kindergarten saw Audrey and Amy, NY City Explorers' Child Care Coordinator and Creative Director, spending the day together while Audrey's mom got some much-needed time to herself. Particularly tired and still not finished with her school year, Audrey unloaded her fears to Amy about the upcoming Monday. It seems that Audrey had heard through the grapevine that Monday is to be Classroom Cleaning Day at P.S. 29, and the clever Kindergartner was already plotting ways to escape a day full of chores normally reserved for Saturday mornings! Somehow we think that wiping down the chalkboard and clearing out her desk with friends will hold more appeal than matching socks and making the bed with Mom!
While the ladies who lunch lounge pool and beach side reading rags about Angelina and Brad, Audrey and Amy filled much of their day in the company of Angelina Ballerina. After Audrey rubbed the sleep from her eyes over an episode of Angelina Ballerina, the little lady and her sitter headed to the public library, where Audrey practiced reading out loud from an Angelina Ballerina book.
After cooling down on the comfy chairs of the library's children's area and gobbling a slice each of thin crust from Sal's, the two headed to Carroll Park where Amy was delighted to bump into Vaughn, the tallest recently-turned-four-years-old she knows. While Vaughn has moved on from NY City Explorers' 2: Cool for School program once was, well, no longer 2, he is still a frequent guest for drop-off babysitting and other NY City Explorers events, and with a face that cute and a disposition that sweet, and a mom that friendly we hope he will continue to be a part of the Explorer family for a long time to come!

Summer Streets is a Weekend Treat!

The month of June ushered in the 2nd annual Summer Streets on Vanderbilt, a month-long weekends-only event that turns the normally bustling, noisy expanse of Brooklyn's up-and-coming Vanderbilt Avenue into a bustling noisy expanse of a more pleasant nature. Modeled after a similar festival on Manhattan's Park Avenue, each day of the festival will feature live music and arts entertainment, large areas of outdoor seating for neighborhood's many bars and restaurants, classes and impromptu shows and entertainment for Brooklyn-dwellers of all ages and inflatable mazes, tents and Foosball tables for the young and young at heart. With NY City Explorers' Prospect Heights location at 186 Underhill Ave now a mainstay among the community's children and their parents and caregivers, there was no doubt that Summer Streets was the perfect spot for us to set up some summer weekend fun for the month of June!
The morning of June 12th saw NY City Explorers' co-owner Keyanna Murrill and babysitter extraordinaire Sam, hauling tables, tents and fun from our playspace at 186 Underhill Ave to Vanderbilt Avenue to set up shop. With sidewalk chalk, a walk-in bubble castle and, of course, the bubbly personalities and creative minds of Keyanna and Sam on hand, the afternoon was off to a great start. It's always remarkable to see creativity in bloom, and by the end of the day there was no doubt that Brooklyn's babies have no lack or imagination, as the pavement in front of the NY City Explorers tent was positively drowning in colored chalk drawings of fish, flowers, people and names.
While kids focused on putting pen to paper, in a manner of speaking, it was all Sam and Keyanna could do to keep their tent and the colorful parachute that covered its top from being swept away by the afternoon's wind! With colorful tents, a sky full of bubbles and children on bicycles zooming in and out of the crowd, the vibe was more circus than piazza, and we wouldn't have had it any other way! Stop by our table this Sunday for some chalky fun, a balloon, ask about our newest programs, babysitting services and classes, or just to say "Hi!" to Amy, NY City Explorers' Creative Director and Childcare Coordinator.

Celebrate good times!

Friday afternoon the staff at 186 Underhill Ave had the pleasure of hosting Jackson and Vaughn during drop-off babysitting hours. After Jackson had polished off and afternoon snack of raising and homemade cookies, and Vaughn had gobbled up his bagel and cream cheese (Shhh! Don't tell the girls at neighboring Blue Marble that he brought it from home!) it was on to the toys! First blocks, where tiny tot Jackson and Big Slice Vaughn (according to his adorable t-shirt, and his size!) built towers almost as tall as themselves and then, just as quickly, knocked them down. All of their construction work seemed to leave the boys ready for a nap, but it's no surprise that Jackson was exhausted, as he spent the morning in cahoots with Tommy, trying run away from the group at the Underhill Playground! What better way to unwind from a tiring morning of playing than to settle down with a good puzzle? Vaughn helped his pal piece together NY City Explorers' giant floor pirate puzzle, his favorite toy at the space due in large part to the fact that he has the same one at home and can therefore piece it together more quickly than any other tot in Prospect Heights. Of course, the puzzle at the playspace does present the added challenge of being one piece short due to the missing piece having been gnawed upon by a baby!
With Jackson, Thelonius and Tommy transitioning out of 2:Cool for School and into pre-school this week, the last week for the three big boys was off to a celebratory start, with Anderson's mommy, Nina, bringing in cupcakes from the Blue Sky Bakery to help the apple of her eye celebrate 3-years-old in tasty style! His actual birthday may not have been until the next day, but everyone, especially Amy's baby bump, was more than happy to help him celebrate one day early.
The Explorers on the other side of town, at our Schermerhorn location, had something to celebrate as well: the first day of summer camp for 2010, and for some of our youngest campers, the first day of camp ever!

An apple a day

While grocery shopping is often an errand that our Explorers' parents leave tots in the care of our Bag of Tricks Babysitters in order to tackle, on Friday morning it was the kids who browsed the aisles.
Accompanied by Amy and Yamileth, the tots in attendance for Friday morning's session of 2: Cool for School headed out on their most colorful and tastebud-tempting excursion yet! After trekking to Prospect Heights' Vanderbilt Ave, Anderson, Kiera, Thelonius, Jackson, Tommy, Mia, Noon and Gaia walked single file through their neighborhood grocery store in search of items pictured on their lists. What a fun lesson in shapes, colors and sizes! Apples? Check! Carrots? Check! Cookies, milk and grapes? Check, check and check! As found items were crossed off of lists, the cuties drew more than a few glances from fellow shoppers more senior than themselves as well as compliments on both their fantastic behavior and cuteness!
The air-conditioned comfort of the market must have lulled the group into a false sense of temperature moderation, because by the time Amy led her little Explorers out the door, visions of swings and other playground wonders filled little heads.
A short stroll to Underhill Playground was hollowed by over an hour of outdoor fun. While there Thelonius and Tommy demonstrated that all of the time they have spent together has left them as close as brothers: bickering and all! Any toy that one boy chose to play with the other immediately wanted for himself. While the heat seemed to be making the two oldest boys in the group cranky, Gaia was relaxed into a slumber that looked so sweet she would have put Sleeping Beauty to shame.
The breeze blowing onto the group from the direction of the sprinkler was just enough to make the temperature bearable and to help make up Amy's mind about where the group's next excursion would take them: back to the playground, but this time in bathing suits for a run through the sprinkler of their own!