He lost his poor meatball :(

The first weekend of December is under our belts and with it we finally ushered in temperatures worthy of the season.  While it's hard to take mittens and hat weather after the unseasonably but delightfully warm November we enjoyed on the East Coast, with the Holiday season upon us, it is about time we're able to start seeing our breath in the chilly morning air!
     We're so glad that despite the early winter chill, some of our Explorers Academy Preschool family members were able to make it to The Learning Garden at 186 Underhill Ave in Prospect Heights on Saturday.  We always enjoy the time that we're able to spend in fellowship with the preschool families outside of school hours, and Saturday was no exception, with NY City Explorers' Creative Director Amy Yurcan in attendance with her family and Bag-of-Tricks-Babysitter (www.nycityexplorers.com/sitting) Sam Pinkleton on hand with a slew of colored Popsicle sticks and plans for holiday tree craft in his noggin.  Company co-owner Kisha Gandsy, a usual fixture at EAP Parents Playgroups on first Saturdays, was missed, but as her childhood BFF was making a visit from South Cackalacka, she was excused from the festivities for the first time, with all in attendance looking forward to seeing her fam, all three little ones included, in January!
     Kisha's and husband Chris' Haven, Shelton and Isa were surely missed by the attending tots, but Olive, Kai and Jules enjoyed playing, snacking, crafting and even an impromptu song circle just the same, with the intimate crowd allowing for personal conversation that the dads in attendance seemed particularly appreciative of.  Amy's hubby Bryan missed his usual chitchat with Kisha's Chris, but the convo about all things classic rock-related that he enjoyed with Jules' papa Andrew and Kai's dad Rory filled the gap nicely, and then some!
     Sam and Amy loved bringing the little ones' song requests to fruition, shakers, drums and all.  Kai impressed the whole group by keeping nearly perfect rhythm on a hand drum throughout the session, while Jules' mama Melanie warmed the hearts of Amy and Sam both with the revelation that one of the tunes suggested for the sing-along, "On Top of Spaghetti", would be a poor choice.  Jules, Melanie revealed, finds the premise of the song, the journey of a wayward meatball, to be saddening.  Is there a cuter tale to be told?  We think not!