Leo Bollen was born on Thursday 19th May at 17:10 (22:10 GMT). He weighs 8lbs 13oz and is 21 1/4" tall (what's that in cm?).
Mum and baby are both doing well. Leo has met his big brothers and they are very cute together.
There are some photos on our flickr site and we'll get some more up there soon. www.flickr.com/lyntom
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Spring in New York
Hello everybody,
Rachel is here and we are waiting for Leo's arrival. The due date is today, but so far there have been no signs of him making his debut appearance in the world. When he comes we will try to text you all, but keep checking back here and we'll get some stats and photos up as soon as possible. On the right you can sign up as a follower of the blog, and then you'll get an instant email when there's any news.
We've been enjoying the last few weeks as spring finally arrived. Spring here seems to last only a few weeks, it's cold/snowy/rainy and then suddenly the flowers come out and the temperature shoots up into the 20s. Last year it came a lot earlier, so we thought that was the norm.
We had a nice Easter, with three easter egg hunts for the boys - one at Sam's school, one here, and one put on by Maria, our lovely teenage neighbour and babysitter. We also got some free tickets to go and watch a New York Mets baseball game with Paul. We got on the big screen twice, the boys got a baseball each from one of the coaches, and Sam and Max met Mr Met.
We had a lot of fun at the Tribeca family festival watching some BMX tricks, playing with bubbles, bouncy castles and baseballs, and seeing some wonderful acrobats.
Rachel has arrived and it is lovely having her here. Sam and Max are really excited and have been showing off their swimming, puzzle making and climbing. Since we got back from Mexico Sam's swimming has really taken off. It's amazing how fast he learns. Three months ago he didn't have the confidence to swim more than two metres, and now he's swimming six feet down to get rings from the bottom of the deep end. Rachel has an underwater camera so we have some amazing photos.
Here's the link to look at pictures from our last couple of months. Check back soon for some photos of baby Leo.
Hope to speak to you soon,
Tom x
Friday, April 22, 2011
Super Sam and Magic Max go Bananas!
A story by Sam Bollen
Super Sam and Magic Max were in their bedroom sleeping. Morning came and they woke up and went to school. After school they had ice cream and as they were eating it Sam’s hand started to vibrate.
“Hello, Super Sam and Magic Max, how can we help you?”
A strange voice said, “It's bananas! Every time we pick a banana fire comes out of the banana”.
Super Sam said, “Ok. We’re coming to help”.
Super Sam and Magic Max flew through the sky until they saw people picking bananas. As they were flying over they saw a big fire. They flew down to the burning bananas and they said, “Give all the bananas to us please”.
And then they brushed and combed the bananas and the fire stuck to the Magic Max’s magic hairbrush so they weren’t dangerous anymore. Super Sam and Magic Max gave the bananas back to the people and the fire didn’t come out of them anymore, so they could all eat the bananas happily.
The people said thank you to Super Sam and Magic Max. Super Sam and Magic Max said, “That’s no problem. Can we please take some bananas for our monkey friends?”
Super Sam and Magic Max flew to Mexico and gave bananas to all the monkeys in Mexico. They flew so fast around Mexico that they were faster than a plane. In fact they were even faster than Father Christmas delivering his presents. They dropped one banana to every monkey and then all the monkeys met together and played catch with the bananas.
Super Sam and Magic Max took the last two bananas back to New York to eat with their ice cream. But when they got back to New York mummy had eaten all of their ice cream. Mummy got them a new ice cream and they sat in the sun eating it all up!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
David Rocastle remembered
Today marks the 10 year anniversary of the death of David Rocastle, my all time favourite Arsenal player. He played on the right wing, so when we were attacking the Clock End he was always right in front of where I would stand in the Junior Gunners section. I can clearly remember being a twelve year old there for Arsenal vs. Middlesbrough in 1988. I was right on the touchline and Rocky got the ball in front of me, before beating about seven players and scoring off the post. One of my favourite ever goals. He was my idol and I would spend hours trying to copy his tricks. My favourite was the stepover dragback that he did time and again in front of me, always fooling the defender.
The real reason he was loved so much was his relationship with the fans. The success never went to his head and he always went out of his way to give back to the supporters. When I used to wait in front of the marble halls for autographs he would sign every last one, and chat while doing so. One half term at Arsenal Soccer School we had a trip to the training ground and met the players, and he talked to every single kid. He was a lovely man, and a great player.
Oh Rocky, Rocky! Rocky, Rocky, Rocky, Rocky, Rocastle!
Depending on your settings you might not see the full screen, so here's a link to the video on youtube.
The real reason he was loved so much was his relationship with the fans. The success never went to his head and he always went out of his way to give back to the supporters. When I used to wait in front of the marble halls for autographs he would sign every last one, and chat while doing so. One half term at Arsenal Soccer School we had a trip to the training ground and met the players, and he talked to every single kid. He was a lovely man, and a great player.
Oh Rocky, Rocky! Rocky, Rocky, Rocky, Rocky, Rocastle!
Depending on your settings you might not see the full screen, so here's a link to the video on youtube.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Mexico
Hello everybody,
We had a lovely holiday in Mexico. It was great to get away from the New York winter and warm up a bit. New York is very cold in the winter and our apartment isn't very insulated. The cold wind comes straight off the river and right through the windows. Going away seemed to mark the end of winter and it was noticably less cold when we returned. March is a strange month here though. Last year the weather forecast oscilated between warm, snowy and floods. This year has been much the same. Last friday it was 25 degrees, but then on Wednesday it snowed!
With the new baby coming along in May we had decided it would be a perfect time for a beach holiday. Little babies and beaches don't mix particularly well, but Sam and Max love the sand, the waves and swimming pools too. We were considering a trip to Mexico, or at least somewhere warm, and then a great deal popped into my inbox and we bought it as our Christmas present to each other.
We went to Cancun for 10 days to a hotel right on the beach. It had beautiful swimming pools, gorgeous looking sea and was right at the bottom of the cancun strip, so far enough away from the really touristy part. We spent most days swimming, lazing around and playing on the beach. It was warm, but not too hot, and there was always a wind coming in off the sea to cool us down. Sam loved the whirlpools, Max loved swimming after his football in the pool, and Lyn and I just loved spending lots of time all together, relaxing. We hadn't had a relaxing beach holiday in about seven years. All of our recent holidays have been exploring interesting places and have had either a lot of time on public transport (pre-kids) or in a car (post-kids). We've seen some amazing places, but it was really nice to just chill out for once.
Having said that we did hire a car for a few days. I had wanted to visit Mayan pyramids for a long time, and the trip to Chichen Itza was amazing. It is such a beautiful, perfect pyramid. I find it incredible that people on either sides of the world decided to make pyramids in days apparently before world travel. Both the Mayan and the Egyptian pyramids are beautiful, and very clever (mathematically, astronomically and logistically) but they are also very different. The settings are different - desert (on the edge of one of the world's biggest cities) vs. cleared jungle miles from anywhere, the purposes are different, the theology is different and the designs are different. But I could sit and stare at them for ages, not alone in finding beauty in perfect geometry.
On another day we drove to Coba, which was one of the biggest Mayan cities in its day. Most of the ruins are today lost in the jungle, but the largest parts remain, spread out over several kilometres. Coba had two large pyramids, one of which at 42 metres high is taller than Chichen Itza's. Although not as well preserved as Chichen Itza you are allowed to climb to the top. It was not an easy climb, especially for Max (although Sam raced ahead), but getting to the top was amazing. From the top you could see for miles around, looking out over the jungle. While we were there we had a drink, watched the iguanas and witnessed a marriage proposal. The climb back down was even harder, especially for a pregnant Lyn in her flip-flops and dress that kept blowing up in the wind! Fortunately we had hired a tricycle to take us back the two kilometres to the car park, stopping off along the way to look at some other smaller ruins. The Mayans played a ball game that seemed to be a cross between football and basketball (except the losers were sacrificed, or the winners, depending on which historian you believe) and we saw some courts, as well as a beautiful observatory.
After leaving the site we found a really nice roadside cafe where we had some of the nicest food of the holiday and then relaxed in their hammocks. On the way back we stopped off at Tulum and saw the Mayan ruins on the cliffs above the sea. This is where I would have lived if I had been a Mayan king. Right on the coast, with my temple looking out over the waves...
Our other great day out was a visit to a crocodile farm and spider monkey sanctuary. We held young crocodiles, stroked snakes and fed wild monkeys. Spider monkeys are the monkeys with big stong tails which are almost like a fifth arm. They have always been Lyn and my favourites at London Zoo and these were free in the wild, hanging out at the sanctuary. We had a small bag of bananas and carrots to feed them, and they would follow us around for a while. At one point I was carrying Max and a monkey took his hat off his head! This gave Max his favourite story, and you will no doubt hear him say 'the monkey took my at'!
After catching a bus back to downtown Cancun we went to a party restaurant with live music, dancers and loads of skeletons. The waiters carried everything on their heads and juggled the condiments. Every so often there was a little skit and one time Sam was invited to chase a burglar around the restaurant and bash him with a stick! Sam is really into bad guys at the moment so he threw himself into the part. We all danced the tequila song and Sam got a dance from a beautiful waitress. On the way back to the bus we crossed a square where they were renting miniature cars to local kids and the boys had a drive - Sam on a dune buggy and Max in a convertable mini. Sam drove really well and even managed to reverse park. Max thought he was driving, but I had a remote control!
We spent the rest of the time at and around the hotel. At the beginning of our stay Lyn was recognised by the lady who did her make-up at our wedding. This was very impressive as they'd only met twice, over two years ago. It was a really nice surprise to meet people from London. Ronit had a daughter who was Sam's age and they played a lot together. Most nights we all went to dinner together and the kids entertained themselves. They both went to the hotel kids club as well, so Sam was very happy. His first holiday romance!
We had a lovely holiday and Mexico is definitely somewhere we'd go back to. The people were really friendly, the food was good, the setting was beautiful and the weather was great.
Here are some photos for you to enjoy.
Lots of love,
Tom, Lyn, Sam and Max x
We had a lovely holiday in Mexico. It was great to get away from the New York winter and warm up a bit. New York is very cold in the winter and our apartment isn't very insulated. The cold wind comes straight off the river and right through the windows. Going away seemed to mark the end of winter and it was noticably less cold when we returned. March is a strange month here though. Last year the weather forecast oscilated between warm, snowy and floods. This year has been much the same. Last friday it was 25 degrees, but then on Wednesday it snowed!
With the new baby coming along in May we had decided it would be a perfect time for a beach holiday. Little babies and beaches don't mix particularly well, but Sam and Max love the sand, the waves and swimming pools too. We were considering a trip to Mexico, or at least somewhere warm, and then a great deal popped into my inbox and we bought it as our Christmas present to each other.
We went to Cancun for 10 days to a hotel right on the beach. It had beautiful swimming pools, gorgeous looking sea and was right at the bottom of the cancun strip, so far enough away from the really touristy part. We spent most days swimming, lazing around and playing on the beach. It was warm, but not too hot, and there was always a wind coming in off the sea to cool us down. Sam loved the whirlpools, Max loved swimming after his football in the pool, and Lyn and I just loved spending lots of time all together, relaxing. We hadn't had a relaxing beach holiday in about seven years. All of our recent holidays have been exploring interesting places and have had either a lot of time on public transport (pre-kids) or in a car (post-kids). We've seen some amazing places, but it was really nice to just chill out for once.
Having said that we did hire a car for a few days. I had wanted to visit Mayan pyramids for a long time, and the trip to Chichen Itza was amazing. It is such a beautiful, perfect pyramid. I find it incredible that people on either sides of the world decided to make pyramids in days apparently before world travel. Both the Mayan and the Egyptian pyramids are beautiful, and very clever (mathematically, astronomically and logistically) but they are also very different. The settings are different - desert (on the edge of one of the world's biggest cities) vs. cleared jungle miles from anywhere, the purposes are different, the theology is different and the designs are different. But I could sit and stare at them for ages, not alone in finding beauty in perfect geometry.
On another day we drove to Coba, which was one of the biggest Mayan cities in its day. Most of the ruins are today lost in the jungle, but the largest parts remain, spread out over several kilometres. Coba had two large pyramids, one of which at 42 metres high is taller than Chichen Itza's. Although not as well preserved as Chichen Itza you are allowed to climb to the top. It was not an easy climb, especially for Max (although Sam raced ahead), but getting to the top was amazing. From the top you could see for miles around, looking out over the jungle. While we were there we had a drink, watched the iguanas and witnessed a marriage proposal. The climb back down was even harder, especially for a pregnant Lyn in her flip-flops and dress that kept blowing up in the wind! Fortunately we had hired a tricycle to take us back the two kilometres to the car park, stopping off along the way to look at some other smaller ruins. The Mayans played a ball game that seemed to be a cross between football and basketball (except the losers were sacrificed, or the winners, depending on which historian you believe) and we saw some courts, as well as a beautiful observatory.
After leaving the site we found a really nice roadside cafe where we had some of the nicest food of the holiday and then relaxed in their hammocks. On the way back we stopped off at Tulum and saw the Mayan ruins on the cliffs above the sea. This is where I would have lived if I had been a Mayan king. Right on the coast, with my temple looking out over the waves...
Our other great day out was a visit to a crocodile farm and spider monkey sanctuary. We held young crocodiles, stroked snakes and fed wild monkeys. Spider monkeys are the monkeys with big stong tails which are almost like a fifth arm. They have always been Lyn and my favourites at London Zoo and these were free in the wild, hanging out at the sanctuary. We had a small bag of bananas and carrots to feed them, and they would follow us around for a while. At one point I was carrying Max and a monkey took his hat off his head! This gave Max his favourite story, and you will no doubt hear him say 'the monkey took my at'!
After catching a bus back to downtown Cancun we went to a party restaurant with live music, dancers and loads of skeletons. The waiters carried everything on their heads and juggled the condiments. Every so often there was a little skit and one time Sam was invited to chase a burglar around the restaurant and bash him with a stick! Sam is really into bad guys at the moment so he threw himself into the part. We all danced the tequila song and Sam got a dance from a beautiful waitress. On the way back to the bus we crossed a square where they were renting miniature cars to local kids and the boys had a drive - Sam on a dune buggy and Max in a convertable mini. Sam drove really well and even managed to reverse park. Max thought he was driving, but I had a remote control!
We spent the rest of the time at and around the hotel. At the beginning of our stay Lyn was recognised by the lady who did her make-up at our wedding. This was very impressive as they'd only met twice, over two years ago. It was a really nice surprise to meet people from London. Ronit had a daughter who was Sam's age and they played a lot together. Most nights we all went to dinner together and the kids entertained themselves. They both went to the hotel kids club as well, so Sam was very happy. His first holiday romance!
We had a lovely holiday and Mexico is definitely somewhere we'd go back to. The people were really friendly, the food was good, the setting was beautiful and the weather was great.
Here are some photos for you to enjoy.
Lots of love,
Tom, Lyn, Sam and Max x
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Hi everyone,
It's been ages since we last did a post. We've had visitors, Max's birthday, Christmas, loads and loads of snow, hail, ice and wind since then.
Bob, Tom's dad, came to stay in November. It was great. He went to various New York sporting events with Tom, went to see Gil Scott Heron with me and we all went to museums together. It was lovely spending time with him and watching him playing with the boys. We all really missed him when he left.
My lovely friend Olivia came for the week before Christmas. Unfortunately, her visit coincided with when New York's winter weather started and the snottiest stage of the boys' colds. They weren't at their most beautiful. Inevitably, she got a cold too and spent most of her visit apartment bound - although she did help me with Christmas shopping the day before Christmas Eve in a mall in New Jersey. It was so fantastic to see her. It felt like when she used to come and stay with us in London. I'd really missed her warmth and sense of humour. The thing I still can't get used to about being over here is being so far away from all our amazing friends and family.
Max's birthday was fun, if a little stressful in preparation. I organised my first indoor children's party not in a school. We had 8 nearly 2 year olds and 4 year olds and their parents. I think a good time was had by all - but it was pretty manic.
Christmas was really civilised. The boys woke up at a very respectable 8 o'clock. Sam woke up first and then woke Max up and gave him his stocking. They made present opening last all day. They opened a present, played together with it for an hour and then went for the next one. I know it's not always going to be that peaceful. It was really lovely - just too far away from everyone.
Winter here has been pretty brutal and relentless in its coldness. It was warmer than England for the first part of December. Then on Boxing Day, it snowed all day and night along with with really strong winds. We took the boys out to play in it, but only lasted 7 minutes. Max got blown over and it was no fun at all. It was really beautiful to watch from inside though. The next day it finally settled and Sam and I went out to play Antarctic explorers. He stepped onto a pavement that no-one had walked on and the snow came up to Sam's chest. It still hasn't melted. There are big grey dirty icy piles of the stuff everywhere with dog poo and litter hiding in it which are irresistable to Sam and his friends. We've had 2 snowfalls of more than 20" and lots of this New York phenomenon called 'Wintry Mix' which consists of hail, wind, rain, snow and everything cold and nasty. There was a snow day one day which was lovely. We met up with some children from Sam's class and did sledging and made snowmen and it was great fun. Everywhere we went there were jubilant children and teenagers free for a day.
Winter has been especially hard for the children, because it has been hard to go out and play as much as they would like. We have had loads and loads of play dates with children who live in our building in each other's apartments. Also, Bob very kindly bought us all a year's membership for Brooklyn's Children's Museum which also gets us into other museums and sights around America. We've already used loads including to visit the Intrepid which is a massive aircraft carrier that was bombed by Kamikaze planes in World War 2. We joined a community centre and have gone swimming loads. About 2 weeks ago, Sam discarded his float and noodle and started swimming on his own. It was ever so impressive. We were so proud, I had tears in my eyes.
Tom and Sam went skiing with one of Sam's friends and his Dad for the day at a ski resort 2 hours drive away. Everyone had loads of fun, despite lots of falling over!
Something we forgot to mention in our autumn post was the US Open tennis. Both Tom and I went to an evening session, Tom with some friends from work and me with Karen. Tom saw home favourite Andy Roddick lose in the second round and the next night I saw Novak Djokovic win. During the match, a block away from where I was sitting there was a fight in the seats. It was unbelievable with play stopping as the two rolled down the stands. Here is a video. It changes from an arguement to a fight 1min in. Needless to say the US Open is very different from Wimbledon...
Here are a collection of our winter photos.
Hope you are all well. Roll on Spring!!! We'll be back soon with a post and photos from our holiday to Mexico.
It's been ages since we last did a post. We've had visitors, Max's birthday, Christmas, loads and loads of snow, hail, ice and wind since then.
Bob, Tom's dad, came to stay in November. It was great. He went to various New York sporting events with Tom, went to see Gil Scott Heron with me and we all went to museums together. It was lovely spending time with him and watching him playing with the boys. We all really missed him when he left.
My lovely friend Olivia came for the week before Christmas. Unfortunately, her visit coincided with when New York's winter weather started and the snottiest stage of the boys' colds. They weren't at their most beautiful. Inevitably, she got a cold too and spent most of her visit apartment bound - although she did help me with Christmas shopping the day before Christmas Eve in a mall in New Jersey. It was so fantastic to see her. It felt like when she used to come and stay with us in London. I'd really missed her warmth and sense of humour. The thing I still can't get used to about being over here is being so far away from all our amazing friends and family.
Max's birthday was fun, if a little stressful in preparation. I organised my first indoor children's party not in a school. We had 8 nearly 2 year olds and 4 year olds and their parents. I think a good time was had by all - but it was pretty manic.
Christmas was really civilised. The boys woke up at a very respectable 8 o'clock. Sam woke up first and then woke Max up and gave him his stocking. They made present opening last all day. They opened a present, played together with it for an hour and then went for the next one. I know it's not always going to be that peaceful. It was really lovely - just too far away from everyone.
Winter here has been pretty brutal and relentless in its coldness. It was warmer than England for the first part of December. Then on Boxing Day, it snowed all day and night along with with really strong winds. We took the boys out to play in it, but only lasted 7 minutes. Max got blown over and it was no fun at all. It was really beautiful to watch from inside though. The next day it finally settled and Sam and I went out to play Antarctic explorers. He stepped onto a pavement that no-one had walked on and the snow came up to Sam's chest. It still hasn't melted. There are big grey dirty icy piles of the stuff everywhere with dog poo and litter hiding in it which are irresistable to Sam and his friends. We've had 2 snowfalls of more than 20" and lots of this New York phenomenon called 'Wintry Mix' which consists of hail, wind, rain, snow and everything cold and nasty. There was a snow day one day which was lovely. We met up with some children from Sam's class and did sledging and made snowmen and it was great fun. Everywhere we went there were jubilant children and teenagers free for a day.
Winter has been especially hard for the children, because it has been hard to go out and play as much as they would like. We have had loads and loads of play dates with children who live in our building in each other's apartments. Also, Bob very kindly bought us all a year's membership for Brooklyn's Children's Museum which also gets us into other museums and sights around America. We've already used loads including to visit the Intrepid which is a massive aircraft carrier that was bombed by Kamikaze planes in World War 2. We joined a community centre and have gone swimming loads. About 2 weeks ago, Sam discarded his float and noodle and started swimming on his own. It was ever so impressive. We were so proud, I had tears in my eyes.
Tom and Sam went skiing with one of Sam's friends and his Dad for the day at a ski resort 2 hours drive away. Everyone had loads of fun, despite lots of falling over!
Something we forgot to mention in our autumn post was the US Open tennis. Both Tom and I went to an evening session, Tom with some friends from work and me with Karen. Tom saw home favourite Andy Roddick lose in the second round and the next night I saw Novak Djokovic win. During the match, a block away from where I was sitting there was a fight in the seats. It was unbelievable with play stopping as the two rolled down the stands. Here is a video. It changes from an arguement to a fight 1min in. Needless to say the US Open is very different from Wimbledon...
Here are a collection of our winter photos.
Hope you are all well. Roll on Spring!!! We'll be back soon with a post and photos from our holiday to Mexico.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Yellowstone and Autumn
Hello everybody!
It's been a long time since we last gave you all an update, the last couple of months have been very busy. We had an amazing holiday in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, Lyn is pregnant, I've been working hard, Sam has started school and Max is growing up fast.
Lyn is now 13 weeks pregnant, and little Bollen number three is due in the middle of May. We're very excited and looking forward to meeting the next member of our family. The whole US medical thing is a bit scary, but we've found a nice midwife centre and hopefully will be able to have a midwife led delivery in the home-from-home section of the hospital. Lyn is now starting to bloom and we had a 12 week scan last week and everything seems to be going well. We'll be finding out whether it'll be a boy or a girl just after Christmas.
I'm sure you've probably already seen our Yellowstone and Grand Teton photos. If not, here is a link. It is an incredible place. We flew from New York to Salt Lake City and then drove to Grand Teton where we stayed for two nights in a lodge on Jackson Lake. In Teton we did a few hikes, watching out for bears, and hired a speed boat which Sam and Max drove round the beautiful lake with crystal clear reflections of the mountains. We then went on to Yellowstone, where we stayed at Lake Yellowstone Hotel, then log cabins in Mammouth and then Old Faithful. Every day was action packed and we saw bright coloured volcanic springs, bubbling pools, geysers, waterfalls, canyons, buffalo, elk, bears and an eagle. The only slight blot on the holiday was that Lyn fell over on the penultimate day and had to have 15 stitches in her knee. She's fine now and just has a very impressive scar to show for her pains, but it meant that she was immoblised for a few days, and in pain for a few weeks.
There were so many highlights and this would be a very long blog if we listed them all. Seeing the geysers erupt was amazing, as was watching two bears face off over a carcus. It was like watching a David Attenborough documentary. In fact the holiday was like being in a 7 day BBC nature extravaganza. I would strongly recommend it to everybody as somewhere to visit - the world's largest supervolcano and America's serengeti.
Sam started school just after we got back to New York. He is really enjoying it and it seems to have given him a real desire to be independent and more grown up. It's great when he comes home and tells us the things he has learnt and done, or sings American children's songs. It's a lovely sociable school, the children are gorgeous and Sam's teacher seems brilliant- very calm, experienced and warm. The children are allowed to play in the playground (the yard) for 15 minutes after school has finished which gives all the parents a chance to chat. Also, because of the vertical nature of Manhattan living, the geographical catchment area is very small. We live 15 minutes walk away from school and we are at the end of the catchment area. So we bump into Sam's classmates all the time. In fact, about a third of Sam's class live in our building. A lot of them have little brothers and sisters too. This all means that Sam, Max and I are broadening our social circle which was long overdue!
Ann, Doctor's Mum, came to stay for a week in September which was really nice. We did a lot of touristy things with her and she spent a lot of time playing with the boys which they really enjoyed.
Since then we've been enjoying Fall in New York. We went to Bronx zoo with Paul which was fun. The boys loved seeing the animals again. We went out to Long Island to Sam's friend's Khadeejah's birthday party, at her grandparents' house. It's always nice to get out of the city and they put a lot of effort in, with organized activities and farm animals in the garden. Sam and Max had a ride on a pony and we saw a huge preying mantis - very strange animals.
Two weekends ago we took the train upstate and went apple picking. It was fun, although the place was busy and we had to use a pole to get the only apples that were left, high up the trees. We got a big bag and have lots of apple puree in the freezer to make pies with. Also the fresh apple donuts that they make are delicious. The leaves had started to change colour and it was very beautiful.
Last weekend was Halloween, which is a lot bigger here than in the UK. On Thursday evening Sam and Max went to a party in the nursery at my work, while Lyn and I went out for dinner. On Saturday there were parties in the World Financial Center and the park. The boys dressed up, Sam as a fireman and Max as a gorilla! On Sunday we went trick or treating in our building complex and we bumped into a girl from Sam's class and did a bit with her. If you put your name on the "we welcome Trick or Treating list" you can get hundreds of kids visiting as they photocopy it and a six page document gets handed out to all the apartment blocks in the area. There were teenagers walking around with pillowcases full of sweets! You can also trick or treat in shops, fire stations, restaurants and the place goes candy-mad. One corridor in our building did a haunted house, with all the lights out, dead people lying all over the floor and others jumping up out of cardboard box coffins. Sam and Max were probably the least scared, as they had no clue what was going on! After the trick or treating we headed up to the Halloween parade in the West Village. The best bit is getting of the subway and seeing a platform full of people dressed up as everything, not only scary costumes, but also animals, superheros and drag. It showcases New York creativity and is very friendly and entertaining.
This weekend we went to the Bronx Botanical Gardens, which was inspired by Kew. It's another one of the things we can get into for free thanks to my work. The autumn colours were beautiful and the boys really enjoyed running around the trees and kicking the leaves.
The weather has been mostly good, although it's starting to get cold now. New York has a lot of blue sky days. When the clouds build up either the atlantic wind blows them away or there are big thunder storms, which are great to watch (see this photo on the bbc website).
We've put some more photos up on the site and here's a link.
Hope you are all well and planning your NY visits!
Lots of love,
Tom, Lyn, Sam and Max
Editor's note: Most of this was written by Tom. Some has been written by Lyn, and in these bits she talks about herself in the third person. The longer we've been away from England, the more she's turning into the Queen!
It's been a long time since we last gave you all an update, the last couple of months have been very busy. We had an amazing holiday in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, Lyn is pregnant, I've been working hard, Sam has started school and Max is growing up fast.
Lyn is now 13 weeks pregnant, and little Bollen number three is due in the middle of May. We're very excited and looking forward to meeting the next member of our family. The whole US medical thing is a bit scary, but we've found a nice midwife centre and hopefully will be able to have a midwife led delivery in the home-from-home section of the hospital. Lyn is now starting to bloom and we had a 12 week scan last week and everything seems to be going well. We'll be finding out whether it'll be a boy or a girl just after Christmas.
I'm sure you've probably already seen our Yellowstone and Grand Teton photos. If not, here is a link. It is an incredible place. We flew from New York to Salt Lake City and then drove to Grand Teton where we stayed for two nights in a lodge on Jackson Lake. In Teton we did a few hikes, watching out for bears, and hired a speed boat which Sam and Max drove round the beautiful lake with crystal clear reflections of the mountains. We then went on to Yellowstone, where we stayed at Lake Yellowstone Hotel, then log cabins in Mammouth and then Old Faithful. Every day was action packed and we saw bright coloured volcanic springs, bubbling pools, geysers, waterfalls, canyons, buffalo, elk, bears and an eagle. The only slight blot on the holiday was that Lyn fell over on the penultimate day and had to have 15 stitches in her knee. She's fine now and just has a very impressive scar to show for her pains, but it meant that she was immoblised for a few days, and in pain for a few weeks.
There were so many highlights and this would be a very long blog if we listed them all. Seeing the geysers erupt was amazing, as was watching two bears face off over a carcus. It was like watching a David Attenborough documentary. In fact the holiday was like being in a 7 day BBC nature extravaganza. I would strongly recommend it to everybody as somewhere to visit - the world's largest supervolcano and America's serengeti.
Sam started school just after we got back to New York. He is really enjoying it and it seems to have given him a real desire to be independent and more grown up. It's great when he comes home and tells us the things he has learnt and done, or sings American children's songs. It's a lovely sociable school, the children are gorgeous and Sam's teacher seems brilliant- very calm, experienced and warm. The children are allowed to play in the playground (the yard) for 15 minutes after school has finished which gives all the parents a chance to chat. Also, because of the vertical nature of Manhattan living, the geographical catchment area is very small. We live 15 minutes walk away from school and we are at the end of the catchment area. So we bump into Sam's classmates all the time. In fact, about a third of Sam's class live in our building. A lot of them have little brothers and sisters too. This all means that Sam, Max and I are broadening our social circle which was long overdue!
Ann, Doctor's Mum, came to stay for a week in September which was really nice. We did a lot of touristy things with her and she spent a lot of time playing with the boys which they really enjoyed.
Since then we've been enjoying Fall in New York. We went to Bronx zoo with Paul which was fun. The boys loved seeing the animals again. We went out to Long Island to Sam's friend's Khadeejah's birthday party, at her grandparents' house. It's always nice to get out of the city and they put a lot of effort in, with organized activities and farm animals in the garden. Sam and Max had a ride on a pony and we saw a huge preying mantis - very strange animals.
Two weekends ago we took the train upstate and went apple picking. It was fun, although the place was busy and we had to use a pole to get the only apples that were left, high up the trees. We got a big bag and have lots of apple puree in the freezer to make pies with. Also the fresh apple donuts that they make are delicious. The leaves had started to change colour and it was very beautiful.
Last weekend was Halloween, which is a lot bigger here than in the UK. On Thursday evening Sam and Max went to a party in the nursery at my work, while Lyn and I went out for dinner. On Saturday there were parties in the World Financial Center and the park. The boys dressed up, Sam as a fireman and Max as a gorilla! On Sunday we went trick or treating in our building complex and we bumped into a girl from Sam's class and did a bit with her. If you put your name on the "we welcome Trick or Treating list" you can get hundreds of kids visiting as they photocopy it and a six page document gets handed out to all the apartment blocks in the area. There were teenagers walking around with pillowcases full of sweets! You can also trick or treat in shops, fire stations, restaurants and the place goes candy-mad. One corridor in our building did a haunted house, with all the lights out, dead people lying all over the floor and others jumping up out of cardboard box coffins. Sam and Max were probably the least scared, as they had no clue what was going on! After the trick or treating we headed up to the Halloween parade in the West Village. The best bit is getting of the subway and seeing a platform full of people dressed up as everything, not only scary costumes, but also animals, superheros and drag. It showcases New York creativity and is very friendly and entertaining.
This weekend we went to the Bronx Botanical Gardens, which was inspired by Kew. It's another one of the things we can get into for free thanks to my work. The autumn colours were beautiful and the boys really enjoyed running around the trees and kicking the leaves.
The weather has been mostly good, although it's starting to get cold now. New York has a lot of blue sky days. When the clouds build up either the atlantic wind blows them away or there are big thunder storms, which are great to watch (see this photo on the bbc website).
We've put some more photos up on the site and here's a link.
Hope you are all well and planning your NY visits!
Lots of love,
Tom, Lyn, Sam and Max
Editor's note: Most of this was written by Tom. Some has been written by Lyn, and in these bits she talks about herself in the third person. The longer we've been away from England, the more she's turning into the Queen!
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