FREE!

Monday was National Empanada Day (What?  You didn't know?  Yeah, I didn't either!), and to celebrate, a restaurant chain (that I had never even heard of before Monday!) called Pollo Campero was giving away free empanadas.  I didn't have an after school activity planned with the kids when I got the email about it, and I have a soft spot for empanadas because they remind me of New York* so I figured we'd give them a try. They offer three flavors, so we got one of each (spicy chicken to take home for Roy, citrus chicken for me & Riley to share, and bean and cheese for Leighton).  Leighton looooved his.  He is keen to get them again (and to try out their plantains and beans and rice).  Riley didn't like the filling but enjoyed the crispy outside.  Roy & I liked everything we tasted - we're easy!

* I am not sure I had ever heard of or paid much attention to an empanada before living in NYC, but while living there, it was common to read about them, see them, and eat them!  Roy and I used to walk past Ruben's Empanadas (sadly it has now closed ) in the East Village all the time, and I always wanted to try them, but for some reason, we never did.  I did try some from Reuben's Empanadas near South Street Seaport with my friend Heather when we were both pregnant and waiting to go on a boat cruise around the tip of Manhattan.  I also got to try homemade ones a few times.  A friend's husband made them for their joint baby shower, my friend Darlys (also of arepa fame) made them for us a few times, and our friend Luis made them for us shortly before we moved as well.  Leighton always loved them, and really, what's not to love about a fried pastry dough filled with meat and/or cheese?!?! 

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Tuesday was Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day.  I think it has now been well established that I 1. love ice cream and 2. love a good deal.  So, I don't think it will come as any sort of surprise that I had this marked on the calendar and planned for quite some time to take the kids after school!  I was a little worried that there would be a really long line - there certainly was the time I recall walking past in Manhattan several years ago - but, the kids decided it would be worth the wait, so we went for it.  There was a bit of a line, but nothing to make us second guess our decision.  And when we got our cones, there was nobody sitting at any of the tables outside on the little patio, so we snatched one up in a hurry.

I took a picture of Leighton first. 

Then while I tried to get one of Riley looking at my phone, Leighton ate his entire cone.  The kid does not mess around when it comes to ice cream (with his meat at dinner?  that's a whole different story!).

I decided I did not need to eat my entire cone (complete and total honesty here: I already had to finish Riley's cone from IKEA earlier in the day because for some strange reason she didn't want to finish it) and was happy to share with Leighton.

And Riley declared several times that she was done and that Leighton could eat hers, too.  Although, every time we attempted to verify with her that she in fact was donating her ice cream to the make-the-brother-happy fund, she would snatch it back (see that little hand in the photo?!?!).

She did end up sharing a lot of the cone with him though.  So, even though Riley and I ate ice cream from two different places during the day, Leighton ended up eating the most in total!  But, Riley wins for funniest photo:

And in the spirit of old photos of Leighton from the other two posts I am putting up right now, I dug up these old ice cream pictures of Leighton.

His first taste of ice cream on his 1st birthday (fed to him by Grandma, the original #1 ice cream lover in the family).

Next taste of ice cream (19 months at Bronx Zoo) and first taste of Dippin' Dots (and look how young I looked - wowza!).

First ice cream cone (2nd birthday) and first try of ice cream in a flavor other than vanilla (strawberry) - we even had to teach him how to lick the ice cream and bite the cone!  My, how times have changed!!

I am pretty sure Riley had more ice cream in the 18 months since she has turned one than Leighton had between the ages of 1 and 4!  Funny how different things are with the second child!

Okay, trip down memory lane completed.  Now back to the other day ...

We had some time to fill before I needed to pump the children full of some healthy food to sustain them during Leighton's soccer practice until we were heading out for dinner at Los Tios for a school fundraiser (yes, chips as salsa AND ice cream all in one day!), so we decided to keep with the theme and play at the ice cream playground (aka Weir Park for a while).  The 5-12 yr old section was closed, which I just read is because they are installing some much needed shade to that part - yay! - but we had fun playing on the 2-5 yr old side.