Madison's sisters deserve a playgroup too!/マディソンのお姉ちゃん達だってプレイグループしないとね！

One of Anna's New Years Resolutions was to be more active and meet more people...hence her finding the meetup website and hooking up with her Japanese Playgroup, a playgroup in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and the doggy playgroup that we attended today :-)
アンナが新年の目標として“もっと活発にいろんなことをする”って言ったの覚えてるかな？ミートアップのサイトで見つけた日本人ママのグループ、ウィリアムズバーグのママのグループ、そして今日行って来たワンちゃんのグループ：）これがその目標の成果。

Since we had both girls we decided to drive into the city in the hopes of finding a parking spot near Union Square which is always an adventure...today was no exception, but we stayed calm and squeezed into a spot we didn't have to pay for so we were off to a good start.
赤ちゃんとバガブー、そして犬２匹を連れて地下鉄に乗るのは大変だからいつも駐車場見つけるの大変なんだけど車で行く事に...今日もやっぱりすぐには見つからなかったけどグルグルと回っていたら無料で止める場所が見つかりました。

While driving around to find a parking spot we passed the Fish and Chips place that Anna took me to on my 30th birthday (Salt and Battery) so we joyously went there and shared a basket at Union Square Park which was packed on this near 75 degree, first official day of spring.
グルグルしている時に丁度通りかかったのは僕の誕生日に行った魚の唐揚げとポテトが美味しいお店(ソルト＆バテリー)、車を止めた後早速そこでお昼を買って春１日目でと〜っても混んでいたユニオンスクエアでお昼休憩。



After eating lunch and a quick trip to Whole Foods for half price Fuji apples, we headed to the playgroup at a place called Biscuits and Bath.
お昼を食べた後ホールフーズで安売りをしていたふじリンゴを大量に買ってプレイグループの場所(ビスケットとおふろ)へ到着。
It wasn't as "high class" as we might have expected for people in Manhattan who own small dogs, but it was really interesting to see how Ellie and Coco reacted to so many other small dogs...they hid. They wouldn't leave our side...we found a spot in a corner so Anna could attempt to feed Madison and the girls, who very rarely get to be off leash, took the opportunity to hide behind Anna's chair...
マンハッタンの小型犬グループにしては思ったよりおしゃれじゃなかったけど、エリーとココが他の犬達にどういう反応をするか見れて面白かったです。なんと僕たちのそばから全然離れなかったんです。マディソンにご飯をあげれるようにわざとすみに場所を取ったにも関わらず、せっかく首輪無しで動き回れるのにアンナの椅子の下に隠れてばかり...

Finally other doggies said enough is enough and came to try to introduce themselves to our two little wall flowers.
何匹か待ちきれすビーンズ達を誘いに来てくれたけど反応無し。

It was really cute to see how Ellie and Coco stuck together and stuck with us...once Anna got up and went across the room they followed her and interacted with the other doggies a little better...One thing Anna didn't like however was that some owners wouldn't pick up after their doggies when they went number 2 on the wee-wee pads...that is until we watched the little video we took and found out that we were that owner...HILARIOUS!!! And Anna blamed the chihuahua :-)
とても可愛かったのがお互いにピタッとくっ付いていたエリーとココ...一回アンナが動き回ったら一緒に付いて他のワンちゃん達と匂いを嗅ぎ合ってたけどね...アンナが気に入らなかった事の一つは飼い主の人達がうんちの片付けをしなかった事...でも家に帰って僕の撮ったビデオを見たらえっ、うちらじゃん...まじで!!!あれチワワがしたのかと思ってた：）

Lastly, one of the dog owners dressed up in a bunny costume so that we could torture both our dogs and Madison simultaneously...that was very nice of them :-) Actually a lady with a very nice camera snapped a ton of photos which will be available for free sometime soon so hopefully she did a better job then I did...it looks like Madison has Coco's ears!!
最後に、来ていた飼い主の一人がこのウサギのぬいぐるみを着て写真を撮らせてくれました...見ても分かる通りマディソンはご機嫌斜めの結果、でもエリーとココは良い子にしてました。そこにいたプロのカメラマンの人がいっぱい写真を撮ってくれてからもう少ししたらその写真を見る事が出来るはず...僕が撮った写真よりも良いのがいっぱいあれば良いんだけど...マディソンがココの耳を着けてるみたい!!

Finally we end with your bonus picture of the day which was taken by Anna Friday...as she was in Times Square she saw Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle's Dad among other things) giving an interview...nice picture baby!! Anna also walked all the way home while Madison slept (probably about four miles) with two flat tires on her bugaboo...impressive and a little silly :-)

最後の最後に、アンナが金曜日に撮った写真...マディソンとタイムズスクエアを歩いている時にちょうどインタビューされていた有名な俳優ブライアン クランストン...上出来ベイビー!!
そして、そのまま歩いてコロンバスサークルのホールフーズに立ち寄りながら寝ているマディソンと家まで約6.5キロも歩いて帰ったアンナ...しかもバガブーのタイヤは片方パンクでもう片方全然空気無しとすごいんだけどちょっとあきれちゃうね：）