Just Another Typical Day

A film shoot in the cemetery across the street from Lexi's school:

And a chicken on our fire escape:

What?! You don't see these things in your neighborhood?

How 'bout them Yankees?

We attended another Yankees game... this time without our kids and with some friends from our ward. This was a good one- the Yankees won 8-2, and we even saw Bobby Abreu hit a home run.

My First Race

On Saturday I ran in my first 5K race (that's 3.1 miles). I have been running now for about 3 months and hoped to be able to run the whole thing, but ended up walking for a small portion. I finished in under 34 minutes, which I was happy about (my mile average being just under 11 minutes which is better than when I ran a mile in gym class in Junior High, so I was thrilled about that). I am starting to really enjoy running. I'll find another 5K (maybe in October) and aim to run that one without stopping, for sure.

This one was so much fun! There were over 600 people there to race:

including Larry the Lighthouse (the mascot for the New Jersey Marathon):


The race was at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey (a small regional/business airport). We got to run on the runway, which was really exciting, and there was even a pace plane leading the racers:

It was HOT & the clouds had dispersed by the time the race got under way. I had the company of 6 other women from my ward which made it really fun, also.

Carol, Celeste, me, Kelli, Jessica, Miggy & Emily
July 18, 2008

Drums on the Hudson

On Friday we spent the afternoon & evening down in Battery Park City. We went to the Skyscraper Museum (which would have been more interesting if we didn't have restless kids in tow- thank goodness we had a free pass to get in!), rode the Staten Island Ferry, ate ice cream cones at McDonalds ($1.50 down there!), and then we headed over to Robert Wagner Park to have a pizza picnic with our friends (The Fugals) and participate in an African Drum Circle. There was a man who taught us how to play the drums (correctly) and taught us some basic rhythms and then we had a good time jammin' with the sun setting over the Hudson River & a beautiful view of Lady Liberty herself. It had been scorching hot in the afternoon, but as the evening wore on the weather was quite pleasant right there next to the water. Thanks, Cori, for organizing a wonderful evening!

Ella on the Ferry:
Ella amid the drums:

Ella & Alexis experimenting with some percussion sounds:

Alexis (looking thrilled) and Mom:

Our fearless leader:

Ella & Dad with the Statue of Liberty behind:

Alexis
Dad & Lexi "playing" a giant mandolin:

Gorillas in the Mist

July 4th found us enjoying another day at the Bronx Zoo. This time, we had a wonderful experience in the Gorilla exhibit watching all the gorillas play together, entertain us (some of them walked right up to the windows & touched the glass & posed for photos), and eat. They are amazing creatures and transfixing to watch.

in the words of my grandmother:

HATS OFF! IT'S INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Our country may not be perfect, but it's ours, and I love it!

First Steps

On Sunday, while my mother was here, Ella decided to really test her walking skills. She's been taking a few steps here and there over the past couple of weeks, but no more than about 2 or 3 at a time before she wobbles and collapses. But on Sunday, she really had some good series of steps- 10 to 12 or maybe even more. She seemed to be back to crawling for much of Monday (maybe it was the calming presence of Grandma that urged her on?) But now, 3 days later, it seems that she is spending more time on her feet than her knees. Every day she gets a little stronger, a little better.... and a little faster! I am happy, though, that she is finally developing this skill- the ground at the park has been very hot for her little hands to crawl on and she has been easily frustrated that she can't move as much as she could during the *cooler* weather. We bought some Teva sandals years ago when we were expecting Alexis, but she never fit into them during the summer time. I was hoping so much that Ella's little feet could wear the cute little sandals, and yesterday they took their maiden voyage through the sprinklers at the Hippo Playground. Photos from that excursion are on my friend's camera, so I'll get them up here in a few days.

Guest Post: Aunt Allie

(Note from Kendra: This post describes the day Lexi spent with Aunt Allie & *Uncle* Zac a few weeks ago- Saturday, June 14)...


Hey Everyone! Kendra has asked me to contribute a "guest entry" to her blog - which I am more than happy to do, since Alexis, Zac (my boyfriend), and I had one of the best days in Central Park.

We had been wanting to take Lexi on a field trip for quite some time now, but with everyone's busy schedule it has always been hard to coordinate. Miraculously, we all had this past Saturday available, and so a decision was made to take her to lunch, the Central Park Zoo, and then some ice cream after. Another miracle, when my mom e-mailed me telling me she had free passes to the Zoo the very day we were planning on going! Que dicha!! (that means "what happiness" in Spanish).

The day went fabulously! After my welcome was completely quashed by Zac's presence (Lexi came running down the hall and i got on my knees to give her a hug, only for her to run right past me screaming "ZAC!!!" and jumping into his arms), we set off for the Subway and some lunch at a diner near the Park. We ordered Lexi a grilled cheese, but she was very distressed because she wanted chicken nuggets.... they did not have any. So she refused to take even a bite of her sandwich, and we were very grateful to the kind server who did not charge us for her uneaten meal. On our way out the door we met another little girl named Lexi, and the family was very nice - they were entering upon us leaving, and heard me calling after Lexi.


After lunch, we went to the Park, and Lexi and Zac ran around like crazy hooligans. Lexi kept taking off running, screaming behind her, "Can't catch me, I'm the PORKA-DOT-DOT!"...
"what's a Porka-dot-dot?!"
"well, it's got 100 legs, 100 leaves, and 100 eyes on the leaves. It's kind of like a Centipede."


She played in the playground and in the sand with some other kids for an hour or so, and we continued on through the Park running around chasing the Porka-dot-dot, and looking for the zoo...

Success! We found it! We saw the penguins, monkeys, sea lions, all sorts of birds in the Rain forest section, and even some polar bears! We even ran into Lexi's new friend Lexi (from the diner) - and our Lexi promptly asked said Lexi if they could hold hands. It was so cute!


We left the Zoo around 4 pm, got some ice cream, and then the thunderstorm rolled in - and boy oh boy did it rain! It rained cats and dogs, spaghetti and meatballs, and I swear i even saw a Porka-dot-dot fall from the sky during a loud crack of thunder. We took shelter in a very nice hair salon (I attribute their kindness to Lexi's pure cuteness).... Once the rain subsided, we took the Subway back home to Kendie & Matt's, and called it a day.

We all had such a great time, and can't wait to take Lexi out on another field trip! Next stop, Shea stadium!