May 2011

In May, our friend Angie was visiting the city, so we got to spend a whole day with her! We started with breakfast at Crepes on Columbus. Although I love this place, we had to wait well over an hour for my & Angie's food. We didn't really notice at first because Angie & I were so busy talking and catching up, but the kids were getting more restless by the minute until I finally realized it had been more than an hour since we sat down (and the place was not full to capacity). When I asked about it, they quickly brought out Angie's, but then we still had to wait another 10 minutes for mine! When they finally brought it they thought they had the wrong order. It was nuts. They comped my meal (without our asking), which was the least they could do in my opinion.

After brunch we headed to the Swedish Marionette Theater in Central Park to see their latest production, which left a lot to be desired by the adults, but the kids loved it, so that was good. We wandered through Belvedere Castle and then through the park to a playground where we sat and talked some more while the kids played. We spotted a raccoon as we were leaving.  We also got some ice cream at Coldstone & treats at Jaques Torres Chocolate & then parted ways in the late afternoon....

It was a beautiful day and we spent it with a wonderful friend.  Thanks for making time to see us, Ang!

May also brings Mother's Day which we spent picnicking in Ft. Tryon Park not too far from our home.  Allie and my mother came to join us.  It was another beautiful day (although a little chillier than we anticipated) and Allie & Mom fell in love with Ft. Tryon Park.  The Heather garden was blooming beautifully, and the views of the Hudson were stunning.  It was a great afternoon!

We also spent a day at the Museum of Natural History checking out their new dinosaur exhibit.  It's small, but pretty interesting about how they lived.  They have a dig pit in which Ella and Julia spent lots of time excavating.

And, finally, one photo of Ella and Maddie.  We went to visit our friend, Lynn, who has a dog named Maddie.  Typically, Ella talks about how much she likes Maddie, but when Maddie comes close or tries to smell or lick Ella, Ella backs away and seems nervous & unsure.  On this visit, however, Ella jumped right into Maddie's bed and seemed a little more comfortable than usual!  So funny!

April 2011

In April, some of our friends from our days in Provo came to visit & we got to spend the afternoon eating pizza and playing in Central Park. Our kids got along well, which was wonderful (a friend Lexi's age!) and it was so great to hang out with them again!

April also brought a wonderfully fantastic trip for me, all by myself! I went down to Florida to visit my sister. A friend graciously gave me some buddy passes to fly down there (which was a little stressful since I had to fly standby, but it all worked out pretty well, thank goodness!). I went during spring break, so Matt was able to stay home with the girls. And I had an amazing time in the sun & with my sister!

Day 1: Laura picked me up at the airport (I made the first flight I tried for) and we headed straight for the nail salon to get pedicures. Then we stopped at her cute home (which sits right on a beautiful canal) and rested for a little while before going out to dinner at a restaurant right on the water of the Intercoastal Waterway.

(the restaurant)

Day 2: Laura had to work, so I rode with her to several appointments. It was actually really fun and I enjoyed watching her in her element. It also provided lots of good conversation time!  We ate at her friend's cafe for lunch and then went shopping for a big barbecue at her home that evening where I was able to meet most of her close friends (and lick the brownie batter off the spoon).

Day 3: We started off with a cruise down the Intercoastal waterway- HUGE houses. Beautiful weather. Relaxing cruise complete with margaritas.  Then lunch at one of her favorite places followed by a little souvenir shopping for my kids & then a few hours at the beach. Delicious dinner cooked by Joe and we just relaxed at home.

There are many bridges along the waterway and they open on a timed schedule.  Our cruise was timed so that we never had to wait more than a few minutes for a bridge to open to allow our boat to pass under.

Day 4: Breakfast out with Laura & Joe and then off to the airport to head back to my little family. The kids did great with Matt, and hardly seemed to miss me at all (is that good or bad?!) This was the first trip I've taken by myself in ages, maybe even since before we got married 10.5 years ago. I have Matt, our friend Jeff, & my sister Laura to thank for making it all possible!!
(And sorry I don't have photos of Joe, or their dog Odin! I was too busy having a good time to stop to take photos).

March 2011

Things that happened in March?  I don't really remember very much.  Except that our friend Sheridan was in town on her way to England, so Ella & I spent St. Patrick's Day eating at the Shake Shack with her (yum! St. Paddy's Shakes!!) and watching some of the parade on 5th Avenue, playing at a playground, meeting the police & horses, exploring the Belvedere Castle & just enjoying the amazingly gorgeous day it was.

Also, here's a photo of me at that point in time.  I guess that was about 25 or 26 weeks along.  We already knew it was a boy at this point and I realized I had virtually no photos of this pregnancy. 

February 2011

In February we celebrated the Chinese New Year by attending a party hosted by the Chinese Branch of our LDS Stake.  They had delicious food (our girls are BIG fans of pork fried dumplings), some entertainment & the highlight of the night was the lion dance, not to be confused with the dragon dance.  There is a tradition at Chinese New Year to feed the lion money in a red envelope, & although the girls were a little nervous to do it, they mustered all their bravery and fed the lion!











February also brings a week off of school in the NY Tri-State area, which means both Alexis and Matt were home with Ella & I for the week.  We did lots of fun things.

The Museum of Natural History with Ella's friend, Julia




A Pinkalicious Celebration at Borders Books: crafts, parade & story reading






The Museum of Modern Art (there are some great packets for the kids to fill out & a wonderful resource room where they can do some hands on things)










Reading & Playtime at home (when mom&dad were too tired to go anywhere)




Alexis got to write & publish her own book at Scribble Press


We definitely wore everyone out!

Updates Coming

Well, I see I haven't blogged for a long, long time.  I have had a lot going on and blogging was not a priority for me.  I've been taking some classes towards a master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology.  I've been growing a new human. I've been trying to keep house & take care of the other 3 humans that live with me.  I've been spending lots of time with the young women of our church.  And I'm tired.  And that new little human?  He's due to make an appearance in less than 2 weeks, and school has ended for the semester (I got As!) and so I'll try and do some brief recaps of the past few months.... Stay tuned!