Yesterday we had some unbelieveably gorgeous weather, so I took Lexi down to Bryant Park with my friends (and hers) Jessica & Julia. We rode on the small carousel they have there, and when the ride ended all Lexi could say was "More!"
We went out to eat with Carolyn Forbes last night and the guy at the restaurant gave Lexi a temporary tattoo... let's hope that's the only kind she ever wants!
Today Lexi & I took a trip up to Purchase, NY to visit Grandma Susan in her element... at Pepsi's Headquarters. We had lunch in the delicious cafeteria and walked on the beautiful grounds. We were also able to meet lots of grandma's associates and her boss, Bevan. Lexi loved her time with Bevan... they spent a while coloring on his whiteboard and then erasing. He also gave her a pom-pom which she can't put down. Later in the afternoon when we were home, I found her sitting on the couch watching "Clifford" holding her pom-pom from Bevan. She wants to take it everywhere we go! During lunch, Lexi spilled a large amount of orange juice on her shirt, so Grandma bought her a new one at the gift shop. She was so excited to have a "new Pepsi shirt!" (in her words).
While putting my makeup on one morning, I was interrupted and left the mascara on the bathroom sink ledge. When I came back, I found Lexi with the top off, and a lovely smattering of mascara on her *eyelashes*. They start younger and younger nowadays, don't they?
On Friday afternoon I got an unexpected phone call from a dear friend from my Provo days... Emily Christensen was in Albany visiting her sister & bro-in-law with her mom and they were contemplating a day trip to NYC. The 4 of them came down today and we had a fun time- eating pizza at Grimaldi's, chocolate at Jacques Torres, walking the Brooklyn Bridge, Ground Zero, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, 5th Ave, Central Park & the Temple. A fast & furious tour of some of the city's highlights... and quality time with good people. Thanks for calling us, Em! I miss you!
Thursday Jonny Addams came to spend the day with us. Since I was hosting a book club that evening, we decided to make some buttermilk brownies together. I forgot to take a picture mid-project, so this is the aftermath of our baking adventure. Lexi & Jonny had the most fun banging their spatulas on the counter, the bowl, the mixer... anything that would make noise! Neither of them wanted to eat the finished product, though. That's okay! More for me!! ;)
For all those crime/investigation TV show fans out there... this photo is for you. Today we were up at the church and noticed the entire street was lined with trailers and then saw the film crews right next to our church. Turns out Law & Order was taping today. As we made our way down to the subway to go home, I got a glimpse of Dennis Farina who plays Detective Fontana on the show. Being the star-struck New Yorker I am, I had to get a photo... but then I realized I didn't have my camera. My wonderful friend Heather Jones came to the rescue lending us hers and downloading the picture for your viewing pleasure. Thanks, Heather!!
A couple of weeks ago we took a trip downtown to the Central Park Zoo with Lexi's friend Desi and my friend Heather (his mom) and new baby sister, Zoe. This zoo is great because it's small and doable in a couple of hours. It also has a children's zoo where the kids can feed the animals and climb on lots of stuff. Lexi loves the penguins and here she is with a sea lion just before the feeding show we got to watch.
As soon as we let the kids out of the strollers, Desi wanted to hold Lexi's hand and she obliged. They walked all the way into the rain forest exhibit hand-in-hand and I just about died! It was so cute! Lots more zoo pictures: click here.
This past weekend, Matt & I took a much needed "vacation" to beautiful Boston. It was quite chilly, but we expected that since it is March. The sun was shining brightly, though, and when the wind wasn't blowing it was quite pleasant. We loved just exploring the neighborhoods and seeing some of the significany sights of the Revolutionary Period of our country's history. We left Alexis with my mother, and she did well for the most part. Grandma Susan said Lexi missed us a little bit, but overall was in good spirits until we talked to her on the phone on our way home- good thing we were only an hour away!
Just a note on all the business sign pictures: "In the old days" people would send their servants down to Charles Street to do the shopping. Since many (if not most) of the servants could neither read nor write, the shop owner's put pictures on their signs so people would know what particular business was in each store. To this day the businesses continue that tradition. I loved the signs so much I had to take some photos...
Lexi has an obsession with chapstick. She calls it "Lips" and whenever someone gives her a stick of it, she seriously spends 5 minutes at a time just applying it to her lips. So when we looked back at Lexi in her carseat, we were not too surprised to see that she had thoroughly slathered her lips (and beyond!) with chapstick.
This week we went to Western New York to visit my grandparents. While we were there we were hit with a fast, but oh-so-furious snowstorm. About 2 inches in an hour's time!
We went out to eat tonight (as part of my mystery shopping gig) and at the restaurant they gave Lexi a pink helium balloon. She has been so fascinated with balloons lately since we've had lots around the house due to all our birthdays. This one created lots of fun static sending her hair into the atmosphere.
Lexi and I attended our last class at St. John's Cathedral (since we'll be out of town for next week's class). Today was all about weaving and looms. Here is Lexi doing some intricate weave work on one of the looms in the basement of the cathedral.
So after the snow had melted some, we came down to the car to find quite the surprise. Matt had been checking the car daily as we are parked on a somewhat busy street and were afraid someone might slide into the car, and indeed it seemed that something happened- although it unfortunately did not end up in the car being totaled. As you can see by the tracks in the snow, it appears a large truck (most likely a sanitation vehicle, which have been doing the snow plowing) seems to have pulled in front of our car snagging the bumper as it passed and ripping it right off. It is hanging by one little part on the passenger side. I took it over to the Toyota repair shop a few blocks away and they re-secured the bumper cover with zip-ties which they say will hold it for now, but that we will need to get the whole thing replaced- yikes! We are also due for an inspection in the next couple of weeks. It has been a rather big ordeal dealing with insurance, police reports, repair places etc, and has brought out many many conversations of "Should we get rid of the car?" And so, we are planning on getting rid of the car... although it may take us a couple of months to do that.
Here is a photo of our car the day after the storm. Don't know if we'll be using it anytime soon!
Click here for more pictures of Lexi and the snow. She refused to wear her mittens as they impeded her hand mobility quite a bit.
This is Lexi standing (yes, standing) in the snow in the front yard of our church building. Matt helped shovel the sidewalks around the building after church. He would clear off one area, go to work on another, and by the time he was finished with the second the first area had to be cleared again! Lexi was in heaven.