New York

Living on the East Coast is cool.  We get beaches, beautiful fall colors, and proximity to a lot of swell things.  New York is one of them -- so far we have made it into Manhattan twice.  Once was for an overnight get-away (thanks to my wonderful mom who played nanny) and the other was for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.  It was surreal to see things in such an everyday context when they are world famous.


Our first adventure was a lot of fun.  We saw a Broadway show, took the ferry past Lady Liberty, ate a lot of great food, saw Times Square and Central Park, visited the rebuilding of the twin towers, and had a great time exploring without little ones in tow.

Times Square

Central Park (we saw a tiny corner of it - I can't wait to take the kids there soon) was a haven in the concrete world of Manhattan -- just when I was thinking that I'd lose my mind without some kind of contact with nature, we walked into this refuge with parks, greenery, trees, rocks, grass.

The ferry ride was fun, but sooooo cold!

Ground Zero and the Twin Towers being rebuilt

Q was sure that I almost bumped into Connan O'Brian while crossing the street in front of Central Park.  By the time I'd safely gotten to the other side, I couldn't tell much except it was a tall, skinny man with big orange hair, so maybe!

We hung out and chatted with Occupiers on Wall Street for a bit.  I had wanted to talk to someone actually involved in the movement, instead of just hearing about it on the news.  I'd like to say that I came away understanding their cause, but they didn't seem to know what they were trying to accomplish.  It was a tiny park, filled with an unusual mixture of people in tents who knew they were involved in something big, but didn't really have a specific goal or agenda.

 The day before the New York Marathon -- lots of runners and flags.

Our second adventure was on Thanksgiving morning.  I'd wanted to go to the parade, but my sister was flying into town very late the night before and it just didn't seem to make sense to try to drag everyone out in the cold  with little sleep.  But... I couldn't resist.  A bit last minute, I did some research and we just went for it.  Seeing the parade really was a once in a lifetime experience.  It was cold, packed, and hard to see everything, but there was such excitement in the air and the kids were in awe of the big balloons.  Afterwards we got some street food and then headed home to fix a Thanksgiving dinner.  It was a very full and satisfying day.  I was especially thankful for a hubby that humored me, a sister that provided extra helping hands, and her Nook that saved the day.

 Neil Diamond

The stands across the street are reserved for Macy's employees and their families as a thank you for the holiday hours they put in.  Right behind the bleachers is Central Park.

A couple of days after the parade, I went to a movie with my sister and the parade was in the movie -- it was so cool to say "I WAS THERE -- I'VE SEEN THE MACY'S PARADE IN PERSON!"  Now I kind of want to go back and re-watch all of the tv shows and movies based in NYC.

Halloween 2011

Halloween in Connecticut reminded me of many Halloweens Past in Utah -- SNOWY!!!  L was sure it was because of her Fairy Snow Princess ring that had special powers.  Many people here were without power for almost a month.  We had school and church canceled for 1 day, but other than that it just made the weekend a bit more exciting.  

  

Yes, those are still unpacked boxes stacked up because our kitchen has yet to be replaced.

She really loved her hat

A dragon

Calvin and Hobbes

A Princess Witch

Our neighbors had a party for the block right before Trick or Treating.  It was great to have everyone together -- there was a sense of community that was really nice.  We did miss everyone sitting out on their porches like they do in Columbus, but the kids had a great time.  I think this was the first year that I didn't feel overwhelmed with the insane amount of candy that usually results from Halloween.  Our Trunk or Treat was canceled because of the storm and that really made a difference.  And thanks to small bags, after 2 streets their candy was overflowing so they felt liked they'd made a haul!

First Day of Preschool

Somehow we managed to sneak into a crazy cheap and fabulous preschool for C.  I had planned to be part of a home-based group, but things have worked out so that he is in a class with his Connecticut BFF and another friend and he is loving it (actually, today he told me that he doesn't love it, but he really likes it a lot).

Bonus points to anyone that can guess what he's going to be for Halloween -- after the shoot I thought of this strip.

I am excited that I get to spend some quality time with Little G and hopefully get some day-time shopping done with only one boy in tow.  A friend of mine had a great idea that I tried out for the 1st day of school photos (why could I only find a cheap dry erase board?).  And I loved the idea of adding favorites from the beginning of the year.

Columbus Partying

Both of these events are long past, but I couldn't possibly leave them out of our Columbus good-byes.  

First, I wanted to remember our Good-Bye Party.  Since our neighbors from up the street were moving the same weekend that we were, Sarah and I decided to combine our good-bye party with a shout out to our boys that had worked so hard to finish their schooling. I think my favorite part was the ice-cream cake that probably had the decorator wondering who the happy couple was.  We had lots of friends who came out to wish us well and celebrate with us.  It was a reminder of how much Columbus had become our home.

Secondly, the post on Q's graduation would not be complete without our fabulous 2nd half of the day  -- THE PARTY!  An amazing friend of ours went all-out to plan, put-together, and bake for this event.  A party focused on cookies couldn't have made him happier.  We owe her our first-born for all of her efforts, but I think her hands are pretty full already.  Thank you, thank you, Laura for a wonderful evening!  There are a lot more pictures on her blog, so you can check them out  here.

The cookie spread

Q and his boys

How many cookies have you had?!

The wonderful women that let us return to our old backyard to party -- thanks Laura and Ellie! 

Just another reason to come and visit us....

My sister received this welcome upon arriving in Connecticut:

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2011/09/29/business/doc4e84d673623b0078205230.txt

What?!  Who knew that actually happened to people?




Other highlights:

The Beach

Hiking

Trolleys

We're sorry we couldn't get the leaves to turn earlier for you, Dani, but now you can use your free ticket to come back and visit...

Graduation

Now that things have settled down a bit, it is time to catch-up on some past MAJOR events.  For example, there was that small ceremony that we had been waiting seven years for -- Q's GRADUATION!!!

We traveled back to Ohio to take part in all of the pomp and circumstance.  It was quite the adventure -- especially being in close quarters with family and visitors without a vehicle (the rented van spent an entire day in the mechanic shop).  However, the actual day of graduation was fabulous.  We rode to the event on a pedicart which the kids (and I) thought was quite the way to travel and arrive at the big event.

Q's proud parents (who had been praying and waiting many years for this event as well) were able to visit us in Connecticut and then make the road-trip to Ohio to see their son become a PhD.

His sister and brother-in-law also made the trip to come and show their support (we were very lucky to have the extra rental car that could fit a couple of people in for food-runs and Trader Joe sanity-saver escapes). 

One of the best moments of the trip came when Q heard hollering in the stands and looked up to see three of his closest childhood friends making some noise for him.  They had flown in as a surprise and the look on his face was proof that they had succeeded.  I had tried talking them out of it, but they were determined to be there and it made the day all the more memorable for Q -- I don't think the smile left his face for the entire ceremony.  He kept looking up into the stands and shaking his head in disbelief that they had come.

I was excited that the day had come at last, and I was proud that we'd both made it through!  

Graduate school was a lot of intense years, but we loved our time in Columbus and the friends we made there.

WAY TO GO Q!!!

We survived the road-trip both ways and were relieved to find that our home had suffered no major problems from Hurricane Irene that had passed through as we were traveling back to Connecticut.

End of Summer

Just to prove we DO live near the ocean, here are a couple of shots from the end of summer:

Playlist for Cleaning with Kids

Back when C was just over a year, they use to fight over who got to sweep.

A while ago I decided that we needed a playlist that was solely for clean-up time.  We had "The Happy Working Song" from Enchanted on CD and I loved to put it on full-blast to get the kids psyched for picking up.    However, as I tried to come up with additional songs, I discovered that my list was very short and Disney based.  Do you have any suggestions from oldies, country, indie, the 80's, etc -- tunes that inspire cleaning?  Here is my list so far:

- Happy Working Song, Enchanted

- Whistle While You Work, Snow White

- It's a Hard Knock Life, Annie

- When Will My Life Begin, Tangled

- Rubity, Scrubity, Sweepity, Sword in the Stone

- Spoon Full of Sugar, Mary Poppins

- Dig it, Holes

- Be Our Guest, Beauty and the Beast

- Clean my Room, Imagination Movers

And just to include more pictures, here are a couple of L's most recent dress-up creations:  

 Jedi Knights

Fairies 

(actually, a fairy and a sparrow man if we're going to be correct in our fairy terminology)

First Day of First Grade

After many delays, this 1st Grader was ready to begin her school year.  There were nerves from not only being the new girl, but also the one that was arriving 3 days late to class.  Luckily we'd met one girl from her class and had a play date.  Plus, she ran into a friend on the way to her classroom.  And the biggest help for the first day jitters was a sweet girl from her Primary class at church, who got permission to leave her class to come and check on L.  She got to us just as I was trying to convince L to enter the room.  Having a friend wrap her into a hug and sweep her into the class was a lifesaver for both of us.

 She's making lots of new little friends and told me today that she 

thinks there's someone in her class that has a crush on her.  

Don't we all?