Waiting for the cookies

Sometimes the cookies just take just a little to long…

A Day with the Family

Since the weather was so wonderful today we took the kids out to SeaWorld.  There’s not much better than a day out with the family.

Taking care of the twins

Crystal’s sister Misty left her twin babies with us for a few hours the other day.  Watching the twins is really easy now that we have our own little babysitter.

After all of that tiring work, there is nothing better than a nap.

Soccer

If only the goal had been his. 

Tea with the girls

This past Saturday we got to sleep in and woke up at almost 9:00.  Dalton was up watching TV and Addie was still not up.  We peeked in her room to check on her and this is what we found.  She had lined up all her dolls with cups and was having a tea party. 

New York Vacation

We have finally narrowed down the almost 800 pictures from our New York City vacation to a manageable level.  So now we can share the stories…

Day 1

We woke up early and boarded the plane for New York.  My parents Lance and Judy (whom the kids call Poc & Maca) joined us.   This trip was really supposed to be a birthday gift for Lance’s 50th birthday.  We had a layover in Baltimore (where half of my cell phone still resides) and made it to New York in the early afternoon.  As we were  landing the pilot said, “Welcome to La Guardia.”  Dalton asked as loud as he could, “Is that Spanish for New York?” 

For our NY trip Crystal and I decided to rent an apartment.  We found a nice one online on the West side so we took a chance.  It was a nice 800 SF 2/2 apartment on W. 79th a block from the Natural History Museum.  It turned out pretty nice, though I’m pretty sure that Sam (the manager) actually still lived there.  We found his clothes and toothbrush.  The first night we hit up Times Square and walked through Central Park a little. 

We found a nice little grocery store a few blocks from our apartment and loaded up with supplies for the next few days.  Then on the walk back we learned why native New Yorkers do not “load up” on groceries. 

Day 2

The next morning we woke up early and walked through the park to the Central Park Zoo.  They had great sea lion, snow leopard, and polar bear exhibits.  Even though it wasn’t large, we really liked the zoo.

Snow Leopard

We visited FAO Schwarz and Dalton played on the BIG piano.  After that we walked back across the park to the American Museum of Natural History.

That night we took a horse carriage ride through Central Park.  This was Addie’s favorite part of the entire trip and she has asked a thousand times to ride the horses. 

Since we weren’t tired yet we decided to go see the top of the Empire State Building at night.

Chrysler Building at night

Day 3

We woke up real early on Friday and got on the subway to go down to the World Trade Center.  We got to see the new towers going up but it was hard to get good pictures.

NYC Subway

We then got on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Ellis Island was very interesting and had some amazing exhibits.

We then walked back through downtown and Wall Street.

New York Stock Exchange

NYPD (NYSE)

We finished up the day by walking through Chinatown.  We managed to take a scenic route and got to see parts of Chinatown that are definitely not on the tourist route (Crystal was the navigator).   :-)

Day 4

The next morning we got up (slowly) and went over to the Guggenheim Museum.  The architecture of the building was really cool.  The art was ok. 

Afterwards we went back through Central Park and let the kids play in a waterpark.  They had a great time and liked Central Park the best of everything in New York.

We then went to the Grand Central Terminal and the huge food court underneath. 

Grand Central

Underground of Grand Central

Check out the guy sleeping in the chair.  I guess it’s his layover for his train?

We decided to walk back to Times Square and found an Irish-American festival going on.  I bought some great ties from the vendors.  (I did not see a single Irishman though.)

Irish-American Festival

We finished up the day at a great little Chinese food restaurant off Times Square.  We went back to pack up and just enjoyed getting off our feet.

Day 5

The flight home went very smoothly.  For those who have never tried it, flying with a two year old is awesome!  It doesn’t matter that you have the worst boarding pass ever, you get to board first.  Crystal asked me to sit with Addie on the flight back because Addie has a habit of getting bored and wanting to explore.  She generally lacks the ability to sleep anywhere but her bed.

All…flight…long.  Awesome. 

More Pictures

There are a lot more pictures if you are interested.  Click here.

Dalton’s First Day of School

It’s official.  Blake and I are parents of a kindergartener.  We dropped him off bright and early this morning with lots of smiles to be worn all around. 

Sound asleep.  He went right be bed last night and was asleep in no time at all.  Hopefully he is well rested for his first day after our busy vacation in NYC.

Making his way out of bed.  As you can tell, he was not in a hurry.

Breakfast time.  Dalton requested donuts so we figured we could treat him on his first day of school.  Don’t worry, he also had some strawberries and milk too. 

Posing for pictures.  You could tell he was pretty excited about starting school because he wanted to have his picture taken.

Walking into school. 

In front of his school building.

Waiting in the cafeteria.

Meeting new friends. 

Lining up to go to class.  Can you see the excitement on his face?

Holding the door for his classmates.

Getting his nametag in class.

Shortly after this, we said goodbye and left our little guy at school.  No tears have been shed thus far.  I think he’ll have a fantastic day.