::NYC week 2 day 1::

We're back in the big city!
We got here on sunday. The plan was for us to attend the ward that this house we're staying in would belong to.
Unfortunately, traffic did not cooperate! We forgot that it was the end of a long weekend (4th of july) and it was pretty packed all the way through Connecticut. Accidents didn't help with that either. We left in plenty of time to make it to sacrament meeting, but ended up arriving much too late. So that was too bad.

To make up for it we hopped on the subway and rode uptown to visit the Manhattan temple. We came up the stairs from the subway and were trying to figure out where we needed to go from there. I looked up and there was Moroni! It was kind of weird. The spire is really the first thing you see from that particular stairway.

I guess it's a kind of small temple with a meeting house somewhere in the same building where the Manhattan ward usually meets (when it's not being renovated like right now)
The building is a lot shorter than some others around it, but it's really neat looking. We peeked in the door and saw some pretty stained glass.

Those things on the side that look like windows actually aren't. I think they're some sort of metal decoration. They're really pretty. Kris says he's heard that it's really quiet and serene in that temple, which is amazing because the street out there is so busy!

We walked across the street to the Lincoln Center and got a better view.

It's really just smack dab in the middle of the action. Very cool.

Then Max had an emergency poop episode. All I can say is, thank goodness for Barnes and Noble and their bathrooms. They've saved us more than once.

Have I written here before about the fact that Max loves the subway? Well he does. He LOVES the trains. And it doesn't hurt that they're all designated with letters (and a few with numbers) It's really exciting to him when we go on the N train or the F train or whatever. He can tell the difference and really likes paying attention to which train we need and which trains we've been on.
I like the trains too for a lot of reasons. It's really convenient to ride them, it's cheaper than driving and it means I don't have to drive in this city, which is good because if I did have to drive I wouldn't come!
What I don't like about them? How hot and dirty the stations are. Yuck. With how hot it is out here right now, I feel like the second I step down into one of those stations I'm all sweat. So gross.
But all in all I'm a big fan of public transportation like this. I don't really like buses for some reason, but I really like trains.


This is the stop right by the place we're staying.



This place has a shower with sliding doors. I don't really know how to describe it--it's like there are three different panels, and the two on the sides can slide to either side depending on where you need them. Anyway, the point of this is that Max likes to pretend those shower doors are subway doors. He's always pretending different trains are coming and that he's getting in or out. I've gotten him to take a shower every single day because of this. It's been fabulous.


Poor Kris, good thing this trip isn't much longer or else I'm afraid his neck will end up broken. Shoulder riding is really the only way he can carry Max for any long period of time, and that needs to happen a lot out here. When Max gets tired he slumps down on Kris's head and rests his head on his arms. He did it to me one time for like two seconds and I almost died. He is so heavy. Kris is a trooper.


And it didn't help that on Sunday Dora decided to come with us on our outing. Max informed us that she was there, and the she was riding on HIS shoulders. That couldn't have helped!

Kris made this picture and then showed it to Max the next day. He laughed with glee for like 10 minutes straight. He thought it was so awesome.

It's so fun to get to spend time together. I like the city and all, but that's really the reason Max and I came back. And so far it's going well!

.::Yum::.

Kris and Max are great at making pancakes. Pretty much anytime that I wake up on the weekend and realize I've been allowed to sleep in, I can assume there are some pancakes cooking. And they're yummy too.

The boys have kept up their pancake tradition in Rhode Island. They made up our first batch on saturday. It was great.
I offended Max pretty badly though when I served him up a silver dollar sized pancake. He said, "NO! Not that one!!" I couldn't figure out what the problem was. He finally gathered himself enough to tell me that that was a "little" pancake. And he doesn't eat little pancakes.
So just be warned....no little pancakes for the big eater.

We found a fun burger place not too far from our house. It's called Johnny Rocket's, and it's made to be like an old 50s burger joint. It's a chain, so there's a chance there may be one near you.
I heard it was a fun place to take kids, and turns out that was very true.
They brought Max his own cool hat, which he loved.

They have a little juke box at each table, and so the diners get to choose the tunes that are played over the speakers. And even better than that the waitress brings out nickels to feed into the machine.

And he got to press the buttons to pick the songs. It was awesome for him.

It's always nice to go to a place where it's obvious they understand kids and what can make them happy.
The burgers were a little greasy but still tasty. We're going to go back later to try out the shakes.

We're enjoying that we get to explore our new area, it's really cute and fun with lots to do and see. Come visit!

::Happy Fourth::

I think the 4th of July is one of the funnest holidays that there is. I think this is mainly because my parents always celebrated it in really fun exciting ways, (please see my mom's post about this for more details). We would have big huge parties, go to parades and hot air balloon festivals, eat all sorts of delicious food and enjoy lots of fireworks.

This kind of celebrating leaves a lot to live up to. Sometimes the 4th just doesn't cut it, no matter how hard we try. This year though, it was great!

We were planning on heading to Bristol RI in the morning with our friends Chad and Melissa to see a famous parade that's been going on there for years and years (supposedly since 1785). But we woke up in the morning and there was a lot of rain outside. And it kept raining.
Finally the rain let up a bit. Unfortunately by that time the parade was already supposed to have started. We decided we would just go out there anyway, and see what there was to see.

We got there an hour or more after the official start time, but after we parked and walked out to the parade route we realized that the parade was going strong! And as we watched and watched we figured out that we really hadn't missed much at all.
It was a great parade. The first thing we saw and heard when we walked up was a fun marching band.
This was Max's reaction.

Yes, it's a super dorky face that he's making, but those of you that know him may be able to tell that he's really excited (but I think he knew I was taking pictures, so he had to be a little bummy.)
He was rather transfixed.

Lucky for Max dad is tall and so Max can actually see over the crowds at the edge of the sidewalk.

This parade was really great and very long. We got to see tons of stuff, and as people got tired and left we got to move closer and closer to the edge of the street, and finally ended up right up there. I was so glad that we went! It really made the holiday for me. It reminded me of the good old days at the Freedom Festival parade, and my time in high school marching band too!
Here are a few highlights:
There were a good amount of little "re-enactment" type groups that marched by. Several drum and fife bands, some platoons of soldiers. I thought this drummer looked pretty authentic.

This group wasn't very small actually.

Max didn't like it when they shot off their guns. It was really loud. And he really didn't like the canons. And WOW were those canons loud, so I can't blame him. He kept his ears covered for quite a while after the canon had gone, just in case.

Chad and Melissa's baby, on the other hand, didn't mind the explosions at all. He just slept through them and hardly flinched. In fact, he enjoyed most of the parade that way.

Just like a good and adorable newish baby should do.


There were a lot of old people in the parade. Lots of veterans from different wars, riding in cars or marching. It was neat to see them--they definitely deserve our applause.
I liked these guys with their flags. They looked so serious.

There were a lot of free masons in the parade as well, my favorite out of all of them was the "oriental band"--a whole bunch of old men playing crazy out of tune weird instruments. It sounded terrible, and they were having a blast as you can see.

The best old people I didn't get a picture of, unfortunately. There was a van from a rest home filled with old ladies with their faces painted up like clowns. They were blowing bubbles and having such a fabulous time. It was awesome.

UPDATE***
Melissa sent me a picture they took of the old ladies, so here you go! It was really funny and cute.

















There was a fabulous chinese dragon.

It was skimming along the sides of the parade route greeting all the kids. I was really hoping it would come and see Max. It did, but of course I wasn't quick enough to get the moment.

It was a fabulous dragon. Max was delighted as you can see.


Please enjoy the ugliest color guard outfits ever. There were guys in this color guard. (Actually in pretty much all the color guards.) I don't get it.

Poor girls.

Everybody enjoyed watching the parade. Here's Chad and Matt taking in the sights.


This band was awesome. They were like a crazy mardi gras group with banjos and the big string bass and crazy outfits. So entertaining to look at. They were having tons of fun.

Just look at the bari sax player down there. He's having the time of his life!


The rain kept the weather relatively cool, and the sun was behind clouds so it wasn't too bright. We didn't get rained on at all during the parade though. All in all it was perfect I think.

One of our friends has an aunt who lives in Bristol who was hosting a BBQ. She invited us to come and join in. We did and it was great.
Watermelon and hot dogs are necessary for a proper 4th.

Max got really really messy after eating several slices. He only dropped one slice all over the host's floor, and only spilled two people's drinks. Pretty good I'd say.

We were so tired by the time we got home we basically just took it easy for the rest of the evening, and didn't even go out looking for fireworks when it got dark. But that's ok. We had a great fourth of july! Thanks for joining in!

.::Happy Happy::.

birthday to Kris!!
I'm a little behind here (as usual). Kris's birthday was on saturday. We got back from new york late thursday morning and have been scrambling to finish up moving in and stuff since. So saturday we spent most of the day running errands (trying to actually get some food in the kitchen) and cleaning up, washing little boys, you know. Important stuff.

We went to a cool sporting goods store by our house and bought Kris some nice new flip flops for his birthday. I think he likes them.

Our sweet friends Chad and Melissa offered to watch Max for us so that we could go out to dinner and actually talk to each other. It was really a combination birthday and anniversary dinner since Kris was going to be in NY for our anniversary. It was really nice. We went to a great place called Blaze that's right across from our house. The food was delicious and the place was really nice.

Afterwards we came back and ate cake with Max and Chad and Melissa. The cake turned out looking really great. But it was the first thing I've tried to bake in this new oven and it was a little underdone on the inside. It's an electric range/oven and I can't remember the last time I've used one. The cake still tasted good though. I always think frosting makes the cake anyway. Well, homemade frosting does anyway!


After looking at the following pictures, I'm not sure whose birthday it actually is!

I could barely get one quick shot before all the candles were blown out. Can you see the blur of Kris up on the left hand side trying to blow one of them out before mr wind machine got them all?

I only had one present for him. But it was a good one.

And no, it wasn't my son. He was a present, but back in 2004.



Again, whose birthday is it anyway? Nobody can really tell....not even Kris.

We got him a spare tire cover for our one and only car. Now we can feel cool because we finally have a safari animal on the back of our Rover. Thanks to ebay. Yay for ebay!


So happy birthday to my sweet Kris. He's in New York right now and we miss him!
Who couldn't miss this sweet face?

Or this smooth dude?

I love you Kris!

::NYC days 6&7::

zoos and food and hanging out....
On day 6 I decided to take Max to the Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn. The park is really close to the place we're staying. The problem that I didn't think about is, the park is HUGE. It's like 585 acres or something. (I learned that off of their website of course).
It took Max a good while to get started in the morning. He wanted to hang out and read books and stuff like that. So we did. We left around lunch time. So the first thing we did was walk up to the park and find a place to eat somewhere on the outskirts. We found this cute little italian pizza joint that was just delicious. Unfortunately we couldn't eat our whole pizza. We ordered a "personal" sized pizza. It was by far the biggest personal pizza I've ever seen. A definite steal for $5. We needed Kris there to help us finish it up.

So now, you guessed it, more eating pictures. Hooray!!!

I'm sorry, but I really think Max makes some of the most hilarious faces when he eats. I don't ever notice them until I take pictures and he's frozen in time.



The above photo is my favorite.

You can't really see the pizza because I had to make Max double it over. It was way too gooey and delicious and was getting ALL over him.

After lunch we headed out to try to find the zoo.
Unfortunately for us, the zoo was completely on the other side of the park. Across in the narrow direction, but still all the way across. And the other bummer which I hadn't realized was that there is a lake in the middle of the park, so we couldn't just walk straight across. So we had to walk down and around the lake.
It was hot. We walked. And walked and walked and walked. At one point Max weaseled out of my grip and tried to jump in a really nasty green portion of the lake, but fell in a pile of sticks and rolled ten times instead. It was pretty funny. Served him right.
The rest of the time I just dragged him along by the hand and kept telling him--we're almost there, we're almost there. I didn't realize we really WEREN'T almost there until we finally got there.
I really should've brought the stroller. But, hindsight, as they say, is always 20-20. And we lived to tell the tale, so it couldn't have been that bad, right?
We finally made it to the zoo after lots and lots of sweaty trudging.
It wasn't the most amazing zoo I've ever been to, that's for sure, but it was fun.

It was definitely geared towards little kids. They had a whole "discovery" area that was pretty fun.
Prairie Dog holes of course.

I was cool with him going in every single one until he decided to hide from me in one of the tunnels. He waited to come out just long enough for me to really think he might be lost. Then popped out. Not so funny, huh?

It was so hot that none of the praire dogs would even come out!

They had a spiderweb for the kids to climb on, and lily pads to walk over the water on.
Max thought the dinosaur egg nest was pretty cool.


Being a turtle was probably the highlight of the whole day though. He loved it.



After this he just basically sprinted from exhibit to exhibit, and nothing seemed to hold his interest except the poison dart frogs. I think they're really cool too.
It was like he was a little too overstimulated from the week--the monkeys didn't even hold his interest.

We took the subway home, which took forEVER and then went out and had some dinner with Kris. It was a long hot day, but fun!

Day seven was great. All Max wanted to do was hang out in the apartment. He wanted to read and watch some movies, so we did that basically all day. We walked to McDonald's for lunch--his special request--which was about a mile away.
So we spent all day just hanging out.

Turns out Kris didn't have to stay for friday classes after all and so we left thursday night. It was a fun day, and nice to go home.

I think we'll be going back with Kris for his third week--taking a week off in between. We're enjoying the New York adventures!!