Some Punks Visited

And we had a grand old time at Coney Island and the MoMA (not in that order). The kids actually rode on the roller coasters. Ali gave the Cyclone a thumbs down, but all three of them enjoyed the ferris wheel/roller coaster. Lydia, Dad and I stayed firmly planted on solid ground.
Ali after the cyclone. "I'm sure happy to still be alive!"

Something about having a baby has made me kinda averse to extreme sports (if riding a roller coaster is either extreme or a sport, which it's not). It used to be fun to feel like I was going to die. Not so anymore. Is this a normal Mom response?


The MoMA was fun. I was impressed with how well my sibs knew Modern art (I had expected them to be bored). And then we made our own art. Doesn't Laura belong in a museum?And we, of course, saw some famous stuff.

More Dad in NYC

Sightseeing

This is a picture of the inside of the Public Library. That place has come up with somewhere weird to store it's books, because all I saw were walls like this. Okay, that's not entirely true. The reading rooms had a few books. Now those were cool rooms. I thought I took a picture, but that may have been a lie. Maybe it was on my Dad's camera? Maybe I'm crazy?

And here's Grand Central Station. The two buildings are kind of in the same grand style. I guess New York wanted to prove they were someone back whenever they were built (too lazy to even Wiki it).Constellations on the ceiling - except backwards so we can see them "The way God sees them." Really? Kinda odd if you ask me.

I am aware that these pictures are not great and that looking at a bunch of pictures of buildings is not great blogging material. I'll work on that.

But Lydia's still cute. See for yourself on her blog.

I should never go to Target - or anywhere that they sell baby clothes for that matter

We went to Target the other night for a few essentials for the new house and I got lost in the baby clothes section - cute baby dress after cute baby dress screamed at me that Lydia would look amazing in it (and only $8!). These are only a few of the adorable "must-haves" that I valiantly kept myself from purchasing. Aren't they adorable? Especially that turquoise/blue/white polka-dotted dress in the upper left. I die. Therefore, I should not walk into stores that carry baby clothes. Everytime I walk away from an adorable baby outfit a part of my soul stays behind with it.

Target baby clothes I want by wallofbonbons on Polyvore.com

Which one is your favorite?

Dad sees Nueva York

I was able to persuade my Dad to come visit for a few days during our last couple weeks in New York. He was really interested in all the architecture, so we spent a couple days wandering around looking at cool buildings.

Dad tried falafel for the first time - I loved it, and obviously he did as well, considering it got all over his nose as he wolfed it down.

The New York Public Library Lions - unfortunately the whole facade was covered in scaffolding - my experience with famous buildings has been that they're ALWAYS covered in scaffolding.
We saw the New York Public Library, Grand Central Station, the Chrysler Building, the Guggenheim, the Met, Greenwich Village, Washington Square Park, Bryant Park, Central Park, Ground Zero, Trinity Church (including the graves of Alexander Hamilton and the guy who invented the steam engine - Robert Fulton), the outside of the New York Stock Exchange, the place where George Washington was inaugurated, and the Staten Island Ferry. And that was before my siblings got here. Thanks, Dad - it was a blast running around the city with you, even if we did get stuck waiting for the A-train at 42nd street for more time than I like to think.

Caramoor

Lydia and I got to visit the site where Adam performed this summer. It was gorgeous there - lush, green, and beautifully landscaped. Thanks to a nice guard, we even got to listen to some of the performance.





See pictures of Lyddle on her blog.

Lincoln Center

This day was incredibly hot. It was during the heatwave that hit New York this summer and Lydia and I spent the two days following chained to our air-conditioner. I was glad to get a chance to see the Lincoln Center, though - with all it's famous performing halls.



Ah, the temple.

More of Babycakes on her blog.

Hi again

So...I've realized that I tend to take blogging breaks whenever life gets stressful for me. Or just busy. I guess that makes sense - the blog gets neglected instead of the baby or something. The busyness has definitely been present during the last month or so. It started with my Dad coming into town, followed by my 3 younger siblings. Then we had to move out of our apartment, get back to Utah, finish up two online classes, pack our lives onto a semi (that we didn't have to drive out to Indiana ourselves), go to a weeklong family reunion, then move to Indiana and unpack the lives that had been on a semi. Kinda crazy, but things seem to be settling down. We have a nice little townhouse with lots of space here, and, most importantly - Lydia has her own room. We're all much more rested these days.

Adam has had orientation this week, including some brutal tests, and will start classes next week. We've already gone to our ward, which we quite enjoyed, and we maybe even learned a few names. Although this town is nothing like New York, we think we'll like it here.

So - I hope to be posting a few things to update you on what has happened in the last little while (mostly during the last few weeks in New York, because that filled up my camera cards and I didn't have anywhere to empty them until we got to Indiana). I will also be posting pictures to Lydia's blog. For example, there's a new picture up now.

Staten Island Ferry or the cheap way to see the Statue of Liberty

Spoiler: photo of Lydia on this blog. I know, Shocker, huh.

We had to keep her from getting sunburned on that bald head somehow.



Fun, relaxing and free! Highly recommend it.

I am not a photographer

All I want is to be able to take nice-looking snapshots of my family (and, apparently, household plants).

My camera has done wonderful things for this goal. I've been experimenting with full Manual mode because I was having trouble getting enough light in my photos (when taken indoors) when using Aperture priority.

These photos are of a lovely orchid Adam brought home for me just a few days before our Anniversary (which I will blog about eventually, maybe) and were taken in full Manual. I think the exposure turned out okay, don't you?

More pictures of the Lyds up on her blog.

Shack Attack

I have wanted to go to the famed Shake Shack for awhile. Because it's famed. So we went.

But not to the original Shake Shack. The line is supposed to be hours long. Seriously - they have a camera online that you can watch to check how long the line is. I, being a kind wife, decided not to put Adam through that, and instead went to the second installment of the Shake Shack, which still had a long line, a longer wait, loud music, and no available tables. We ate on a bench outside the Museum of Natural history.

Verdict:

Good shroom-burgers - so much cheesy goodness.

The fries were meh for us.

Adam thought his strawberry shake was kinda generic.

I loved my "Concrete" - basically a custard shake with yummy mix-ins.

So...good, but not that good. And certainly not worth the price tag. If you look closely at the pictures, you can see that Adam turned the S's on the bag into $'s. I laughed, but only because it was true.

If I were writing a review, which I guess this kind of is, I would say "Go for the experience, but probably only once. And don't waste money on the fries."

This post won't run until Tuesday, but I'm writing it on Sunday night. Based on requests from my Mom to blog more often, I'm creating a batch of future posts. It's hard to post during the day. I usually wait until the evening, in the "Golden Hours" after bedtime for the little one. Am I the only one that looks forward to those hours after bedtime and stays up way too late during them?

If this post-dating posts thing is working, there should be a new Lydia post up. As always, let me know if you need an invite.

Independence Day Thoughts

Happy Fourth of July! We celebrated with a walk in the park, long naps during church (for more than 1 of us - Wheps!), and raspberries, blackberries and cream for an evening dessert. That was the closest I could come to a festive treat, considering that we don't really bake around here and blueberries are not even in the same goodness league as blackberries.

Lately:

Our bishop asked us if you have to have a beard to be a singer. We laughed.

Lydia gave me a bloody nose. I assume this is a harbinger of things to come and am imagining all the things I will endure at the hands of my children. I am not looking forward to vomit.

Adam has been really enjoying his Opera program at Caramoor. He even had a celebrity sighting when he ran into Sonia, a choreographer on SYTYCD, in the elevator in their building. He's also seen the original Elfaba from Wicked. Basically, he's famous. He gets along with everyone in the program great, and gets invited to some fun parties. We chose not to go the 4th of July one, where the main attraction was a bathtub full of ice and booze, and Adam opted out of the MuuMuus and eyeshadow party, which is a shame, since he cuts a nice figure in tentlike dresses.

I discovered the joy of picking out books to read to your child. Seriously, I almost started skipping in the library when I saw the shelves and shelves of picture books so full of old friends. Now I need to make a list of my favorites that will someday be Lydia's favorites (or hated enemies) because I read them to her. Shaping a little mind is awesome.

Here are just a few I want to find: "Goodnight, Moon" (because "Goodnight, Bush," while funny, is lost on a wee one), "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," "A Special Trade," "Oh, the Places You'll Go," "Blueberries for Sal," and so many more. We've already read a Madeline book, one of the Little Critter books, "Whistle for Willie" and "Make Way for Ducklings." Oh, and Adam has requested the book about the 7 brothers who can't be killed. Anyone know the name of that one, or have suggestions for more must-reads?

Loved the MOMA, but it was a madhouse. Apparently the free Friday nights is not a well-kept secret.

We also went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I had forgotten how monstrously large it was. We saw the Egypt stuff and a bunch of Japan before sinking into an art-induced trance. We just wandered through the European paintings section with glazed eyes, oblivious to the masterpieces. We just wanted an exit, and when we found that, we wanted food. That hot-dog vendor at the bottom of those steps makes BANK. One walk through Central Park and one long subway ride got us home to rest our sore feet.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of us at the Met. Not that I like taking pictures of the art, but it would have been nice to have documentation of us being there, seeing the art. Next time, we've decided we'll go and see ONE section, no more. ONE, you hear me? ONE.

There will be a new Lydia post up in a few minutes. Let me know if you need an invite.