Spring break '14! NYC day 1

Spring break this year started out pretty normal - lovely weather for a scooter ride at the park!

However, it soon became a little out of the ordinary when we loaded the car and started driving north:  final destination, NYC!  On the way we stopped about halfway in VA and had some Cafe Rio that we were craving.  Their burritos are the best!

We stayed in a vacation home on Staten Island.  It was an older place but quaint and great for our needs - lots of rooms and beds everywhere.  After checking it out when we got there we headed to the ferry station to catch the free ferry to the city.  It was getting dark by then - this is a view from the one we were on and looking at the other that was heading back.  We also got a first view of the Statue of Liberty on our left which we got to see every day on our way to and from the city.  Pictures to come!

We hopped on the subway, but not before meeting Marsha, who told us all about how we should navigate the subway with kids from that point on.  She gave us some pretty good advice that saved us quite a bit of subway fare:  have a kid or two go under the metal bar before or with a paying adult.  Aaron and I were a little nervous to try it, but we did it, and it soon proved to be very doable for the rest of the trip.  She got on the train with us and talked to us the whole time as we figured out the best route to the Rockefeller Center stop.  She was a little gruff and dirty, but very friendly and definitely a New Yorker! The kids weren't sure at first, and even asked whether she was a boy or a girl after we got off at our stop :)

Before buying tickets and going to the top for a view of the city, we stopped in at a small NY pizza place and had a huge, thin slice!


The top of the Empire State building was blue that night in honor of Autism awareness, so that was fun - the color and the connection to Tyler!  It was a fantastic night view of the enormous city, all lit up and sparkling!  It was too cold and windy to get a picture of us outside, so here we are next to one of the windows...

Another entertaining, blue detail were the lights in the room at the top of the Rockefeller Center.  It was soooo late when we headed home and we were exhausted, but so glad we made the effort to go because it we did have a great time!

Look who joined the club!

Avery joined the missing teeth club this month - hooray! She's been waiting very patiently. Her sister has already lost three!  The tooth fairy turned out to be too busy that night (BOOOOOO!) and Avery was very sad when she woke up to find her tooth still under her pillow :(  The next morning though, she found 2 dollars instead of the expected one dollar bill.  That's right tooth fairy, you better double your reward for that major first tooth mistake!
 

Here are two happy girls after putting on knee and elbow pads for the first time!  They have been falling and getting scraped up so much on their scooters, mom thought this might help.  We'll see...

February moments

Just Avery and I out for a walk and scooter ride around the block.  The other two were home sick and the germs hadn't spread yet...

The girls dressed up for the 100th day of school - little granny's!

Beautiful falling snow and crunchy ice - how we love these days that don't come very often!

A fun visit from Aunt Bekah - she stayed with her good friend in Raleigh and spent the evening at our house.  We had buckwheat crepes together loved hanging out with her for a few hours!

This is a regular occurrence.  The girls (Avery) at the piano practicing with mom.  They are both learning so much and getting better every day.

January around here

Two darling girls and mom went to cheer Caleb on at the school spelling bee!  Dad was out of town but actually kept up with everything via skype on my phone.  He did a great job and went about six rounds before he got out - way to go Caleb!  We were so proud of him!

Dress-up fun - Mr. Crazy and the lovely princesses...

Only in NC in January can you have a barefoot on the trampoline day followed closely by a snow day!

Art and writing masterpieces lately...

Utah (Part 5)

To start out the New Year, we went up to East Canyon with everyone and dad - grandpa Brian!  I did a pedicure with the girls before bed one night- beautiful toesies!  We had two of the condos and managed to work out all sleeping arrangements and food.  It was a blast being together, playing games together and we even went sledding and snowmobiling!  Brian and Alisha did come up too for part of the time.  Fun!

The next day Rachael and Mike got married in the Salt Lake Temple.  The sealing was so nice and they looked so happy.  It was a bright, beautiful day, and also freezing!  

That night they had their reception and Cole's band was there to play!  Alisha took these great group photos of everyone...

Lots of dancing and laughs with cousins!

Our last Sunday morning we decided to drive down to Temple Square for the choir broadcast.  The girls and I watched it on a huge screen in the visitor center and dad and Caleb got to go inside the tabernacle.  Afterward we walked around the visitor center and walked up the ramp to see the statue of Christ. 

That night Amberly and Matt had Cal's baby blessing and my favorite part was hearing Amberly's testimony.  She expressed how grateful she was for the difficult things she'd experienced the last year and the blessing that another baby was to their family.  The kids had fun being crazy together one last time and we got to take some more fun pictures before leaving for home the next day.

Here we are with our loot at the airport - we had even more going home of course.  Don't know if we'll ever do this again over the holidays - crazy!  However, the kids have become quite the expert airplane travelers.  We've come quite a ways from the days of travel with three tiny kids - how did we ever survive?  It's almost a breeze now with them being so helpful and cooperative, not to mention how DVD machines and kindles come in handy too!