Grandma's here!!

We were SOOOO excited to see grandma.  The boys stayed home from school so they could meet grandma at the entrance of the building.  I think my mom thought she might die on the taxi ride to our house, so she was admittedly as happy as we were to see her!  And of course, grandma was just as excited as the rest (maybe even more if - you haven't seen the video from the last post, you need to) for a baby girl.  She was wearing her pink shirt upon her arrival to give us good baby vibes.  It worked!

Here is a download of pictures of her week stay -- yes, a week.  My mom is referred to as the kangaroo grandma because she is constantly hopping in and out and doesn't stay for extended periods of time.  However, whenever I live out of state I get her for longer than any of my siblings and I love it!  She was probably sick of us, by the end of her stay... but we could keep her forever.   Just see how much fun we had with her through these pictures....

 Subway fun.... I thought Grandma needed a picture to document the subway, and she thought I needed a picture documenting my crazy boys!  This is how we roll in the stroller most days.

We ate dinner at the fun Star Dust diner the first night.  We were all waiting for about an hour and the big boys had to leave for scouts... so G-ma treated me and the little boys.  We are getting SPOILED with her here.  This diner I've posted before, but it's so fun with the singing servers.  It's like your own broadway show with food! :)

 Grandma took the 3 older boys to shows.... Sam picked The Lion King (Grandma LOVED this one).  It really is great.  The costumes are AMAZING!

 Jake and Luke picked Wicked... (Grandma also has heard lots of good things about this one, and liked it too).  The boys thought it was SUPER COOL.  They were singing the songs all weekend.

 Of course, when Grandma comes she has to treat the kids to a prize.  Since most my boys have birthdays while we are here, she let them all pick a toy at FAO Schwartz.  I love this store.  So fun!

 Taylor let my mom and me do a couple fun things on our own.  We went to a temple session and then out to eat at Serendipity to celebrate HER birthday coming up in a couple weeks.  We shared our main course and each got a dessert!  Hers was some pecan nutty chocolate fudge and chocolate ice cream heaven and mine was the famous frozen peanut butter Hot Chocolate.  YUM!!!!

 

The weather was actually quite annoying while she was here.  Freezing, and then raining and then Sunny on the day she left!  but we still got out and did a few touristy things.  

We went to Grand Central Station before the rain started and then walked through Rockafeller center on our way home.  Above is the picture of the Radio City Music hall where we were able to snag a falafal from the falafal guys and a pastrami sandwich from Carnegie Deli. 

 I have to say, we both liked the falafal a lot better! And it was $4 compared to $20.  Can you believe a sandwich is $20 anywhere?  We did eat at the Katz deli a couple weeks back and I liked it better than Carnegie as well. So if you are going to spend 20 bucks on a sandwich, make the trip downtown instead!

On the nice day, we spent it all out side!  While Sam was in school we hurried down to Ellis Island and saw Lady Liberty.  Unfortunately, the tours to the crown are all sold out until the end of July.  Who knew??? I'm bummed my boys won't get to do that this time.  I guess we should have done that in Jan. when there aren't any tourists.... I guess I should say as many tourists, cuz there are ALWAYS tourists in this awesome city!

Cool shot of the skyline of the city.

We visited the Met Museum, expecting to spend an hour or so, and then almost 3 hours later (and after an ice-cream break) we headed to the park.

My boys never tire of climbing....

The ponds/lakes have finally defrosted and the boys spent time skipping rocks in the water, while Sam searched for cool looking rocks for his collection.  I just love Central Park.  I think it's because my boys can actually be boys there and they can't get enough of it. 

Thanks mom for coming.  I keep telling Taylor that I'm ready to go home now.  It hasn't seemed long to me at all, but all of the sudden I am thinking 3 more months is a long time!  I hope the warmer weather comes fast, I'm afraid I'm loosing steam here in the cold.  I also think I had just looked forward to my mom coming.  We love you mom!  Thanks for a great week in NYC.