NYC spring break

SO we had fun visitors for part of our spring break... and then we took a little road trip for the rest of the vacation...   

We finally took ALL the boys to the NYC transit museum.  Luke had been there for a field trip and wanted Jake to go so bad, it was great because we took the chance on a rainy day to be inside.

 The museum is very hands on and the best part is pretending to drive the subway trains and the buses.

 Then, Taylor had a paper to present at Cornell University, so we all headed up north with him to explore and tour.  First stop... Ithica New York.  We took the first night to walk around campus and try to find a pool to swim in.

 They have a very cool waterfall through campus...

 And some amazing old royal looking buildings.  The clock tower was our favorite.

 Of course, the best part of traveling was jumping on the beds in the hotel room!  We found a pool, but it didn't have family hours while we were there... we'll keep looking.

We did find a cool science museum to explore while Taylor was busy working.

 The boys had a great time building an aqueduct (that's what they called it) and could roll a ball from the start to finish.

 And the weather wasn't too cold and they were happy clams playing on the museum playground.

 Jake made a friend.. the two of them were trying to get more than 50 nails to balance on 1 nail.  The instructions said some one was able to do it... they only got about 35, but I was impressed.

 

Next stop.... PALMYRA!

 I love this little town.  The weather was PERFECT.  We didn't need jackets and the sun was shining.  I've only been to Palmyra in the middle of summer.  It was nice to be there with just our little family and not a ton of other "mormon" tourists. :)

 The boys loved seeing where Joseph Smith grew up and were glad they have nice comfy beds at home.  Straw and rope didn't seem too great to sleep on.  The picture below is where Moroni appeared to Joseph in his bedroom.

 We only had one little melt down from Nate... His thing is to just sit down and cry if we get too far ahead of him.  haha what the baby he is FOR SURE!

 The other fun thing about going in the early spring, was to see the grove as Joseph would have seen it.  Usually, the movies depict it lush and full of foliage.  But really, we were there April 20th (early spring) and the buds were just starting.  I think it may have looked more like this.  Either way, very pretty and very spiritual to be in the same place as our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to man.

 

Unfortunately, we weren't there for the Hill Cumorah pageant.  We'll be back in Utah by then.  But we stopped by the temple, and we also stopped by the hill where the pageant takes place.  The best part for the boys was rolling down the STEEP hill.

 

This is the Moroni Monument at the top of the hill... Pretty cool.

 

 Our hotel was great in Palmyra, but the pool was down for service... AHH the kids are dying at this point to find a pool!!!  But we still have more places to see.  Hopefully we'll find one!!

Next stop..... NIAGRA FALLS...

 This trip to Niagara was about 3 1/2 hours out of our way.. But how can you be that close and NOT go see it??? I love this place.

This winter it was so cold the entire falls froze over!  You can see some iceberg/frozen falls at the bottom of this picture.  It was really pretty... and a little chilly!

 You won't see a picture with Taylor here, because he wasn't capable of getting that close to the edge.  He has this weird desire to jump off high things and kept at a reasonable distance the whole time.  So funny, but he was happy to take pictures of us!

 The boys thought it was pretty amazing too.  They are TROOPERS.. they never complained about driving too much and were happy to spend 30 minutes looking around and get back in the car... after all.... we promised a hotel with a pool tonight! :)

 My favorite part about Niagara is taking the Maid of the Mist boat ride by the falls.  Unfortunately, with the water being SO cold, the boat wasn't up and running for the season yet.  We did get to see the IMAX film though and that was pretty cool to learn some history, and find out about some crazy people and near death experiences at the falls.

 Happy Easter!  We made it to the hotel in Binghamton New York in Plenty of time to swim.. YAY.  That lasted for about an hour until Nate decided to poop in the pool.  SERIOUSLY!!!???  anyway.  we ruin the pool for everyone else (which was no one actually but us) and ended the night at the movies.  It was a success after all!  In church I was told that the boys explained to the primary that they had the world's smallest easter egg hunt (it was in our hotel room). Ha Ha.

 My cute boys walking to church on Easter Sunday.  They all wanted to hold hands (I didn't even put them up to it) and Taylor couldn't handle it.  I did grab one picture with him in it, and then it was just too much and he would only let me take a picture of just them.

 I never feel more out of place than on Sunday mornings when we are all dressed up walking to church.  It's weird enough to be dressed up, but then to have 4 kids, and to be pregnant.  It's the most stand outish I feel all week here. :)

The next morning, we headed out to the Dominican Republic for a couples trip.  YAY for warm weather and SUN.. The one bummer, was that we missed the pine wood derby while we were gone.  Thankfully, our wonderful babysitter (Callie) took some pictures and sent them to us. 

 I feel like if you win a few heats the derby was a success!  So, it was a success for both boys. Luke ALMOST made the finals, so he was pretty happy about that.  Wish we could have been there... but as you will see in the the next post, SO GLAD I WAS IN D.R. instead. :)