Yay... The Laurences came to visit.

What a darling family!!  I love these guys.  We met in school at The Ohio State University and it has been WAY too long since we've seen them.  Thank you for making the trek up to the big city guys!  It sure was fun to have visitors.  They might be the best house guests ever!

 

 The kids playing subway merry go round.  Such a cute bunch of kiddos!

 Pictures never do justice, but that is Lady Liberty in the background.  So fun to be in a ferry on such a FREEZING day.

 Cute kids looking back at the city

 This is what we've created in the past 9 years.  L2R: back- Jake, Nate, Carly, front - Luke, Max, Sam, and Teagen.

 After FAO schwartz and the Plaza hotel, we took the kids ice skating.  It was the best.  Nate fell asleep in the stroller, so Joy and I got a chance to hang out and talk while the dad's took the others for a little skate.  They lasted a few hours.  My bladder didn't last quite that long, so Joy and I headed home to make dinner!  So fun to have a female around!  Love this girl.

 Everyone like "where's waldo, right?"  Sam and Taylor (above)

 Jake

 Luke

Such an expensive burger, fries and shakes, but can't beat the atmosphere.  It's called the Stardust Diner.  It is located right in Times Square and the waiters sing the whole evening.  It was awesome, because while we waited for food the kids were super entertained, and we got to chat as adults for a bit. :)

We had so much fun with the Laurences.  Wish they lived closer to Utah.  5 years without seeing them is MUCH too long.  Hopefully next time we can shorten the time in between visits!  Thanks for coming!

Winter Break part 2

We tried to hit one off-broadway this week.  I thought the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe would be fun.  The boys liked it.  Totally not a Broadway play, but still really interesting.  There were only 2 actors and they re-enacted the whole thing sort of as a story telling play.

As we walked out of the play it started DOWN POURING on us.  We took refuge in St. Luke's Cathedral.  The Pastor was very nice and showed us around.  Cool Building.  Good for my kids to see these types of churches.  

 We are sick of the cold and hit an indoor waterpark in Jersey today!  It was great fun for the boys.  A little ghetto when you are used to Kalahari and Great Wolf Lodge, but it did the trick.  Their slogan is where it's 84 degrees and Sunny every day! I'm usually a 95 degrees and Sunny, but I'll take that right now.

 A little fun while we were waiting in line for pictures... Sahara Sam's here we come!

 When did I get such big kids... they are growing up!  Below is a picture of us at Kalahari (our first indoor waterpark experience.) 6 years ago.

 Nate the goggle man!

 Family TUBE run... always fun.

 Throw Back - above is Sam and Nate, below is Jake and Luke. Basically the same ages.

The best part for Jake and Luke was the Flow Rider.  They were pros... This is a video of their first tries, they got pretty good by the end of the day!  Here is Luke, I can't upload Jake's for some reason.

here is Taylor

 

 We ended our day at the waterpark with a yummy meal at Golden Corral.  It might just be my favorite family place because you never have to tell your kids no.  Even when they eat 3 cotton candies a piece!

 Saturday FINALLY warmed up and it was a no coat day.  I realized on our walk to the Intrepid Ship that my big boys were all in stripes.  Cute Kids!

 Fun cardinal picture at sports day at the museum.

 I guess we wore them out this week, because all but Jake were out during sacrament meeting on Sunday.  I love the Sundays they do this.  Makes my sacrament meeting much more enjoyable!

Winter Break Part 1

They get a lot of breaks here in the city from school.  Hence the reason they go until June 29th.  BUT we'll enjoy the breaks while we can!

Monday was presidents day so we had Taylor to help celebrate our time off.

 We finally got our family pass to the Natural History Museum.  We got to see the space show which was pretty cool and Taylor and I both took one of the best naps we've had here in the city. :)  The boys loved it though.

 I don't know what it is, but my boys can sled EVERYDAY of the year.  I keep trying to convince them to do something different and they keep begging to go sledding.  No injuries so far... fingers crossed.

 They are so cute together when they can all be outside and active.  Hardly any fighting. :)

After serious persuasion, I convinced them to go to the intrepid museum with me yesterday.  They loved it and we bought family passes there too.

 The highlight was walking through the submarine....

 Jake tried to sneak a little nap on the spacious beds they have in the submarine. I was getting claustrophobic just walking through it and marines stay out to sea for up to 3 months at a time.  Not my cup of tea.

 Seeing the space shuttle the Enterprise was pretty cool too.

 The boys got to sit in cockpits and try out a real airplane simulator.

 Sam and Nate getting ready for lift off.

 It's kids-week this week at the museum and they had all sorts of cool things for the kids to do.  Make robots, watch broadway singers, face painting, free spiderman gloves and candy... what more do kids want!

 The scenery was so pretty this night at the park, but the lighting and the camera where not as great as capturing it.

 We are down 1 month and really enjoying our adventures so far.  It will be an experience we all will remember for a life-time.

Happy Love day!

 Our first visitor.  Well, actually Annie came the first week we were here, but I was a little bit in a blur and didn't even get a picture!  But, Robb came when we were a little more settled.  He of course gets credit for beating any family out here for a visit.  However, my boys treated him like their long lost uncle. So, maybe he CAN be our first family to visit.  Thanks for stopping by Robb!  Next time bring Jenn.

 BROADWAY night with my big boys.  They had a fundraiser at their school and all the parents and friends of parents that were in/on broadway performed.  It was AWESOME.  Some of the benefits of living in such a talented city.  I was worried the boys would think it was lame, but it was super funny and fun with the Frozen sing a long to end off the night.  Thank you PS87 for showing us Utah folk a good time!
A little clip of the funny MC ... he's the crab on Little Mermaid (oh shoot it must have been too large and wouldn't download), we also got to see the monkey voice from Jungle Book.  Hopefully will work.

I finally made my trek to Target and Costco and Aldi.  I WAS IN HEAVEN.  I couldn't stop smiling.  Oh, the simple pleasures of life.  It wasn't crowded and I was around familiar everything.  I had to take a picture of my lovely day shopping. :)

 Of course when you go to Costco you always buy things you don't need... this trip was swim stuff for the boys.  Wishful thinking since it's still snowing outside!

 And now on to Valentines day..... We did a fun little heart hat at story time at the library and I decided to copy the idea for the co-op preschool I taught this week.

 They are so cute!  I love 4 and 5 year olds. They are big enough to listen and to tell you awesome stories about their families. :)  I am not the craftiest of people, so having week 1 of 3 weeks (my turn hosting) down is quite a relief.  I'm sure glad for the other weeks though, when Sam has a place to go to preschool.  SO worth it!

 Cute little preschool kids, Sam, Vivi, Grace and Nate (not pictured: Talmage who didn't want to be in our picture - on the far left :)

 The 5 loves of my life.  I tried to make a fun valentines dinner, but they had eaten so much candy from the day that they didn't even enjoy the ice cream sundays. :)  Oh well, it's the thought that counts. 

We got spoiled for valentines.  We got fun candy and treat packages from our friends the whites and from Steve and Stacy.  Grammie and Grandpa also never fail to send a fun treat to spoil the kids on holidys.  We are a happy loved bunch for sure!

I got some beautiful flowers from Taylor and the 2 of us went to dinner at Scalletta's  one of NYC's fine dining restaurants.  We reserved our dining during restaurant week and enjoyed our first date night while here in the city.  Thank you Jacob for babysitting! (the simple pleasures of having your kids grow up).

Here comes the snow.... AGAIN!

 this is the pick up spot for school... All these parents who walk to pick up their kids from school each day.  The snow in the court yard was crazy.  The kids were in Heaven. 

 So, we decided to buy a couple sleds and head over to the park for some after-school fun. 

 As much as I hate the cold.  I can't deny how pretty it is when it covers all the trees.

 My snow angel, Luke....

 I love this with the city in the background.  The boys played for 2 hours and I had to drag them home.  They could have stayed all day.  After Taylor got home, he took them back for another hour.

who knew we had to come to NYC to find a good sledding hill.

Belvedere Castle

 Some Saturday fun at the park.  This is a cool free structure that is pretty cool to explore.  It was built in 1867 as a look out tower over the park.  It's just a few blocks from our house.

 I love these days that aren't QUITE so frigged.  We love getting out. 

 We got Jake to take a quick one of me and Taylor.  It looks cold huh?  It is. :)