Bubbles

Lately, McKay will hold his index finger to his mouth and blow.
Translation: I want to go outside and blow bubbles!

Walking!

Almost 18 months old, but M has finally decided walking might be pretty cool!

NY

Diana and I took a Moms' Weekend Off in New York. We took the bus up Thursday evening (after a near miss....we were too late for our original bus, but were able to catch another a half an hour later) and stayed through Sunday afternoon. Her Great Uncle Dan -- who lives in the West Village -- kindly provided the place to stay.
Friday morning, after a leisurely breakfast (ahhhh) at The Busstop Cafe near Dan's apartment, we boarded the Subway and took off for Central Park. Here we are in the Shakespeare Gardens with the Old Swedish Cottage behind us.
Now, I find NY an absolutely fascinating city. It is great fun to visit, but I have to think it would be hard to live there. Central Park is its redeeming factor as the most non-city getaway within the city. Here I am at Belvedere Castle in CP. It's perched atop Vista Rock and overlooks Turtle Pond and the Great Lawn.

Diana is posing for me with the Ghost Busters building in the background. Ya know, the building where Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis turn into dogs and the GB's fight the alien lady sporting the flat top.

What else to do in CP? Rent a rowboat and paddle around the lake! I just needed a pretty parasol. We enjoyed rowing around, trying not to paddle in circles, taking in the view, and chatting.



Next, it was on to the Met! We spent a few hours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Obviously, we couldn't see it all, but were able to peruse several exhibits.

There was a special exhibit showing the changing perceptions of women from about 1890-1940 through fashion. We also dappled in some Roman and Egyptian exhibits (including some artifacts from Tutankhamun's burial), paintings (Degas, Monet, VanGogh, Manet), Medieval Art, and ancient European furnishings. By this time we were ready for dinner and a show! We found this great-sounding French/Italian place in our guidebook. Of course, we should have realized that, since it was in our guidebook, we were not the only ones who knew how great it was. Lesson #1: Make reservations for dinner. We were wandering around near the Theater District looking for a place to eat. Mind you, there's no shortage of places to eat in NY, but we didn't want to settle....we wanted an experience! But, as curtain time was drawing closer and our stomachs were getting louder, we finally stopped in a pizza shop. And you know what? That huge slice of NY pizza tasted ohhhh sooooo good. Off to Cort Theater to see Denzel Washington in "Fences"!

There was a little pastry shop right outside the theater so, while everyone else waited in line for the doors to open, we didn't. We figured we already had our tickets...no need to wait. We'll just sit and enjoy a tasty little French somethin'-somethin'. And that we did.

Here is the stage (taken before the announcement to please not take pictures. Whoops). We were almost in the very last row of seats but, since it was a fairly small theater, we could still see everything just fine. It was a wonderful performance. In case you're wondering, Denzel transfers just fine from screen acting to stage. All the actors were incredible. It made me remember how much I LOVE going to the theater. The play was set in Pittsburgh, 1957, and highlighted the life of an African-American family. Afterwards, I was trying to decide if I liked it because it had Denzel and because it got incredible reviews, or if I honestly liked it. I concluded that yes, I did like it -- I enjoyed the story, the acting, and the experience.

And, we coudln't just take off and not try to catch a glimpse of Mr. Washington outside the theater, could we? Of course we couldn't. So there he is. He's the one in the black baseball cap. Trust me.

We trudged through Times Square at about 11:00 to get on the Subway at Grand Central Station. Part of the fascination of NY is that one would have no idea what time it was based on what is going on outside. But, while NY partied on, we put our tired little Mommy-on-vacation (one being pregnant; not this one)-selves to bed.

Apparently, I only had enough energy to take pictures of the first day, because I got nothing for days 2 and 3.

Saturday was spent in swarms of people. We went to Chinatown for dim sum for breakfast (yummy!) and wandered around the shops to find souvenirs for the kiddos at home. We also had to stop in Little Italy for some cannoli. Yum again.

Our original plan had been to go to Ellis Island on Saturday but, Lesson #2: Reserve your tickets for Ellis Island in advance. I know; that should be a "duh". Like we were the only ones wanting to go there on a Saturday in May. But, we didn't factor that in, so the ferry tickets were all sold out. We decided instead to go with our closest friends on the Staten Island Ferry. It gave us a chance to see the skyline and pass by Lady Liberty.

That evening, we met up with Diana's bro-in-law Daniel-- who is attending law school at NYU -- and Uncle Dan for dinner. We went to an Italian Restaurant in the East Village, where we got to sit on a quiet patio in the back. Ahhh. Daniel invited us to a midnight movie, but we declined.

Sunday we went to church with our fellow brothers and sisters in the gospel (isn't it wonderful that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the same everywhere you go?), then boarded the bus home.

Thank you, Cory, for holding down the fort while I was gone. I had a wonderful time!

King's Dominion

A couple of weeks ago, Cory and I dropped the kiddos off with Scott and Brooke one Saturday and headed to a kids' park.

We went to King's Dominion Amusement Park and rode roller coasters ALL DAY! I was so excited to go someplace without carrying around a lot of stuff (i.e., kids and kid gear), that I didn't even take the camera. This is The Intimidator, which just opened this year. What a RIDE! Seriously, we were going so fast that as we opened our mouths to scream we were sprayed by our own spit. It was like those cartoons where the character is going so fast their lips are flapping around their teeth. It goes up to speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour.

And you see that big drop? An 85 degree angle. Can you feel your stomach in your brain even as you read that? Unfortunately, this one did me in by the end of the night. We'd been riding all day -- sometimes having our brains jostled around in our heads (this one wooden roller coaster gave us a severe beating) -- and I was fine. But, after our second go on this one around 9:00, I about lost it. So, we called it a night.

But it was great fun!

Graduation

He did it, Folks.
Actually, he did it about 5 months ago, but now he walked the walk.
Last weekend, Cory graduated with his Master's in Legislative Affairs from George Washington University.
Whoot, whoot!

Mom M. came all the way from Washington to join in the festivities. We were glad to have her here with us. Mom and Dad R. planned to come, but en route from my brother David's graduation from Penn State Law School to DC, Mom got sick. Their valiant effort is recognized.

A funeral or a graduation?

Congratulations, Cory! We're all proud of you!

Our Weekends for the Next Two Months

The Spring 2010 Baseball Season has begun! We've got Gabriel playing T-ball with the Yankees, and Lucas playing A-ball (machine pitch) with the Dodgers. Here they are before we headed off to their first games of the season. Gabey was so excited, and he kept his uniform on all the rest of the day following the game.

This is Gabey covering 3rd base. Not sure how many balls he'll catch with the mitt on his head, but...

Lucas is focused. Tell him the rules, where to go, how to do it, and he'll do it.

Gabey is a bit more of a free spirit.

He was sitting down in the grass, spinning circles, putting the mitt on his head, doing push-ups and jumping jacks...being Gabey. By his 3rd (and last) bat, he just kind of sauntered to 1st base.

They each bring something completely different to our family and, obviously, their teams. Wouldn't have it any other way!

Should be a fun season!

Myrtle Beach, SC

For spring break last week, we headed south to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It was somewhat of a last-minute decision as we were closely watching the weather to make sure it would be beach-appropriate. It was looking good, so we booked our stay at the Springmaid Beach Resort and left the following Wednesday. After we checked into our room, we thought we'd ask about an upgrade, since it was obvious the hotel was not full. Well, friends, it never hurts to ask. We were upgraded to a larger suite with a kitchenette for the same price we were paying for the smaller room.

Sunset on the beach, taken from our room's balcony.

The water was COLD.

Lucas working on his strength training, and Gabey working on his plumbing ambitions.

Fun with sand.

Evening kite-flying on the beach.


Awwww.

Gabey has come a long way from our first big visit to the beach in Hilton Head. He now likes to play in the waves with Lucas and me.


Being pushed by the waves as they roll in (and filling up with sand).

McKay liked the feel of the sand on his feet. He did NOT, however, like the feel of the icey-cold ocean on his feet.

We colored Easter eggs,

and got a visit from the Easter bunny Saturday morning.

I found an egg!

Hey, why didn't Cory throw me in the air?

There was a pay-per-ride amusement park that the kids loved. My children can be somewhat unpredictable as far as thrills and rides, so I didn't know if this would be a big hit. But it totally scored.

Watching the sunrise on Easter morning.

Relaxing on the balcony one last time before heading home.