The Kids Sing their Latest Primary Favorite

Singing to Grandma Ruth a couple of days ago. My favorite part is when Maddie does her "army" action.

From the Mouth of My Babe

Grandma Mary-Ann rocking her youngest grandchild to sleep at the park during her visit last month.

I told Maddie about seeing Cinderella on Broadway shortly after I got home from New York. "Maddie," I said, "You would have loved it! Cinderella spun around and her dress of rags magically turned into a beautiful white ball gown!"
"Let me get this straight," she interrupted, "Cinderella is REAL?"

Weekend in New York City

Shannon, Natalee, and I at the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum in Manhattan. 

After our family vacation in Cape Cod, many of Ryan's relatives stayed in New England to see more of the sites. After almost a week in Boston, the three remaining die-hard travelers (Shannon, Natalee, and Mary-Ann) headed to New York for a few days before flying home to Utah. I took the train in early Saturday morning and met them for a couple of days in the City that never sleeps.

I have very few pictures of our weekend, but we had such a great time. We started our day by spending a few hours at the Intrepid Museum where the highlight for me was seeing the Enterprise space shuttle.

I got to cross something off my bucket list: seeing a Broadway show on Broadway. We saw Cinderella and it was magical. Her costume changes were amazing--she would literally spin around and her dress of rags would turn in to a rich ball gown in front of our eyes! I'm still baffled by how it was done.

After the museum and the play, we headed to get something to eat. A Mediterranean restaurant near Columbus Circle was recommended to us and it was delicious. I loved their falafel salad. With our faces sufficiently stuffed, we walked over to the park and then FAO Schwartz. Traveling with Shannon is pretty awesome. It's all about the photo ops with her, so when I said, "Hey, do you want to see the piano that Tom Hanks played on in Big?" she was all over it. With Mary-Ann as our photographer, me, Shannon, Natalee, and a bunch of little kids stood in line and danced around on the piano for a few minutes. Classic New York moment.

After walking more than 8 miles that day, we headed back to the hotel, stopping at Magnolia Bakery on the way so we could get some of their famous banana pudding. It never disappoints.

I was totally exhausted that night that I could barely keep my eyes open while we played the longest card game known to man.

The next morning we woke up and headed to Rockefellar Center where we took an elevator  up to the 68th floor to get a 360 degree view of the City. It was pretty amazing.

From Rockefellar Center we walked to a Mexican restaurant and got some delicious tacos. I love the food in NYC. The price of the food, not so much. But the taste of the food, yum, yum, yum.

By that time, we decided we needed to head back to the hotel so the Utah ladies could catch their flight and I could catch a train home. Shannon walked me halfway to Grand Central Station and then we said our goodbyes at 42nd street. As I watched her walk back to the hotel before heading to the airport, I must admit I got all choked up. It was so fun to spend a little time together and while I felt really sad to say goodbye, I felt even more fortunate to have family worth missing.

Can't wait til we can do it again, maybe with ALL the sisters next time!

From the Mouth of My Babe

Grandma Mary-Ann came to visit with my nephew Carson for a few days before we all headed up to the family reunion. We took them berry picking one day.

 Tonight I had a rare moment alone with Maddie as she and I played with her My Little Pony castle. She looked at me and said, "Mom, I'll always be your baby, even when I'm a Grandma. But when I'm a grandma, you'll die...but don't worry, I'll see you again when I die."

From the Mouth of My Babe

Peach picking at an orchard near our home a couple of weeks ago. 

"Mom, did jew know dat God is da most powerful good guy of awe da good guys in da whole wurld?"