Sunday, June 7, 2015

NYC

at the beginning of may, chase and i got away for a little bit to new york city.  he had a conference, and i didn't want him to be lonely when he wasn't at the conference.  so, i tagged along.  :)

(i don't know if anybody else has struggled with the new photos app on your mac, but let's just say that i have had many words with it recently.  i miss iPhoto, and i wish these tech people would just leave well enough alone.)  all of that to say that my pics are out of order, and that's just how it has to be for now!!!

we saw wicked the first night we were there.  LOVED it!!  i read the wizard of oz to the little people at bedtime recently, so i was caught up on all things Oz.  i would definitely go watch it again, and i hope i get to do just that one day.  i'm sure there was lots that i missed the first time!


times square...




i have been to new york before, but i decided to do every single touristy thing while i was there.  i wanted to make sure i had it all covered, so the next time i go i will be able to focus on mainly eating!!!  ha!  chase was at his conference, so i took off on my own and accomplished it.

empire state building...


new york public library...
(here's a piece of info for your next trivial pursuit game....the two lions out front are named patience and fortitude.)


madison square garden...


macy's...



empire state building from the bottom...


the 911 memorial.  this was pretty incredible to see.  i met a guy from england that was walking to it as well.  it got a little tricky bc of construction, but we found it.  once we got there, he wanted me to take his picture.  then he offered to take my picture.  since i was by myself and all my pics don't have anyone it, i thought it would be nice to actually have me in a picture.  but what is the etiquette for that sort of thing?  smiling didn't seem appropriate.



wall street...


the bull on wall street...


i had been planning on eating this sandwich since i first learned of our trip to NYC.  i hit the subway and found my way to katz's for the best reuben ever!





rockefeller center...



radio city music hall...


the tonight show with jimmy fallon.  i do love jimmy fallon.  next trip, we are going to have to try to go to his show!


central park...




live from the apollo...


grant's tomb...


the empire state building from the top...


a view of the freedom tower and the statue of liberty from the empire state building...



grand central station...


our favorite thing we did was a walking food tour.  we did a combo tour where we combined a tour of the high line with a food tour in greenwich village.  it was awesome!!  the high line was an elevated railroad that ran from the river to the warehouses, but now it's a park.  it's the fastest growing area of new york city, and you can have a one bedroom starting at $5 million.


this apartment complex houses more people than the city of tupelo, and it takes up an entire block.


i didn't take pictures of our food on the food part of the tour because chase makes fun of me when i take pictures of food.  so all you get is a picture of an egg cream.  it was a fizzy, chocolatey drink that is a new york staple.


i didn't take pictures, but along with the egg cream, we also had a bag of chocolates from li-lac chocolates, a really awesome piece of pizza that was so big it wouldn't even fit on the plate from bleecker street pizza, some stuffed bagels from bantam bagels, a chicken pesto sandwich and some rice balls from a really cool italian grocery/specialty store name faicco's, and the best cheesecake and cannolis that i have ever eaten from pasticceria rocco.  full doesn't begin to describe it!!!  it's a good thing we did so much walking along the high line and greenwich village!

greenwich village was really neat with it's tree lined streets.  it didn't feel like you were in new york city at all.  it had more of a boston feel.


it's the huxtables!



and the apartment from friends!


we finished our food tour in washington park.  if you look through the arch, there's the empire state building again in the background.


and since we don't like to stay still for long (or maybe that's just me!), we took the subway over to brooklyn and then walked back across the brooklyn bridge.




posing with the statue of liberty in the background!


i think i did pretty job of cramming it all in while we were there.  i even figured out the passenger trains out of penn station.  we took that back to the airport instead of a cab, and the husband was appreciative of that cash still in his wallet.  and now that i've got it all figured out, i'm ready to go back!!

Thursday, May 21, 2015

the last graduate

from kindergarten, that is!

reed ended his year on tuesday in his cap and gown.  we had a little trouble keeping that hat on his henson head, and he didn't do so great keeping that hood in place, either.  but even though he couldn't keep his clothing in the correct spot, he managed to graduate and kick off summer!




reed and marley (his favorite girl)



with our headmaster, mr. b.




reed and mrs. todd


 reed and walker


all the boys!





they were highly interested in the speaker!


receiving his diploma





poppa and reed


celebrating the end of a fabulous year!!




hello, summer!!

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

learning fairs

we finished up the school projects with the last two learning fairs.  i was completely over it at this point, but thankfully william was all about doing his own project.  his little brother may have had a little help from an older brother.  yay for older brothers that have been in kindergarten before!!  :)

william had to learn all about wyoming.  he decided that duct tape would be better than paint this year.  i had to agree!!




reed learned about mississippi.  ask him anything, and he can tell you all about our state.  he's the next walt grayson!



summer, here we come!

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

he rocked it!

william finished up this piano year with a recital last weekend.  he has had a great year, and he really does enjoy his music.  he played a blues medley that consisted of three different pieces.  he couldn't decide which one he liked best, so he meshed them together.  and he nailed it!





with his teacher, mrs. rish


i make these two take a picture together every year.  allie hates it.  she has reached the point in life where boys are weird, and she wants to be nowhere near them.  william is oblivious.  so....they get farther apart in the pictures every year.


the little siblings don't mind each other, however!


and there were some grandparent fans in attendance...



way to go, william!  we love to hear you play!

Monday, May 11, 2015

eight

wes turned 8 today, and he's celebrated every single moment of it.  he started out with breakfast, carried it over to school, followed it up with water balloon catapulting in the afternoon, and ended it with cupcakes after a win.







i'd call that a pretty good day for an 8 year old!  daddy is working the funky shift this week, so we have to wait until this weekend for him to pick out a restaurant to celebrate.  i guess we'll just continue the celebration all week long!

Saturday, May 9, 2015

our 2nd catechism champion

wes mastered all 150 questions in the catechism to earn his status as a catechism champion.  he was honored at church this past sunday with 3 others who reached this goal this semester.  it takes quite the effort, and he was very excited to put the final exclamation point on all of his hard work.  mama and daddy are pretty proud of him, too!


andrew and wes


andrew, hannah, and wes (there were four of them, but i couldn't find anna lauren after church)


2 down, 1 to go at our house.  and, these big brothers are already on reed to get his done.  he's well on his way, and he has some pretty good help to get there!!