NYC Labor Day 2012

We live only 78 miles from New York City which really is not far but as anyone who has driven to there can attest, the traffic can make it seem like a world away. We went to NYC on labor day a few years ago and now we think it's the perfect day to go so we once again tried it. 

 We like to take the St. George Ferry from Staten Island over. 

We get to see the Statue of Liberty without paying the price for it. 

Don't mind the kid picking his nose in the back ground. 

 We tried to go and see things we didn't see the last time we went. We decided to go and see the American Museum of Natural History. It was a very neat place but we decided after a few hours that our money might have been better spent on a zoo. The kept asking why all the animals were dead and where were the live ones. Maybe next time we'll try the Bronx zoo.

 This is more for my family history sake. My father served his mission in Indonesia. In our garage there was a box of these strange puppets that he had brought home with him. We would play with them sometimes but mostly they remained in the garage. He also had a mask like the one below that was in cupboard above our fridge. We also played with that. So I was walking through the museum in the Southeast Asia section when I found these same items my father has on display. It was fun to read what they actually were used. I don't think my dad ever told us, he just used the mask to scare us.

 After we left the museum, we decided to walk to see the Manhattan Temple. To take a better picture we would of have to cross Columbus Circle with all the kids and we didn't really want to do that so this was as good as it got.

 My girls wanted to see the American Girl Doll store which is an interesting experience. Everything in the store is expensive yet people were leaving with bags and bags of clothes and accessories for their dolls. A pair of shoes were $12.00. You could go to the salon and have your dolls' hair braided for $22.00. My girls were very good window shoppers and were satisfied with just admiring everything. They did have a little craft that they could do so I guess they did leave with something.

I really wanted to see Little Italy and we got there close to dinner time and it was such a fun atmosphere. The streets were closed to cars so restaurants had tables set up in the streets. The streets were filled with filler and wonderful aromas. 

We decided to get some dinner at one of the places. It was hard to choose so we looked for the one with the best specials.

We don't go out to eat very often so some were very excited. 

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to document this but riding the subway with children is an experience. We have now had the opportunity to do this with our kids in not only NYC but in Washington D.C. Subways aren't exactly havens of cleanliness but in our opinion, Washington D. C. is  a lot cleaner than NYC.  We used some different subway lines than we had our time before and unfortunately waited for the wrong line a time or two. The subway tunnels can be very hot, dirty and quite frankly smell like pee. My favorite moment was when we were waiting for a subway that was taking a very long time to come that Jackson noticed mice below on the tracks. We all looked to see what he found and John-David and I both realized those weren't mice but rats! How pleasant. I was so grateful that I didn't have to travel with my children on a subway on a daily basis. I am not a city dweller just a visitor. 

I can't remember which bridge this was. 

Lady Liberty 

The NYC skyline. Pretty cool looking. 

First Day of School 2012

The kids were pretty excited to start school this year. Jocelyn kept telling me she wasn't but I think her smile says something different. I know a lot of parents just drop off their kids off in front of the school and let them go alone but not this mom. I have visions of myself following them with the camera on their first day of seventh grade.... much to their dismay. 

 Our 1st grader. Notice the leg kicked up in her photo. 

A standard for that girl these days. 

 Tan and bleach blonde from the summer sun.

 Our 2nd grader.

 and the kid who thinks he is going to school.

 Jackson in front of his class. I wonder if he'll let me walk him to his 

door next year or if I will have to walk 20 feet behind so I can get a photo. 

 Jocelyn in front of her class. 

 She even allowed me to take a photo at her desk. 

 The following week Kelsey started her first day of 

"real" preschool a.k.a. not mommy school.

 Again, Bryce just wanted to be apart of the school kids. 

Kelsey wasting no time getting to the play stuff. 

Last half of our Utah Trip

After I last posted I realized I still had two more events to post. John-David, Jackson, John-David's sister Bonnijane and her husband Peter decided to climb Mount Olympus. They left early Saturday morning to beat the heat. Jackson was the youngest on the trail that day and made it the whole way up and down and didn't even complain. It was an experience that he is not going to soon forget. 

Jackson at the base of the trail

Taking a rest.

Look at those beautiful mountains. 

Dad and son at the top.

Jackson showing his strength. 

The Salt Lake Valley

Later on that day, we had a sugar fest at my sister's house. We had cotton candy, popcorn, shaved ice and pizza. It was our last hurrah before going back. The kids were in heaven.

Look at all these smiles!

Bryce was in a sugar coma by this time. 

Uncle Rinehart spinning some cotton candy. 

I think Jocelyn loved the cotton candy so much she was kissing it.