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We were wiped out!

Five full days in New York City was so much fun.  It was also so tiring, cold and crowded.  I don't think it got above freezing the whole time we were there.  The "feels like" temp got to about 25 degrees.  We had fun, and I'm glad the kids got to see the city at the holidays...it's a beautiful place.  Would I do it again?  Not until they can all walk, put their winter gear on themselves, and keep track of all of their winter gear by themselves.  Am I glad we went?  YES.  I love New York and love to share it with the kids and Ben.

On the way home Samuel threw up twice and the battery died, but we made it home Christmas Eve around 10:00.  What a fun Christmas present.  Next year...Hawaii.

Wednesday in NYC

We went to the New York Transit Museum in the early afternoon (slept in very late.)  It was right down the street from the hotel.  It is pretty cool, as it is in an old, closed subway stop.  It was cold however.  They have displays about the building of the subway, the Money Train, the buses, bridges and streets of NYC.  They also have about 20 old subway cars, showing the progression of transportation in NYC.  They have a display of all of the old tokens that have been used, and it was fun to see the tokens that we used when we used to go to the city when we were growing up.

Driving the NYC bus was a hit for all!

After the Transit museum (where I picked up a replica of the A train (which I used to take to work) which fits the Thomas the Tank engine track) we went back to White Castle.  This time...no ketchup.

We headed over to the 5th Avenue World of Disney store, which was going out of business (everything 50% off, unless it said NYC..then 75% off) and spent about an hour.  We met my sisters at The Strand when we were done.

We headed off for some Chinese food, and then got some yummy canoli's.   After that we headed back to the hotel.  The ride back took us through the 8th Ave subway station...this was a tourist spot on it's own.

According to google, this station was recently renovated and includes works of art by Tom Otterness called "Life Underground", including a sewer alligator.

Finally back to the hotel where the boys watched the University of Utah football team.

Tuesday in NYC

We started out going to a puppet show in the Swedish Cottage in Central Park, but alas, even though we had been to the building before, we were unable to find it in time to make the show.  Oh, well.  It was a beautiful, sunny, maybe 30 degree, day, so we played in Central Park.  That was fun for a little while, and then Sadie had to use the bathroom.  So, there are bathrooms in Central Park (not many) but most of them are closed for the winter.  We made our way across (1/2 mile) and down (probably another 1/4 mile) the park to FAO Schwartz.  That took quite awhile (maybe 45 minutes), but no accidents...thank you!

We spent awhile at FAO Schwartz playing and then headed out to see some of the 5th Ave windows.  We made it past one store and decided "forget it!"  It had turned miserable while we were in the store.  We headed to Herald Square, where we got some lunch at KFC and went to what had to be the world's smallest and busiest Game Stop.  That didn't last long. 

We headed over to Macy's to see a puppet show of Miracle on 34th street.  This was fun, cheap, and I would definately recommend it.  After that we headed back to the hotel.  We were tuckered out.  We grabbed some Starbuck's hot cocoa and Ben went out later and got us some White Castle (which unfortunately had ketchup on them...weird).

Monday in NYC

Our family enjoys going on tours of baseball parks.  So, a couple of weeks ago I ordered tickets to tour the new Yankee Stadium.  It was a good tour, and a beautiful park...but the tour of the old stadium was far more interesting.

Getting there:  We had the whole subway car to ourselves and the kids finally got to treat it like a playground.  That plastic raincover over William's stroller was a lifesaver against all of the harsh wind.

Sadie in the Yankee Museum

Model of Yankee Stadium (courtesy Sadie)

Family at Monument Park

Samuel and Henry in Dugout

After the tour I wanted to go to the Bronx Botanical Gardens for a huge Christmas display, but after a number of wrong subway rides, and wandering around (trust me...subways are easy to navigate, but kids can be a bit distracting) we stopped for lunch at a McDonalds.  At this point I looked up the Garden on my phone and realized that it was closed on Monday...Oh well.

We went to Times Square instead.  First, the M&M store.  As we walked from the subway stop to the M&M store there were people in line at the 1/2 price ticket office.  I turned around and told Ben that even if they were giving out free tickets I wouldn't stand in that line...it was FREEZING!  I was expecting the stores to be busy, but they were scary busy with last minute holiday shoppers.

Then it was off to the Hershey store.

We also went to Toys R Us, but I didn't take any pictures becuase I was afraid to let go of my kids hands (that's how busy it was.)  There was a huge line for the cashiers.  As Samuel and I walked by, I overheard a woman ask a worker, if these cash registers weren't working (I guess she didn't notice the ginourmous line).  The worker looked at her, paused, and said "Yes, the line ends over there."  The lady looks around and says back "Are you sure?"

For dinner we went to Totonno's for pizza.  We heard of this place from a show on Food Network.  The pizza was great.  The 2 bus rides to get there...not so fun.

I'll get back to New York City updates tomorrow

So, I was cruising Facebook and stole these pictures of my hometown (Grand Junction, CO)

...sometimes forget how pretty it is.

The Bookcliffs

Grand Mesa

Ah...the big cow restaurant (I don't think anybody every remembered the actual name)

This just makes me laugh, and it makes complete sense to me.

Weekend in New York City

The first day we were there we slept in and then went to one of the branches of the Brooklyn public library to make a Sesame Street craft (Elmo puppets).  Then we met my sisters Emily and Jennifer, and Emily's boyfriend John and went to the Brooklyn Children's Museum.

It was fun (but not the part when I lost the camera (got it back), or the part where Ben thought Sadie was in the bathroom with me, and I thought she was waiting with Ben.  Turns out she had gone back to the "beach" in the above photo.)

It snowed most of the day, and there was a biting cold wind (which stayed with us the entire visit).  We went to Junior's for dinner...think cheesecake, and then called it a day.  Supposedly there is a neighborhood in Brooklyn that does amazing lights, but it was SO COLD and still snowing.

Sunday we woke up to a reported 10 inches of snow.  We got dressed in our church clothes and headed out to church.  The subway stop was about 1/4 mile away and when we got there we realized we didn't have our Metrocards.  So, we decided it was too late, and probably cancelled anyway. 

Later in the day we met up with my sisters and John again and went to Rockefeller Center and saw the tree and the ice skaters.

Then it was off to Macy's to see Santa Claus. 

Here are some pictures of "Santa Land." 

I was so impressed with the organization and the fact that we only waited for about 1/2 hour to see him.  He was probably the nicest Santa I have ever met.  This is actually the first time that we have ever taken our kids to see a Santa, so I don't mind (too much) that the one picture I bought was $20.  Sadie wouldn't talk to Santa, or sit by him, but she finally agreed to the picture when I told her she could have a milkshake for dinner. 

My favorite Christmas movies are White Christmas and Miracle on 34th Street...so a picture with the Macy's Santa was a must.

Here are some pictures of some of the Macy's windows.

Dinner was at the Shake Shack...yum!

We also went to Grand Central Station and saw a five minute laser show on their famed ceiling, and then to the Time-Warner building in Columbus Circle to see these 14 foot lights cooridinated with Christmas music.  The laser show was ok...the huge Christmas stars were pretty cool.

Finally...subway ride back to hotel

Getting to New York City

Ben had a work meeting in Brooklyn, NY last Thursday and I invited myself and the kids along.  I picked the kids up from school last Friday and away we went.  It was a pretty uneventful 8 hour drive (until the last 1/2 hour.)  We got to the city at about 11:15.  I made it through the Holland Tunnel

I made it through lower Manhattan just fine (it was midnight...not too much traffic).  Then I made it to Brooklyn...I even saw the hotel...I just couldn't get there.

But, we did see these nice lights as we were driving around.  The GPS wanted me to go on roads that were one way the wrong way.  At one point I sat behind a truck for awhile before I realized it wasn't stopped at a stop sign, it was stopped making a delivery.  With no way around it, I had to back down the street, and down another street (does it count as going the wrong way if the car is facing the right way, but moving backwards).  Then, I went down a delivery only street and made it to the hotel...40 minutes after I called Ben to tell him I was less than a mile from the hotel.  Ah...good times.

Our roof

We love our house here in Pittsburgh.  It was built in 1961 and is showing some of its age however.  The air conditioner and furnace are limping along, and the back portion of the roof (over the addition) has been in need of TLC for a while now.  Last year on the day before Christmas we had a leak in Henry's room that went through his roof and into the computer room below.  Thankfully Ben and my Dad scaled our incredibly steep roof in the front (since this is the only portion of the roof accesible by our normal sized ladder) over the ridge and onto the back and repaired it. 

Over the summer my Dad asked if I had ever had a professional come look at it.  I blew it off, knowing that Ben and Dad had done a wonderful job.  However, I hadn't counted on 40-50 mile windgusts blowing an 8x8 foot section of my roof over onto itself...RATS!! 

Anyway, last Tuesday I got home from running errands and my neighbor told me that there had been someone from the township in my backyard.  So, I called the township, who transferred me to code enforcement, who called me back to let me know that part of my roof was missing.  So, some neighbor (and there are only 3-4 that can even see the top of my roof easily) called the township, instead of walking around and telling me.  So, the roof was in disrepair for a week before I knew it.  But, at least I found out.  So, I got one estimate before we left town last week ($5400..yikes), and then 2 more people came out today to give me estimates...one of whom did a patch job for me, so hopefully we can make it to the next set of sunny days when we can get the roof replaced.

Ah...the joys of home ownership.  This is our 4th house and 2nd new roof.

Steak N Shake

Saturday, after a long day of sitting around doing nothing, we took the kids to Steak N Shake. It's hard to beat the "Kids eat free." At one point we thought we lost Samuel, since he blends right in.

William's first visit with Santa

This was taken (by phone) at the ward christmas party. Isn't he cute?...even if he is blurry.

Henry turns 9

Last Friday was Henry's birthday. To celebrate, we took a birthday cake to share to the ward party. Please note the chocolate cake on his face. Now, despite what it looks like, he really is excited to get his first pocketknife.

Chick-fil-a...again

http://www.cfarestaurant.com/southhills/photo

See if you can find Henry in "Breakfast with Santa Cow"
Also, there is a picture of the family in "Bingo Night"

Family Traditions

Thank you to Ben's family for this family tradition. They even send us all the candy and ribbon each year to make them.