Children's Museum and Artie's

We started today off with the great idea to go to the Manhattan Children's Museum- and then soon realized that everyone in Manhattan had that same idea. The holidays in NYC are very um..."crowded" for lack of a better word. You should not live here if you have any tendencies toward claustrophobia whatsoever. It seems that everywhere we have gone in the last week has been uncomfortably tight- even just walking on the street. We did end up having a good time at the museum regardless. While we were in the "infant section" Marc leaned over and whispered "hey, isn't that Hillary Swank over there?" About 10 feet away playing with her daughter on the ground was Jennifer Garner. Okay, so he did not get the name right but I was pretty impressed with his star detecting capabilities regardless. That is another entertaining part of living in NYC. Celebrity spotting. Every time I spot one I am reminded of how grateful I am to be able to live an anonymous life free from the harassment they face. Speaking of faces, I had to post this picture of Owen taken at Artie's Diner (a sandwich shop around the corner from the museum). We discovered today that he likes pickles. It may not seem that way from the pictures but it is true- he sucked on that pickle for another 15 minutes after these pictures were taken.

Skating with the Stars

Marc took the kids to Bryant Park today to Ice Skate. Actually I came along too, but after we found the line to be 2 hours long, and we noticed that Owen was starting to grow horns and turn a shade of red- we decided that I should take him home. Marc had a good time skating with the girls. It was a first time experience for both Madeline and Eva- and they went from holding on to the wall, to holding on to Marc, to "walk-skating" all in one day so we are happy with that progress. They had a great time.

Skating with the Stars

Owen and Cars....

There is something about boys and cars and balls and hammers (3 of owen's four favorite things in the world - the fourth is toilets) ......another Christmas gift jackpot......

Passing the Torch....

Okay so I had to post this portion of our Christmas dinner because it was so incredibly impressive. Marc tried his hand at pie making and......drum roll please......success!! I was impressed- here it is for all to see- maybe we should have gone back to culinary school instead of grad school?!? I have decided that Marc can now be the official pie maker for our family for the holidays. Yeeessss:)

Owen at work

Here is Owen discovering a toy Christmas Morning that incorporates his two favorite things: Hitting, and Balls.......hours of entertainment:)

Merry Christmas!!!!

We know we could tell you all that we love you and miss you but we thought that the kids could say it better........

Christmas Eve Pictures

Some Pic's

Not to be outdone.......

So, Eva after having to sit through last month's "student of the month" assembly and watch her older sister awarded the coveted designation, Eva did all within her power to make sure that she would be "student of the month" in December. All of the hard work paid off :). Mom got to attend another assembly and be proud for a second month in a row. Eva was honored for "telling wonderful stories." We all know that she is good at that!!:)

Grand Central Station

We headed off to Grand Central Terminal this weekend to see the famous "Kaleidoscope" show. It is basically a light show set to music that plays over the walls and dome of the main lobby of GST. The girls had a good time watching it and we got a very small video segment (due to a full memory card:) of it so you can check it out. I threw in a picture of us headed there on the subway, and a few of us getting ready to go- for good measure.

Rockefeller Christmas

Here are a few pictures from some jaunts we have made to Rockefeller this month. We find ourselves heading to this area quite a bit. It tends to be cleaner than most areas of Manhattan, less crowded than Times Square and with more "family friendly" advertisements (aka no half naked billboards), and has some of the best shopping. We also find ourselves in the Bryant Park Area- just a few blocks south which is becoming equally nice- and close to dad's work which means we can stop in any time for a free hot chocolate and snacks :). The first picture is of the girls and I posing in front of some giant Christmas Lights. The funny thing was- neither of the girls had any idea what these were until they were told. They also had these huge Christmas bulb-like decorations. The second picture is taken of Marc and the kids outside St. Patrick's Cathedral. We came back tonight (the 22nd) and to show the girls the Snowflake show and window displays of Saks Fifth Avenue- while we were there Marc stopped in to buy me a few last minute Christmas gifts. Wait, that was my dream last night :) There was no shopping to be done..... but we did get a glimpse of the Rockefeller tree from far off and that was a treat.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We were fortunate this year to have family in town so we could host a Thanksgiving Dinner. My sister Doreen, her husband Matt and their baby Hunter came in from the D.C area, and my sister Mary came flew in from Utah to celebrate. We had a nice Thanksgiving- lots of turkey and the works. We had pies galore (pecan, pumpkin, apple and cran-raspberry) to eat afterward. We were able to eat dinner in the Party Room of our building, and catch the Parade, and a few games in the process. It was fun to watch the kids interact. Owen and Hunter have become buds on this trip. After feasting we headed into Manhattan to see some sights. We went to Times Square, and headed over to Marc's office on 5th Ave to see where he works, and enjoy some hot chocolate in the break room :). On Saturday we headed into Manhattan again for shopping, and seeing sights at Rockefeller Center. Mary and I went to the MoMA and enjoyed ourselves on the 5th floor- highlights were seeing "Starry Night" and some works by Monet. Later we headed back home for more left-overs, and some board games. It was great to have everyone here in town!

Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

Well, we opted out of going to brave the actual Thanksgiving Day Macy's Parade here in NYC, but still were able to enjoy the show. Marc took the girls to see all of the balloons get inflated on Wednesday, the night before. The girls really loved seeing all of the characters up close- Dora, Shrek, Frosty the Snowman, etc. The weather was really warm, and they did not have to get up in the wee hours of the morning for the actual parade. They were able to enjoy it from the TV at home, all the while pointing to the TV and saying "we saw that one mom, we saw that balloon last night."

Old McDonald Had a Zoo

So at the beginning of this month I was able to get a babysitter for Owen, and go on a field trip with Eva and her Pre-K class to a “Farm” is Queens. As the bus pulled up I quickly realized that this was indeed not a farm but a zoo of sorts filled with farm animals. Farm animals were all over the grounds in these little pins, and there were a few cows chained up outside so the kids could come and milk them. Eva had a really good time petting the animals and even getting to hold a few, and trying her hand at milking. The highlight for her was getting to ride the pony, and as you can see she kept a close eye on the brown obstacles on the pony track. At the end the kids got to pick a pumpkin from the patch (aka….large pile of pumpkins on cement slab) and go on a hay ride. In all, it was a good time. NYC has a lot to offer our children…..world class museums, aquariums, planetariums, zoos, botanical gardens, etc…..I would not however, include “Farms” on this list :).

BOO!

Halloween was pretty spooky for all of us this year. Marc spent most of the day cramming for the series 31 examination ~scary~! Madeline and Eva really enjoyed going to school in their costumes, and watching a magician perform. This year all of our kids recycled their costumes from last year- this was by request. Eva really wanted to be Peter Pan again, and it still fit, so everyone was happy. Madeline chose to be a different princess this year. This year she was Sleeping Beauty. Owen, well-I didn't start thinking about his costume until the night before, and in a sheer stroke of brilliance, I had the thought that maybe his newborn cheetah costume from last year would still fit :). It actually did still technically fit, but he looked like he was in pain when he walked so we cut the feet out and he looked much more comfortable. The girls went trick-or-treating in our building, and then a friend from our ward took them over to their building nearby to trick-or-treat. They came back with enough candy to last them until next Halloween. You can get a lot of loot going to Apt. complexes- the doors are only 15 ft. apt, and it is all indoors, out of the elements, so you feel like you could go for hours. Truth be told, half of their candy has already been eaten by mom and dad, so it will not really last until Halloween.

Eva's Birthday

Eva is 4!!!
On September 24, we celebrated Eva's Birthday. She had a little "party" at her classroom in the morning. Mom brought in cupcakes for the class. Eva enjoyed having her classmates sing to her. In the evening we continued the festivities- we had Eva's favorite dinner- Chicken Teriyaki, and then opened presents and watched Eva's blow out her 4 candles on the snake cake she helped Mom create.

Student of the Month

So Madeline is already making academic strides in school here at P.S 217 :). She was honored at the school assembly as "student of the month" for the kindergarten. It was fun for me to go and watch the assembly. I have never seen a five year old run back and forth to and from the stage as she did. I barely had time to click my camera, and she was back sitting down with her friends in the crowd. Specifically she was honored for "being a writer who takes risks." We are guessing that that is a good thing.

Favorite Pastime

So, Madeline and Eva's favorite thing to do right now is perch themselves on the window ledge and watch the world around them with their binoculars. Right now, this pastime is pretty benign- the only things really to see are people playing on the ball field, cars and people on the Queensborough bridge, construction crews working on the building adjacent to us, boats out on the river, the tram as it comes and goes, and the Manhattan Skyline. It will however, come to a sad end when the building in front of us in complete. Ceiling to floor windows, most of which have no window coverings, make for more of Manhattan than you want to see, I am sure :).

Grandpa Chenn Visits

We had Grandpa Chenn visit us in September, and really enjoyed spending time with him. We were able to show him a little of what our life is here like in NYC. He took Madeline down to China Town, on a hunt for a rice cooker, and we spent some time in Central Park together. Marc and Grandpa also were able to spend some time together eating out. They went for Sushi one of the nights that Grandpa was in town. Here is a picture of us all together on the Grandpa's last day with us. We went to the Farmer's Market in the morning and came back to make some pasta primavera, and eat our french pastries we purchased from a bakery in town. It was fun to eat lunch up on the roof together.

Owen's First Birthday!!

September 19th brought William Owen's very first birthday. We celebrated by having some NYC pizza, and some Peter Pan Cake. Owen is too young to ask what kind of cake he would like, but the girls assured me that he would say that he wanted a Peter Pan cake if we asked him. He loved eating the cake of course, and it was fun to watch him cheese it up for the camera. Every time Marc would take a picture he would pose with this big grin on his face, it cracked us up. Uncle Patrick was even in town so we had a pretty big crowd to sing Happy Birthday.