Last Weekend in the city (but we still have two more weeks)

T-man finished his "BIG" presentation for his internship on Thursday...whew what a relief. We are now realizing that we have just a short time left in the city. Time has gone by fast. We rented a row boat in central park on Saturday, something we have been trying to do since we got here now we can checked it off :)

A turtle spotting during our boat ride.It was a great time but a little warm.

Also on Saturday we went to the Sony Wonder Technology Lab. Letty thought spidey was scary. The museum was a very hands on place, our kind of place.

We love the parks but check out Gracie's hands...filthy.

Queen of the stump! This was after a fall that resulted in scrapes. We have had more than our fair share of blood and cuts this week.

Where is Letty??

Do these pants make my butt look big? What not to wear when trying to minimize diaper bum.

A reason NYC is so cool. These ladies were playing music in Riverside park and let the girls have a turn, so fun.

Gracie did not want to give up the ukulele.

We had a leisurely day on Wednesday. We headed to Lincoln center to run an errand and ate lunch at a little court yard (where we were attacked by pigeons) exciting.Strolled through Central Park and watched a softball game. Letty got way into it, love it! We also stopped on the edge of the park and let someone sketch Letty and Gracie, Letty was in heaven.

Typical daily stuff...


Sitting on the stool just chillin' in front of the mirror.

Rainy days...rain covers are a must here!


Gracie loves getting into this little Apt. size fridge. It used to drive me crazy, but we just embrace it now (she usually just goes and gets her milk).

We built forts on our rainy Tuesday. I am still amazed even as I sit here looking at the rain how much rain we have gotten this summer.

Treat Week!

Looking back at the week I realized it was quite the treat week. NYC is not a place to be if you are watching your sweets. The streets are lined with bakeries, ice cream stands, gelato etc. Yum, yum...

After trying to see a movie being filmed (no luck) we visited this fountain by the Plaza. We also went to a park and had a missing Letty scare so were happy to return home.

The splash park behind the Natural History Museum. Gracie actually enjoyed herself here.

Letty and here dear friend Madeline. Gracie is looking so grown up.

A New York black and white cookie from Juniors in Times Square. Not worth the calories but now we know. Although Juniors is an amazing place for cheesecake.

We had a girls night out at Crepes on Columbus. Wow, so yummy and rich. I had Nutella and dark chocolate.

This is for you Grandma. This is the BEST bakery we have been to. We went to Brooklyn on Saturday and visited some potential living areas, and found the above little gem!

Letty enjoying her cat cookie.

A rustic pie and red velvet cupcake. Good thing we walked a lot that day.

Also in Brooklyn is the New York City Transit Museum. It is located in an old subway stop so you enter like you would a station. It was very hands on and great for kids. The bottom platform was lined with old subway cars you could walk through that were still papered with advertisements. There were also buses to play on and a variety of turn styles.

Saturday night we had BYOD (bring your own dinner) with the Harrison's and Monica and I enjoyed going to see Harry Potter. It was so funny because someone in front of us let out a huge snore... (I guess it was a later showing).

Some other activities this week were getting to babysit for Alyssa while they went to Wicked, so fun. We took a long walk on Wednesday, I think it was about 90 blocks. And Thursday we ventured out to a park behind Grant's Tomb. The park had a dolphin theme but we will not be returning (sand and water just don't mix).

Long Island Weekend

This last week started off by taking the subway to Brooklyn to go to target. It turned out to be a longer trip than anticipated but it was still fun to explore

Tuesday we had a playgroup with church and later Elle came over to play. Lots of good running around time for Letty.

We went out on Wednesday and enjoyed a long walk and ended at a park. We couldn't stay very long since somehow I ended up not putting Gracie's shoes on her. Later Monica and I headed downtown to meet the guys and walk along the esplanade, it was gorgeous and perfect weather. I could totally live in Battery City. We enjoyed some yummy NY pizza and then headed home.

Walking along the esplanade

Thursday we acquired tickets to Shakespeare in the Park and LOVED seeing Twelfth Night. My friend Lori also had tickets that night so it was fun to see her and her cousin there. It was a great show! Chloe so kindly babysat for us which allow us to go in the first place, Thank You!!

Friday we stepped out of our building to see about 15 film trailers. They were shooting Law and Order SVU on our street. It was quite the site complete with a buffet for the crew. Right before we crossed the street to head to the subway we saw Christopher Meloni pull up in his yellow Lamborghini, awesome! I wish I could have stuck around to see the filming process but we needed to catch our train. We headed out of Penn Station via the Long Island Railroad to visit Ken who is T-man's long time friend. It was about a 2 1/2 hour trip. We visited their town of Greenport, cute and quaint. Saturday we enjoyed a beach, the carousel, ice cream, spotting jellyfish, a boat ride, and a yummy steak dinner they made. Sunday we drove in their RV to the Hamtons, wow crazy expensive real estate! They then drove us back to our apt. in the city. It was a fun time! Letty thought it was pretty cool to sleep in their RV and play with their kids. It was also nice to visit a yard to run around in. Thanks Ken and Donna for your hospitality!

The yellow Lamborghini

Cute Kids!

Ken and T-man

Gracie not enjoying the boat ride so much...she was a little cold.

Letty, T-man, and Ken thought they would brave the waters...yikes! it was chilly.

We found this store in the East Hampton (one too many L's though)

Gorgeous!

In Southampton

Pride Rock!

Letty is fortunate enough to have a birthday around a holiday so her celebration ends up being over several days. The highlight for her this week was a present to see Lion King. We drew straws and I won as to who would take her :) Our seats were fabulous (isle) since the animals come walking down a bit of a surprise(I didn't know before hand, first time seeing it). There was an additional matinee performance on Friday because of the 4th so it worked out perfectly since Tim was off work that day. Since then we have since been playing "Lion King" with some safari animals she got for her birthday, oh fun times!

We ended our "date" by checking out M & M world since it catches her eye every time we go to Times Square. She loves going on "dates" with us, it is so cute.

I didn't do a whole lot the first part of the week other than go to parks. Although we were able to petsit my friend Chriss's guinea pigs Eliot and Tad from Wednesday to Monday. Letty thought it was so much fun to feed them and make sure they were okay. Gracie also enjoyed bending down to look in their cage. It was a great way for Letty to temporarily have a pet. (no pics thought, so sad).

The lucky Lovell struck again! I went down with Monica on Tuesday to help her win Wicked tickets and they called Letty. I swear the guy hand picked her since he has seen us several times but I guess we'll never know for sure. So that night I put Elle to bed, watched a little TV(a novelty since we don't have one) and read, it was a great night!

Thursday we went to a safari park in Central Park and that afternoon I babysat for my friend Lori who was suffering from Pancreatitis and had to be admitted to the hospital. Our kids got along great.

Friday we enjoyed a Shake Shack burger. I ran down to 34th to do a little shopping and T-man took the girls to the Natural History Museum. We also had Letty's butterfly cake that night. It was very interesting making this cake since I didn't have the right pan and it broke in half on the way out (not good for a butterfly cake you are trying to cut in four sections) oh well, Letty thought it was great, I guess that is what counts.

Saturday we opened up presents in the morning, fun times! Later we rode the bus to the Cloisters. We usually avoid the bus since you have to fold the stroller down but it was manageable with T-man, two kids loose in a motor vehicle is crazy! Later that night we had "bring your own dinner" with the Harrison's and went to see fireworks around 72nd and riverside. They set them off over the Hudson to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the Hudson. It was great for us since we are on the west side. They were fantastic! Amazing weather, and good company. Letty made friends there that were so sweet and cute to her. They were all older and just coddled her (she ate it up) they ended up sitting with us for the show (all five of them). She was sad to part ways and now I regret not exchanging phone numbers since she asks about them every other day.

At Cloisters


Sunday the actual Birthday she open her last gift, had fun at church and enjoyed her requested birthday dinner...grilled cheese with meat. We joined the Harrison's and Tyson (friend from BYU) on an evening stroll in riverside.

Letty was playing with my camera and here are a couple of her pics:

These one are just for fun.

I love, love the stink bug sleeping position.

We had to come all of the way to NY to see a picture of Utah.

Five on the Fifth

Happy Birthday Letty! I can hardly believe you are turning
five!
You are such a fun bundle of joy. You bring energy and light into our family. I love your inquisitive nature and your love of learning. My social girl, you make a friend every where we go even if we are just waiting in a line. I love your enthusiasm and love for others. I cannot imagine my life without my little Letty bug! You are an incredible person who is always teaching me life lessons. I hope you enjoyed your birthday. We love you babe!

Here is a little stroll down memory lane...

12 weeks

1 year

2 Years

3 Years

4 Years

Thanks for being you!