NYC Day 2

 Day 2 in NYC turned out to be the busiest day EVER. Just keep in mind that we didn't take a cab anywhere... we walked EVERYWHERE except when it was faster to get on the Subway.

 We started the day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was a lot of art. There was a Picasso exhibit that was packed but interesting. There was a LOT we didn't get to see because of exhaustion and time constraints.

 Oh, and because of Libby (she wasn't real happy).

 Also, sculpture is kind of insane. How on earth do they do that?! (Julius Cesar).

 Matt would have liked to have spent more time there, but truthfully I think you'd have to spend weeks there to get the full idea of the massive amount of art they have in their collections.

From there, we left the Met and bought ourselves a sweet hot dog from a street vendor (classy!) and then we walked ACROSS Central Park. It's a really big park. Painfully so. We did all this to enjoy one of these:

What's that? We failed to take a picture before we devoured THREE huge cupcakes? Judge me.
We hopped on the Subway and ended up in Chinatown. Then we remembered that we didn't really want to be in Chinatown. So we got BACK on the Subway and rode it to Ground Zero.
I wish I could explain to you the feeling that exists there. It's as if the rest of NYC is bustling right along and it's loud and noisy and dirty... and when we walked by Ground Zero (which is really all you can do right now... there's not much to see. Hence, no pictures.) I felt a distinct calm. I was moved to tears.

From Ground Zero, it's just a couple quick blocks to the Brooklyn Bridge, which we decided to walk over (since we were staying in Brooklyn with Matt's cousin and her family).

 Really cool! Wonderful views of the city. Breezy.

That very well may have been my favorite part of the day. It was the closest we came to seeing The Statue of Liberty (shameful!). But it was fun. Highly recommend it!

 As always, Libby was a dreamboat.

And yes, those are my feet. They were FILTHY by the end of the day. And blistered. I'm really unsure how far we walked, but I have no doubt that I got my 10,000 steps. Time for a pedicure.

Libby on Vacation

 Now, normally I would say that taking a baby with you on a vacation is not ideal. But if you had to take a baby, you would want it to be my Libby.

 She's just such a sweet little thing. We got SO many looks, and comments and coos. People simply couldn't stop themselves from being in love with her. It was as if the people of NYC had never seen a baby.

She really is THAT awesome. It's not just for pictures.

NYC Day 1

Back in May, my husband and I celebrated 10 years of marriage. Being that it was in the middle of the school year and we had a barely 2 month old, we elected to put off true celebration until this summer.

We decided to take a trip without 4/5 of our children. We left them with my sister Rebekah, who is living at my parents' house while her husband is deployed with the Air Force. Fortunately for Bekah, my brother Adam and his wife, Mika are staying with my parents for a little while and they were able to help out with the herd.

So, Matt, Libby and I headed to NYC. Now, keep in mind that I have never been and am truly not a fan of cities.

I loved it.

The first day we were there:
We figured out the Subway system and headed directly to Chinatown. Matt had been researching and planning this for literally a month. We ate at Joe's Shanghai. Joe's is famous for their Xiao Long Bao. They were delicious. We actually ended up eating there twice in the 3 days we spent in NYC.

 From there we walked up to SoHo. Purl SoHo to be specific. Oh friends! Pure heaven, right here.

 After blowing my budget on yarn and fabric... we were off.

 SoHo was a really cool place. Great shopping. Very cool storefronts.

 

And I had my very best friend with me. What more could I ask for, really?

Back To Vacationing

We didn't do that much at my parents... it's the reason we go there... the ability to lay around the house all day and not feel one bit guilty about it. Yes, we like that.

We did get out one day and took the kids to Hershey's Chocolate World. I have no pictures. It is just about THAT awesome. It's a pseudo-tour through Hershey's Fake Chocolate Factory. It smells good and it's a nice opportunity to sit down. You get free chocolate at the end. Meh. It was fine. I'm sure the kids enjoyed it. I know that I did as a child.

The only other thing we did as a family while at my parents' house was take the kids to the BEST PARK EVER. First, you must understand. It was HOT. My parents do not have central air conditioning. Hence, the need for some water fun.

 It was probably 10 degrees (at least) cooler by the water. And the water itself was refreshingly (near bitter) cold.

 But as you can see, the kids didn't really have any trouble just jumping right in despite the frigid water.

 Matt wore his FiveFingers. Nerd.

 Lucas wasn't so sure about the water at first. He was more interested in the playground which is nearby.

 But don't worry. The lure of all that splashing won him over.

 I'm the lucky soul who got to follow him around and prevent him from drowning. Which I had to do on more than one occasion. Yes, he was soaked head to toe and I loved having thigh-high wet pants to wear home.

 Where was Libby during all this?

Eating grass. Not even kidding.

On the Road Projects...

One of the great benefits of road tripping versus taking a plane is all that uninterrupted drive knitting time. Knitting is a wonderful way to take a craft on the road with you.

I finished 5ish projects with our 2,700 miles of driving, of which I did only maybe 250 miles. My husband is excellent.

This shawl represents the biggest project I finished. It's knit up in a wool/silk blend. It's also my first attempt at a lace project. It was really quite simple. The only question is:

Why on earth do I need a shawl if I live in Florida?

Truthfully, I don't know! But I love it so darn much that I'm looking for any 5 degree drop in temperature as an excuse to wear it. And also, I've started a second shawl (should finish it tonight) and have purchased yarn for several others. It's not ALL selfish knitting... I think.