New York vacation part 3

This was our big day in New York, and the weather was beautiful, after raining the day before the temperature was warm but not hot, and there was a breeze to keep the humidity at bay. On this day we had decided to ride the train into the city instead of driving the vans, the kids could not have been more excited, they had never been on a train before, and loved to ride. The hard part was keeping them in thier chairs. We did a ton of walking this day, and were very worn out by the time that we made it back to the train. We were able to see Time Square, the largest Toys R Us, (the kids personal favorite), battery park, and the financial center of the city.
This is Aby and Kenzie on the train, you can see how excited they were to see the buildings and grass go by so quickly. It was also really nice on the train because it was pretty close to empty, and so the ticket taker took time to talk to the kids and show them how they punched the tickets.

This is Grandma and Brooklyn, she was definately not as into the train as the other kids, but she did pretty good. Brooklyn rode in a stroller the entire day, and was very grateful whenever we stopped and she could get out to play.

After riding the train we go off at Central station. After getting lost using the elevators, we all finally managed to meet in the main terminal. This terminal is big, and there were a lot of people. It was interesting to me that on the way home at the end of the day there was a wedding party (bride in dress and bridesmaids in dresses also) that was doing pictures in the station. I can only hope that the wedding wasn't performed there also. This is the whole gang, at this time Andrew and Michelle had joined us, and we made a total of 19 people.

In Toys "R" Us the kids thought they had died and gone to heaven. They had a barbie castle, a candy land area, a giant dinosaur that really growled and moved(this scared Kenzie and we couldn't stay by it very long without her starting to cry.) They also had a lego section, train station area, and ferris wheel. the building was three stories high, and had an elevator. I don't think that my kids will ever look at another toy store the same way. Aby and Kenzie liked the trains the best because they could play with them.

Here Ryan and the girls are riding the ferris wheel. They had a great time and would do it again in a heart beat.

After eating lunch we found a small park that the kids could play in. there were three sections one of them having water, I was really surprised that me kids didn't play in the water, but they had a great time on the slides, and running around. Here you can see Mckenzie master her latest trick, going down the slide head first.

Ohhh yes the bull, we couldn't get to the front to take a picture, so we took pictures at the backside. The kids just thought that it was funny to touch the big bull.

This was taken at a water fountain by another small park at the end of the day. While some of the adults went and climbed the brooklyn bridge the sane and tired people went down the street to this fountain and park. The little girls had a great time playing in the water, and running around.

This is another part of the park, the girls started to chase newspapers that had been left and then tear them up and throw them in the garbage. They were really cute running around together.

Ryan was tired and so he decided to play games on his cell phone and keep Brooklyn company. Brooklyn was just happy to roll on the ground and be out of the stroller. She was great about riding most of the time, but was always very happy to get out and play when she could.

New York Trip Part 2

This next part is Greenwitch beach, and the Museum of Natural History. The first set of pictures come from the beach. This was the first beach that we visited, and was the first time that any of the kids had ever seen close up. This was in my opinion the perfect beach, expensive, but Imust say worth it. The sand was soft and perfect for digging and playing in. (Aby especially enjoyed that part.) and the water was warm and pretty shallow. (during low tide which is the time that we were there.) The kids played all day long until they couldn't play anymore. Thank you Monica for taking us to this beach, and mom and dad thank you for paying our way in.

Brynn and Kenzie pretty much thought that this was a great big big sandbox with the added benifit of a giant swimming pool to play in when you got too hot. Here you can see them digging a hole together. I am so grateful for thier friendship.

Mom thought that this was the best way to spend her time at the beach. She enjoyed the shade and playing with the grandkids. She did spent a lot of time in the sand also digging holes and taking kids into the water. It is an experiance that none of the grandkids, or parents will ever forget.

Aby and Kenzie found that together they could dig a bigger hole a lot faster. Aby could have played in the sand forever, in fact when we went to leave and cleaned out her swim suit at the shower spout, she had over an inch of sand in the bottom of her swimsuit.

Kambree and Kenzie spend time enjoying the hole that Aby and Kenzie dug. It was so much fun to watch the three girls get to know eachother and watch them play and grow closer.

It is kinda hard to see in this picture, but all four girls wanted to be buried alive in the sand. So Tyler and Aaron dug holes for each of the girls and then covered them with sand. They thought that it was so much fun they kept burying themselves the rest of the day.

They didn't just bury themselves either, somehow Monica, Tiffany, and I were talked into getting buried in the sand also. It really wasn't that bad the sand was soft and cool and felt really nice until the kids decided that it was fun to walk on mom. The only problem was that the sand got into every possible spot on your skin, both exposed, and unexposed skin!!!. So after relxing in the sand Tiffany, Monica, and I took a nice trip out to the bouy where we stripped suits and took a mini bath. (ok not really stripped off but we definately scrubbed the unexposed skin:)

With the help of some bigger boys, the kids created a "hot pool" in the sand by blocking on of the rip tides (I think that is the correct term) one of the small rivers that runs out to sea after the tide goes out. They had fun playing in that, watching the fish, and taking baths. The only sad part was when it broke.

This was one of the few times that I was able to catch Aby in the water. She really did enjoy the swimming, but did spend most of her time on the sand. I think that I need to invest in a sandbox.

Kenzie Bless her heart, swam, played in the sun, and looked for crabs until she couldn't make her sweet body continue any more. She came over after going swimming one time asked me to wrap her in a towel, and then lay on the ground and went to sleep. She had a great time and just didn't want to quit.

This next set of pictures take place at the Museum of Natural History. This was a place that I had really wanted to go. I admit that I love Museums, and this is supposed to be one of the best. It really was great, and once we all warmed up we had a great time. The best part was this was the day that Ryan flew in. After a few hiccups in the pick up plans: His plane was delayed so he had to take a bus to Grand Central Station all by himself, and then find the Library because Grand Central was closed, and wait in the rain for Aaron to come and take him by subway to us. He made it and I could not have been happier to see him.

Aby saw her dad from across the room, and much to our surprise yelled "daddy" and ran to him. He and Aby have a very special relationship, and when she got to him she gave him a great big hug and then he picked her up and put her on his shoulders. Ryan was so tired but was a great sport about plugging through the rest of the day until we could get back to the hotel and he could crash land on the bed.

Aby and Kenzie were also very tired, about half way through the museum. They were not really interested in the dinosaurs and crashed in the stroller. I was glad, because it made them very easy to keep track of.

This was taken after we had eaten at the Carnigie Deli, and the wind was blowing and making the kids so cold. It had been raining most of the day, and this is also an example of what we looked like only the adults were carrying umbrellas and trying to push the stollers at the same tim. After leaving the Deli we put the umbrellas up to block the kids from the wind, and then made the decision to take cabs back to the cars. (you should have seen the cab drivers faces when they saw the stollers!) Tyler and Aaron did run one of the stollers back to the cars, but the rest of us took the kids and met them.

Vacation to New York Part 1

First I would like to say thank you to Monica and Aaron for putting their reputation on the line and hosting 19 people in New York. We had a wonderful time and my kids and I would love to go back. In fact Aby keeps asking when we are going to go to Dominick's house and play with him and Kambree.

This first set of pictures comes from the Aquarium that we visited. The funniest part of the day for me was that we got up really early ate breakfast and got into the cars. About half way there we saw a sign that said there was a "five mile back up" I thought it was interesting that they didn't give how long the delay time would be. We realized and hour and a half later that they don't list the times because it would only depress the drivers. I can say that I have done a Chinese Fire drill on a New York freeway now though, so not all of it was wasted time. We did get to the aquarium and had a great time. All of the kids and me included were spellbound and thrilled by all of the marine life.
When we first went into the aquarium the kids were drawn to the Beluga whale exhibit. you can see in this picture that all of the kids were amazed at the whales. This was also our first experiance with 98% humidity. I don't think that the kids were effected by it quite as much as the adults. But wow I couldn't figure out why I even bothered to take a shower that morning.

This picture is also at the Beluga Whale exhibit, but I think the kids wer more interested in climbing on the rocks and logs than seeing the whale at this point.

This was taken in front of the pengin exhibit, and you can begin to see why many people in New York were amazed to see us all together. The ony ones missing from this picture are the moms, hmmmm.... do moms like to get their pictures taken???

Here you can see me cute girls in front of the pengins. Aby was so excited to be able to tell Grandma Sullivan that she saw real pengins. (they are Grandma Sullivan's favorite animal.) It was also very cool becuase if you put your hand on the glass, the penguins would follow your hand up, down, and around.

When we finally found the air conditioned building we thought that we had gone to heaven. After walking around outside and then adjusting to the inside the kids and parents were grateful for the invention of airconditioning. All of the kids except Brynn are sitting in front of one of the many fish tanks to look at.

This picture was way too cute to pass up. There was a sea shell to crawl into and the kids could see part of a fish tank, Kenzie climbed in and then Brynn and then Kambree, the three of them were best friends. You can just see how much fun they were having by their smiles. We were asked more than once who has the triplets.

It took some convincing, but I did finally get Aby to stand by the shark teeth, I think she was afraid that they would bite her.

The touch and learn center was a favorite with the kids, they had lobsters, crabs, and star fish. Here you can see Grandpas helping Kenzie hold the star fish. Kenzie also held or touched the lobster and crabs, Aby would only touch the star fish.

After playing with the real fish Kenzie decided to play in the sand with the shells she loved to pick up the dand and shells and see the different colors and shapes. Soon after Kenzie discoved the shells all of the kids were playing over their also.

These were the souvoners that Aby and Kenzie choose. We walked through the whole store, and when we were done I said what is the one thing that you want to choose, they both saide umbrellas. I got them those, and got me a 45 piece puzzle and some color books. The umbrellas proved to be a wonderful choice a few days later when there was a huge rain storm in New York. One a proud parent note, Aby does love the puzzle, and after coming home from the trip mastered it after being shown how to do it two times, once by dad, and once by Grandpa. She can now put the puzzle together in only a few minutes and is asking for another harder puzzle.

Brooklyn's accomplishments

Brooklyn is growing up, and I am not so sure that I like this plan. I enjoy that she is interacting more with me and her sisters, and her dad (that is her favorite), but I miss some of the small baby things that she used to do. Oh well you can't cry over spilled milk, and I am always very proud and excited over each new accomplishment. I would much rather have her making progress than not. I am so blessed with wonderful children.
Brooklyn accually started to learn to roll over at the beginnign of July, but has only become very proficient in rolling back to front and front to back across a room in the past few days. It is amazing how far and fast she can go.

She was not happy to be stuck in the blanket that the girls left out on the floor.

This is her latest trick that she is perfecting. In the past week she has started to sit up by herself and not fall over. She is still a little bit wobbly at times, but for the most part has mastered this skill.

Tea Party

I knew it would happen, I just don't think that I was prepared for it to happen yet. Aby and Kenzie have started to play "dinner" on thier princess table. They will get out all of my pans and cooking utinsels, and cook food. In this picture they had cooked eggs. This day Aby had a friend over (Maddi Ball) and Aby and Kenzie cooked eggs for her to eat. Aby always starts the meals with a prayer. (not a pretend one either) It is so great to see them growing up. Aby has such a strong spirit with her, and is always such an example to me.
Here they are after teh prayer and starting to eat. You can just see Mckenzie in the corner of the picture. Aby is always very nice and lets Kenzie play with her and her friends when they come over.

This picture was taken a different day, but Aby and Kenzie are both still enjoying thier egg feast. I am so glad that they are such good friends.

Friends!

Aby Kenzie and our neighbor Josh were playing dress up the other day, and all of them were having such a fun time. Aby is the mom (queen) and Kenzie is the princess. Josh needed a costume, and so i took out my old graduation robe, and made him the judge. We are so blessed to live next to such wonderful neighbors.

Daddy's little helper

This picture was too cute to pass up. We had been swimming at the Rec Center earlier in the evening, and all of us were very tired. Ryan however, decided that he was going to fix the leaking tap in the tub. (for those of you who wonder, Ryan has had to replace the valves on our hot and cold water taps in the tub several times. This is becuase when we had our soft water softener installed they did it wrong, and we have been dealing with it ever since.) He has gotten really good at doing this over the past few years, and you can see here that the Mckenzie loves to help. Ryan is usually really good natured about explaining what he is doing to the girls, and letting them help give him the tools. My girls love to play with daddy and his tools. (who needs boys my girls can learn to fix things:)
This was too cute just look at her grin. The sad part was after I took this picture she wanted to see it and was so excited that she tripped over the tool chest and bonked her head on the cupboards.