Happy For Visitors

My sister Emily, her hubby James, and their littlest Henry came for a very quick visit last week! This was their first time to visit and I was SO excited to have them come - even for a short time. I almost didn't let them leave. They came to go to a thing for my sister's birthday in Boston which is conveniently close to me! Lucky me!

James and Henry: We were so excited we waited on the front porch for them to arrive!

Henry and Nora playing

Picnic style dinner in the kitchen for the kids.

Celebrating Emily's birthday one night.

I just thought this picture was funny with the kids perched everywhere.

We had so little time but we were able to run into the city for a few hours one day so they could at least see a little bit.

Henry is just too cute. He got this hat being one of the helpers at the Hershey's store.

Helping in the Hershey's store.

NYC in all it's New Yorkiness

Em and Me: Emily is amazing. She is pregnant with her 5th baby - due at Christmas - and you can't even tell! How'd I miss out on those genes?!

James and Henry in front of the statue of Atlas.

My dad would read mythology to us when we were kids so I love this. Atlas was a Titan who was condemned by Zeus to stand forever holding up the heavens.

And I LOVE the Percy Jackson book series which are all about mythology and New York. They are such fun books.

Oh, Henry loves balls so he loved walking by the NBA store. It looks like he just shot that ball into the hoop!

My sisters and I love old movies - so we needed a picture in front of Tiffany's.

**Oh, and on the way back to the car that night - possibly the grossest thing that has ever happened to me in NYC happened- a pigeon pooped on my head...Yes, pooped on my head! Walking right in front of The Plaza Hotel too. You'd think they'd have better behaved pigeons. Really, really, really, gross.**

But, anyway -it was so fun to have Em, James, and Henry here for a little while. I miss them.

Joy School

We started Joy School for Nora and a couple of her friends this year! She remembers Joy School from last year when we did it with Daniel and his friends so she knew what this was all about...and she was so excited! Even though we just do it one day a week right now - she talks about it every day. I'm sure it's exciting for her to have her own thing with her own friends.

First Day of Joy School 2010: Drew, Kate, and Nora

I taught the first day and the theme was - All About Me. We talked about each of the kids and what kinds of things they like etc. I gave them each one of these hand puppets that were supposed to look like them that they colored. It will be a fun year.

Time Together

One Saturday afternoon we went over to one of the local beaches to throw a frisbee and run around. It's so beautiful by the water.

We always find a lot of these horseshoe crab shells on the beach.

He is starting to look so old to me!

This beach has a 9/11 memorial. On a clear day the NYC skyline is visible from this point and apparently on that particular day people who were gathered there watched the smoke rise from the World Trade Towers. Later it was used as a staging area for relief efforts to the city. So sad.

Pumpkins

I look forward to this every year:

Proud of their pumpkins

Where in the world is Grandpa Doryl?

Dad visiting Huangshan "Yellow Mountain" in the Anhui Province, China

I get my love for traveling and exploring from my dad. He's always going somewhere exciting and always has great stories to tell from his adventures. Half of the time we don't know where he is so we like to play - Where in the world is Grandpa Doryl? Sometimes if you're lucky you can guess the right country but beyond that...it's anybody's guess. We love you Dad...and don't fall off the mountain...

Exploring Manhattan

Sometimes I dwell on the things I don't like about living where we do. The long hours, the cost of living, the distance from family, the lack of street signs, the humidity, the old houses with no central air, the list could go on and on. But I really love living close to New York. Especially with the advantage of not actually having to live IN New York. I love that there is so much to do, and see, and eat...definitely eat...and this is just about my favorite time of year to explore the city. So, with my To Do list for NYC getting longer by the day - we headed into the city for a beautiful day of NYC fun.

Union Square's Greenmarket

Flowers for me! Yeah.

I've been wanting to go to this kitchen store -Fishs Eddy- in the Flatiron District since a friend told me about it. It was a great store. I loved it!

Nora thought these cookie cutters were great bracelets.

Doughnut Plant - in the lower east side- has been on my list for a while too. Their Tres Leches doughnut was really, really yummy and came highly recommended by the lady standing in front of me in line. :)

We also popped into Economy Candy which carries all kinds of new and old time candy favorites.

Nora LOVED this wall of jelly beans. We have a stash of jelly beans at home and she knows she can get her daddy to give her some when he comes home from work.

Just for Fun: One of our purchases from Economy Candy.

The Flatiron Building

Daniel liked these knights

Lunch at the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park

Empire State Building from Madison Square Park

Clock tower of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company

Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace

Part of "Block Beautiful"