Summer Start Off

Within a few hours of landing back in the Tri-Cities from New York we were on our way up to Waitts Lake for our annual Memorial Day Camping trip. Hooray for sun, water, family and friends! It was a fun weekend and a great kick-off to all we hope for when summer comes.
It's always fun to visit with my Aunt Sissy and cousin Kymm. This year we also got to see Kymm's daughter, Kati, and her cute family who recently moved back from Arizona.
The night catch.
The night fishermen.
Dock jumping.
Bradley getting ready for the big water trampoline.
Floyd cousins.
Parker family
The girls love the lake.
We had a great time--looking forward to next year!

I Want to Be a Part of It . . . New York, New York

When my friend, Michelle called and asked me if I wanted to tag along (using their frequent flier miles and hotel) to New York for a week while she took some classes, I could hardly believe it! Of course I couldn't pass that up and worked the "birthday angle" with my family telling them that I just wanted to have things covered while I went to New York over my birthday. Off we went for a very exciting week and an amazing first time in New York City. Here are some highlights: I had to take a picture of the Crown Plaza Hotel because I had just watched the movie "Bride Wars" on the plane.
One of the things Michelle and I really wanted to do was go walking in Central Park. We spent about three hours doing that on my birthday--at our "power walking pace" I might add which was a wonderful way to spend the day! Michelle loves the beautiful bridges in Central Park.
This was my birthday cake. We stopped at the drugstore and got my favorite snacks for my birthday dinner after yummy Bruschetta pizza at John's Pizzeria at Time Square.
> Me at the M&M Store at Time Square--I was so excited to go here because I LOVE M&Ms!
My first morning alone while Michelle was in class I found myself on the subway bright and early to catch the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I was a little intimidated by the whole thing but it turned out fine once I got there. I really enjoyed the tour.
Michelle and I met up later and walked around Wall Street and by Ground Zero and then it was time for a cake decorating class she signed us up for. This is a strawberry shortcake I made. It was delicious--the best ever! We were sad we didn't have a fridge to keep it in. We would have eaten the whole thing. I hope I can duplicate this now that I'm home.
This Soup Man restaraunt was not too far from our hotel and supposedly home of the original Soup Nazi. I love the Soup Nazi--No Soup For You!
We had such beautiful weather on most of the days. I luckily picked a very clear day to go up on the Empire State Building. The guide told us we could see five states that day--don't ask me which direction or where, though. The view was spectacular!


I also had the Today Show as a "must do" on my list. I was a total nerd--I went to the drugstore, bought a poster board and some markers and walked down to Rockefeller Plaza to get my two seconds of fame. It was awesome! This is Al Roker right before he shook my hand!


Me and cardboard Matt Lauer.
This is my famous poster that made it onto the show. They showed my area of the crowd right before the eight o'clock news break so I was able to text Nate and he recorded it. I love watching it!
Michelle and I excited for Wicked to start. We also saw Mary Poppins and were in the second row for that show. Both were excellent!
In between massive amounts of shopping, I spent a lot of the last day there in Central Park. Michelle had a longer class that day and I really wanted to go for a run there. It was so warm and I absolutely loved running and enjoying the beautiful day.

That was such a fun trip! I really appreciate my family and friends for helping out with things here at home so I could go. What a great blessing it was to have a great friend to take me there and great friends and family supporting me at home--thanks guys!

Loose Ends

Here are a few happenings to catch up with from the past few weeks . . .

Amanda turned 14! She wanted to have "just girls" over to hang out--phew! It was a fun time. Even more exciting though was her first official Saturday night dance! I was out of town unfortunately so no pics were taken but I had plenty of friends strategically chaperoning. She had a wonderful time!
We finished up a chilly soccer season but the girls did great! Megan loved her team and we really appreciated being able to have Coach Dave help us when Nate couldn't make it to the games.
Megan is looking forward to next season already--what a fun group of girls!
Jared wrapped up his fifth grade specialties project. We love the specialties fair. The kids always do a great job. We are very glad this is over, though as he had to do a project last year as a fourth grader due to the fact he was in a 4/5 combo class. This is one of those things where moms do a happy dance when their last child completes their project. I, of course, have two more of these to enjoy . . .
We've also been spending precious time with our cousins. My sister and her family are soon going on a two-year adventure to Washington, D.C. for my brother-in-law's work. While we are so excited for them and are eager to visit, we are going to miss them terribly and hope that this time goes by fast!

Spring is Fun and Busy

Finally! The weather is warming up, the kids are starting to get pink cheeks and we are piling blankets, umbrellas and sandwiches into the car several nights a week. First, we celebrated Jared's 11th birthday. He had invited a few friends to a hockey game and that night the opposing team had a breakout of food poisoning so they cancelled the game for the night! What are the odds? We had to frantically come up with an alternative birthday party and had only a few hours to do so. Thank heavens for the movies (Escape to Witch Mountain). The birthday party was saved but we have no pictures. Here are a few from Jared's fifth grade Seattle trip. Nate went with him and they had a great time!




After Nate and Jared got back, we turned around two days later and headed right back to Seattle for spring break. Luckily, the weather was pretty nice considering we had terrible weather here at home. We had a great time doing all the downtown Seattle activities. We also got a chance to have dinner with some dear friends who managed to give us the authentic Seattle experience and put together a dinner for three families when the power was out in their home most of the day. It was a yummy BBQ and we loved seeing them--thanks Webbs and Ahlstroms. We were sorry we missed the Elsasser family due to sickness--we'll catch up with you again!

These are taken at the top of the Space Needle.

Then, onto the Pacific Science Center . . .



We rode the monorail so Bradley could say he rode a "train."
I included the picture below because just as we hopped on, we saw some friends we know from Richland. That was fun!
Pike Street Market--yummy donuts!
The Aquarium

Woodland Park Zoo



We also went to the Music Experience and Science Fiction Museum where the highlight for the older kids was making their very own music video. I was on the keyboard, Megan drums, Amanda lead vocals and Jared was guitar. We sang "I Love Rock n' Roll." It will not be available to the public anytime soon though. We had such a fun time together. It was nice to take a little vacation.