NYC Day 2

Our first day we trained into the city on Metro North from Larchmont, which again brought back many happy memories.  The train conducter was very nice and turned tickets into little men which was very entertaining.  We arrived at Grand Central which is as busy as ever.  

From Grand Central we walked down 42nd to the library which was lovely.  My favorite were the A.A. Milne stuffed animals.  Very cool.  

We headed up 5th Ave. next and made a much anticipated stop at the American Girl store.  Lucy and Kit were in heaven.  We went into St. Patrick's during mass and enjoyed strolling around the beautiful church while the organ was playing.  (Why is it that this just made me homesick for England?)  We ate lunch at Rockerfellar.  I was pleased to FINALLY get to eat at Pret.  I feel like I an official Taylor now.

I was quite the task master.  I had a list of things to see and we had limited time.  We needed to catch the 4:00 train and so we kept at a pretty quick pace.  So we stopped in front of the Plaza hotel for a quick Home Alone photo.  Then it was into Central Park.  I love that place.  The kids did to.  The rocks were the best and we loved all the performers.  Central Park is like a free Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center.  So many amazing musicians and entertainers.  

Clara enjoyed the Home Alone pose so much she kept it up all day.  Here the kids are enjoying an awesome jazz band and Bethesda Fountain.

We had a NY nanny type moment at the Alice and Wonderland statue.  Clara fell off.  She was fine.  She didn't even cry.  But some high strung moms kind of flipped out.  Maybe they thought I should call 911?

The kids enjoyed posing by the Jabberwocky quote, as they just memorized the entire

poem in school.  It's a great one.

Finally we made it to the Met.  We rushed through but saw a few of the highlights.

On the roof of the Met their is an amazing bamboo installation being built by the artists and 

rock climbers.  It was very cool.

After this we had to RUSH to the subway where we were packed on like sardines.  We saw it all and made our train.  And back in Westchester the Gibbs fed us amazing food and we had a wonderful time hanging out with them and waiting for Rob's late arrival.

I Have Editing Issues or NYC post 1

I can't narrow down the pictures.  I tried.  And I tried to figure out how to do a Picasa collage, but am way too stuid to figure that out.  So here are, once again, a lot of pictures.  We drove up to New York and stayed with the wonderful Gibbs family in Westchester.  This is where I spent a year of my life as a nanny.  I had some great times and it was very exciting to revisit my old haunts.  And, as the Gibbs were a large part of that year, it was so great to see them.  The Gibbs and Taylor families go way back.  In fact I was a toddler at Mike and Linda's wedding.  They are family.  So it was so great to stay with our Gibbs family, although we missed Chelsea who is at BYU right now.  Anyway, after we arrived they took us to Larchmont manor where the sunset was amazing and we got to view Long Island across the sound.  Then we ate pizza at Nicky's a place Challey and I liked because of the hot guy that worked there.  He still works there, but like me has aged.  The pizza was as good as ever.  And we taught Lucy how to eat her New York pizza New York style.

I'm So Going!

I love this man.

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First Day of Pre-School

My baby started preschool. I know from personal experience that the time between the day they start preschool and the day they start fifth grade goes by at light speed. I can't believe we have already reached this point. She used to be my bald little baby.....

Farewell Winnie

My parents dog, Winnie, died last week. She will be missed. I am not a pet person in general, but Winnie was one of the family and I loved her. She loved "walkies" ( I believe we stole the term from Wallace and Grommit) and whenever anyone mentioned the word she was there wagging her tail ready for an adventure. She always knew I would take her for walkies and would look up at me expectantly and I usually gave in. She was a great dog.

My Labor Day: DC and the Giz

Clara was begging to be allowed to go backpacking with the kids, but frankly, can you imagine a worse nightmare? So she stayed home with me. And with some bribery was quite happy. She got to stay home and play with playdough. That soothed her and she played for hours.

On Monday morning she and I metroed into the city.

She rode the carousel:
Ate PBandJ on the mall:
"Softed" many a fountain (it is her word for petting and she often says, "mom can I soft the water?":

We toured the National Gallery:
Clara got a cookie:
Then it was on to the East building:

After the art we walked across the mall to the botanical garden where there was so much water to soft that Clara was drenched by the time we left:


We meandered up to Capitol hill and since all the tourists seen to have vanished we hopped in line for an impromptu tour of the Capitol building:
Shaka:

Their Labor Day: Riprap Trail

Some of the gang wanted to go backpacking. Clara was among them, but she wasn't really invited. So Rob and Courtney took the three oldest backpacking in Shenandoah on Labor Day. The report was: "It was awesome."

The kids did great, the ticks were minimal (deet and sock tucking seem to actually be a good solution). The weather was perfect and their were even vistas to enjoy. There was no complaining and the cup o' noodles were apparently far more delicious than anything they have ever eaten (eww).