The Young's Easter Visit

We were super excited to have the Young's come visit over Easter.  We started their visit with a lunch at Taco Fundacion and a hike up at Hyde Park.

 Rob had to go to work that evening, boo.  The rest of us, after some bouncing went to La Choza and then wandered the Plaza and got some gelato. 

 The next morning, while Rob sadly had to work, we attempted to hike at Tent Rocks.  Alas with the holiday the line of cars to get in (One in one out policy, which I approve of after Yosemite) was hours long so we bailed for a picnic at Cochiti dam and then headed up to Pecos instead. 

We returned home and at the cousin's request I made a Nutella cake.  Kids nerf  gun battled (still finding darts) and we dyed Easter eggs. 

Homemade mac and cheese for dinner.  Sure love our patio living.

So much bouncing. 

 Easter baskets in the morning.  Also a very mysterious failure at cinnamon rolls happened.  Not sure why it didn't work.  Opted to make the dense dough into monkey bread which was really kind of like cinmmon rocks.  Boo.  Oh well. 

Everyone pitched in to stuff the excessive amount of eggs for the hunt.  Not all were found and on my walks and during my gardening this summer I've found a few.

 The golden egg!

Games were played while Easter dinner was prepped. 

Limoncello cake.  Everyone was too full.  Cakes are fun in theory, but no one actually eats them. 

Post feast parental hike. 

 Chillin' on the patio. 

Clara ran with the cousins, as ancient tradition dictates, as they drove off.  We had such a great time. 

A Quick NYC Trip

Jennette, Challey, and I planned a girl's weekend at the end of March.  Or actually I guess it was April.  Anyway Jonathan Van Ness was going to be at Radio City Music Hall for his Road To Beijing Tour.  We loooooooove him and so happily got tix.  My plane landed late and my very nice Uber driver got me where I needed to be only five minutes late.  It was a fun show and after we ate at a darling French Cafe.

 In the morning we woke up to some very bad news.  Adam and friends had been hit by a car during their morning road bike.  Adam was in pretty bad shape (now recovered thank goodness) so we had to say goodbye to Jennette who caught the first bus she could home.  Well after Levain for breakfast.  We were staying at Sharon's (Adam's moms') and she nicely continued to host us.

 Challey and I went to get show tickets and did some wandering. 

 We made it to the Hudson Yards and went up in the pinecone, then wandered down the highline to Chelsea Market for dinner.  

 The next morning after breakfast we rented bikes in Central Park.  But if it were the Amazing Race we would have lost.  There was a huge marathon happening, we had a hard time figuring out the auto rental machines......oh well.  It was fun and spring in NYC is lovely. 

 With time to kill and needing to get uptown (We'd gone downtown) we decided to do a hop on hop off bus tour.  I've done one in San Francisco and it was fab.  This one was hilariously awful.  The driver nearly got in an altercation with the ticket guy.  Their were few busses and raging crowds who had been waiting for ages for a bus.  The tour guide gave us really great tidbits such as, "This is Chinatown. There are Chinese restaurants here."

You win some you lose some. 

 Empanadas for dinner in Hell's Kitchen.  Super good. 

 Waitress was much fun but a bit racier which made me pleased we skipped it when with Clara. 

The next day was rainy but we found some fun shops, went to TJ's, and had a DELICIOUS lunch before heading to JFK, where my flight was delayed and I had to spend the night in Dallas.  Oh well.  It was a fun trip.  Oh and I saw Hassan Minhaj on 5th ave one night, so that's pretty neat.