Fourth of July Fun

Yesterday we had fun and celebrated the Fourth with family. We had dinner over at my parents house and then my dad had gotten us all tickets to the local collegiate baseball game, the Kitsap Bluejackets. It was lots of fun and we won!! Friends, John and Jenny, joined us so it was good to catch up some with them as well. I wasn't sure how the girls were going to do at the game, especially since it didn't start until 730pm but they were awesome. Angel loved getting up and down a million times from her seat and eating LOTS of peanuts that Poppy brought. Emma managed to snooze a bit with Marmee and enjoyed watching all the action around her. The fireworks after the game were very pretty, although Angel wasn't thrilled with the "scary" noises but Emma loved them. Angel woke up this morning and told her Papa, "fireworks all done, me scared, me watch like this (as she closed her eyes) and Emma watch like this (as she opened her eyes really wide)." So cute!! My mom made us Whiskey Sours, and I can't wait to have another one tomorrow....yummy!! Hope everyone had a safe and happy Fourth and remembered to say thanks for the wonderful freedom we enjoy and pray for all the soldiers who work to keep it that way!!

Last Day & Goodbye NYC

Well, Tuesday was our last full day in NYC. Caitlin started the morning with doing some "Emma lifts" for her morning arm workout!! We mostly were working on organizing things and starting to hang things on walls today. Beth came over and spent some time with us again today and we had some yummy New York subs for lunch. Caitlin put together the two other bar stools and then went for a run in Central Park. Too bad I couldn't get a pic of that!! Angel went for several walks with Aunty Megs and Beth and always came back with goodies (she will miss these fun walks in the city when we leave I am sure). Of course just the day we are leaving is the day that Angel is finally used to her new bedtime routines and environment and doing quite nicely!! That night we ordered some food from a diner and took it to a park that Angel and Caitlin had found. Of course as soon as we started eating, they told us they were closing up the park for the day....so we headed to the Gardens and finished eating there and let Angel play in the water some more. A very peaceful way to end our crazy and hard working week. It was really funny while we were walking back, two girls were walking past us checking things off a list for a party or something, and when they passed me holding Emma one of them turned and said "Oh my gosh, your baby is wicked cute!" and just kept on walking. Caitlin and I were laughing, so New York!! We started packing that night to make sure we had everything ready for the morning because we were getting picked up at 930. Angel had a fun time listening to Caitlin's IPOD which kept her preoccupied while I packed their bags. Emma has been in a huge mommy separation anxiety stage, and so to keep her from screaming long enough for me to take a shower, Megs and Caitlin had to hold up a blanket so she wouldn't see me and sing every lullaby song they knew!! Quite amusing! So, I have included some before and after pics of the apartment to see the difference as well as all pics of the new apartment in the slide show and a little brief video clip. We left Wednesday morning and managed to get thru security and such with no problems. The girls slept for awhile on the flight and Caitlin and I were very ready to be off the airplane and back home, although we were very sad (yes we all cried) to leave our sister and can't wait to see her again soon. Next time she should even have a big belly to rub!! Maybe the next visit we can enjoy the apartment and do more of the NYC stuff (and hold our little niece or nephew lots!!)

before

after

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NYC Day Six

Once again the AC guys came this morning to clean a couple of the units and to tell us that they needed a different part to still fix the broken one....so tomorrow is supposed to be the day to get the AIR back. Caitlin took Angel to TWO parks this morning and to get a strawberry smoothie...while Megs and I attacked her linen closet and bathroom and hall closet...we got it all organized and still lots of room to put stuff. I am very jealous of her massive closet spaces and shelves to organize things!! Then we ordered some cheese and tomato pizza for lunch. A good friend of Megs (and ours) Beth came to visit and while Angel was napping, Beth, Megs, Emma and I took a taxi down to Bed, Bath & Beyond to get some things for the apartment. I have never seen an escalator service for your shopping carts!! Pretty neat and makes a lot of sense!! When we got home, Caitlin ran to Meg's old apartment and packed up the remaining items and cleaned a little, then took a taxi back with the boxes. Chris went there tonight to finish cleaning and turn in the keys...I don't think they are sad at all to leave that tiny little place that mice liked to visit!! A friend of Caitlin's from college, Jones, lives here right now (but is moving back to OR and actually will be living with Caitlin) stopped by and she and Caitlin took Angel out for awhile while they caught up some. Then we had a lovely and yummy dinner (thanks Megs) actually sitting around a real table!!! (thanks for the delicious wine Jones!) Of course, the night isn't complete without a trip to the Kiddie Sports Bar to get some ice cream. Sorry hon, I found out that Hank Aaron was actually here for signings two days ago and I had no idea....maybe next time, I will have to tell Megs and Chris to keep an eye out on who is coming. We ended the night with a trip to the gardens and some play time in the water. Then it was baths and bed....this is the first night I am REALLY tired. Hoping tomorrow we can at least get some things hung up around here....hate to leave things undone, but will take a little while to make it homey I am sure!! Good night from NYC! Still need to video and take pics of the place....and the views!

NYC Day Five

This morning we got up and hustled to get everyone ready and walk to church...it is a very HOT and muggy day. When we got there, the Spanish Mass was still going on so we waited about 15 minutes and then went in for ours. The masses here are so different because they have so many of them so none of them are very full at all!! It was a beautiful church and Angel decided that she really wanted to sing (loudly!) at this mass. On the way back home, I was holding Angel, and somehow my right foot slipped up going down a curb and I lost my sense of balance and TOPPLED to the ground.....yes toppled and skid on the streets on NYC....I twisted my right ankle and unfortunately when I went to break my fall and catch Angel I landed really hard on my left knee and hand. My left knee is really hurting, the skin got scraped off and it looks quite swollen and bruised. Or course it is right where it bends so the bleeding as been hard to stop....oh well, although I will never forget all the people on the streets staring at me or Angel's face when I fell over. Little embarrassing but I am sure in awhile I will laugh at it....just wanted wounds to show for our working trip!! Today Caitlin and Chris had errands to run and went to the old apartment to get all the remaining stuff because they have to turn in the keys in a couple days. Then Caitlin decided once again she needed to run home...and of course it was POURING...I am just glad she found her way home!! I thoroughly enjoyed the HUGE thunder storm we had today....it was lightning and we had LOUD thunder, we don't get them often at home so it was nice to see and hear again. When Angel woke up from her nap today, I took her for some fun runs up and down the elevator. She loved pushing the buttons, making her faces, sitting in the lobby and then going back up. Our friend Renata stopped by to say goodbye and we got to see her lovely new hair cut!! Megs made a YUMMY garlic-lemon chicken recipe which I can post later. Poor thing was having some trouble still with her tooth sensitivity. After dinner we went to the Kiddie Sports Bar around the corner and got ice cream....a really cool and fun place (I took pics of it and they are in the slide show). My husband is very jealous because this place has a schedule of when famous baseball players are coming to do signings and Hank Aaron is the first one. He is dropping hints that Megs need to try and get that autograph for him for all the remaining birthdays of his lifetime. We then went to the gardens and it is so pretty at night all lit up with lights. Angel had lots of fun playing the water and fountains again and started a fun game with Aunt Caitlin of dropping all the leaves on the ground in the water fountain. We then headed home for baths and bed after getting a cute video shot of Angel's fun elevator routine....check it out!! (I LOVE these pics of Emma and Caitlin in the morning)